Worcester Art Museum on a Hot Saturday

Cyndi and I drove to Worcester and picked up Emily. We had a nice lunch and then went to the Worcester Art Museum.  Since it was about 98 F., we decided to leave the Botanic Gardens for another day!

This is the handicapped accessible entrance and we were greeted by some of the birds below.

It has been a while since my two garden flamingos went to the great pond in the sky. They really didn't like the winters, especially when the snow totally covered them.

Sorry this is blurry -- the heat had gotten to me. This is just inside door. The wall art was great!

Yup, we got in for free! The normal admission is $14.

And look what Emily discovered -- an American rendition of Hokusai's wave! His spray is just a tad different ...

This is the original (from last week).

These are the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles in another form.

Night Parade of 100 Demons (from the sign below)

 The samurai exhibit had LOTS of helmets and armor and weapons. I think Batman was there because one of the throwing weapons (which could take your head off) looked like the emblem on his cape.

I recognize the dog armor (below) from the former Worcester Armor Museum. It's now defunct. They also had armor on a horse model.

 The Roman mosaic below fascinated me. The "after the orgy" painting immediately below was not really a favorite of mine. Romans did more than feast and drink to excess.

Now, that's a frame!

After walking around for quite a while, we all voted to get frozen yogurt. Then it was back to Emily's to pat the kitties and then to the supermarket in Belchertown before home.  It was a full day.

Consequently, I have done nothing of value today! I hope you all have a great week.

Rose Kennedy Greenway

What used to be an ugly above ground configuration of highway is now underground in a tunnel (otherwise known as The Big Dig).  This greenway is named for Rose Kennedy, President John F. Kennedy's mother. I forgot to put these pictures on the previous post from last weekend.

I was intrigued by this sculpture and surprised to learn of the collaboration with Virginia Tech.  That's one of the schools that sent Debbie an acceptance and that is why I know it is an 11 hour drive from Amherst, MA to Blacksburg, VA.

Boston and the Museum of Fine Arts

 Here it is: the Boston Museum of Fine Art on Huntington Ave. in Boston.

It has always been overseen by this:

We went to see the Hokusai exhibit which is mainly woodcuts, but there are some dioramas, a panel, and various other pieces of Hokusai's work. The man must have painted constantly!

 From an upper level, this is where you can get the audio tour equipment before going into the exhibit.

 This is the line waiting to go into the Hokusai exhibit. The light colored wall is a moving picture of many of the art works.

This wave is his most famous (and my favorite).

Unfortunately, the young woman's hair is right in front of Mt. Fugi depicted in the foam of the wave. Notice the boat adrift on the left.

This canvas banner below was meant to protect the household. This guy would drive away evil.

And he is the only picture I took. I was mortified when the flash went off in my camera.  I'm surprised that someone didn't smack me. I do apologize. The rest are photos of souvenirs that I purchased.

Noticing that I was hot and fanning myself with the Museum directory, Mom bought me a fan which wafts the scent of sandalwood.  It is most calming and beautiful.

When leaving, we walked past the Museum cafe. Below are two sculptures on the outskirts of the cafe (which is enclosed by ropes).

But wait! There was more.  Well, of course, there's a lot more but we were on a mission.  I didn't even stop at the Impressionists or the mummy room. 

I am a BIG fan of John Singer Sargent.  When I saw his portrait of Isabella Stewart Gardner (and the museum of the same name), I was hooked on his portraiture. I was delighted to see at least four of his portraits at the Biltmore Estate.

And here was an exhibit, including wall murals, of pieces that I never knew Sargent had created. I was pretty tired, but we went through this exhibit too. 

It was a very satisfying experience, but it makes me want to spend a week going to the Boston Museum of Fine Art every day.

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 See the little tree in the pot on the right? There's another one on the other side of "Mom's" door. This is where she is renting an apartment on Broad Street in Boston.

As we walked to the parking garage, I admired the hanging baskets on the pub below.

There are at least four different horse drawn carriages circling this neighborhood.  Here's one of them.

As If It Were Already Here Sculpture by  Janet Echelman

By the Numbers:
– The sculpture includes over 100 miles of twine
– Longest span is 600 ft
​- Highest point of attachment is 365 ft​
– There are over half a million knots (~542,500)
– The sculpture weighs approximately 1 ton
– The sculpture can exert over 100 tons of force
– Projected plan area of the sculpture is 20,250 sq ft, or almost half an acre


My pictures are during the day and I could only see a tiny bit of green and mostly orange. The sculpture is lit with colors at night which I have yet to see. (The sculpture, including installation, is estimated at $1.25 million.)

And now, here are random buildings that I shot. I just liked them.

 This is the Custom House enshrouded in green due to renovations.

This is 75 State Street (and below too). See the gold arrows?

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So I'm pretty much done here because I'm a tad tired.Today, Mom and I lazed around and ate the omelette I made while we watch CBS Sunday Morning and then Face the Nation.  By the time we got cleaned up, it was lunch time.  My kind of day! 

I was delighted to have a lobstah roll -- with no mayo! It was yummy! This place, The Bostonian, is around the corner from Mom's place.  They had what looked like a buffet -- no, it was the "bloody mary bar."  You could get not only celery for your bloody mary, but also crispy bacon, shrimp, bacon wrapped scallops, doughnuts with chocolate on top (yes, you read that right), many kinds of olives, ribs!!, and oysters on the half shell.  It made me want to order a bloody mary but tomato juice is the one way I dislike tomatoes. Otherwise, I eat all other forms of tomatoes.

After that, we fetched the car from the garage and drove to the South End Whole Foods.  Mom shopped and I ate taste tests.  I especially liked cassis with prosecco.  Prosecco is an Italian sparkling wine (which is a bit sweet).  Cassis is:
 a syrupy liquor of low alcoholic strength made from black currants and used chiefly as a flavoring and sweetening agent.

I have to admit it was my first taste of cassis. It was very sweet.

After getting my suitcase, I drove home -- doing 20 mph on the Mass. Pike outside of Auburn, Mass. -- and unloaded the car.  Then it was time to cut the overgrown weeds and stuff in front of my house.  I got so hot that sweat was clouding my glasses. I still need to do a lot more cutting and trimming but that will wait for another day.


I hope your weekend was as fun as mine! :)