the journal

Hi there, I’m back again after cruising in Alaska and lots of sight-seeing in Seattle.  First things first.  Seattle was so filled with quirky sights, great public art and weird people.  I was there, right.  I loved the laundromat and you can see the pal that I made there.  I loved the “Flower Power” sculpture, the fountains but most of all the Seattle Public Library (Central).  This incredible building was listed as one of America’s top 10 buildings so we had to stop by on the way to the Mariner’s game.  It was spectacular.  The market was teeming with people but the buildings surrounding the waterfront were really cool.  Seattle is VERY hilly by the way. 

I heard that Chihuly glass was showing at the Tacoma Museum of Glass.  But what awaited us there was more spectacular than we could have imagined.  The museum features an incredible exhibit by Preston Singletary of Native American inspired glass.  You have to see this man’s work.  It was so fabulous and one of the best examples of  glass art I have ever seen.  What photos I do have for you are the georgeous installation outside the museum, a few shots from the workshop theater, a couple of samples from the workshop and the incredible work of some children from the summer workshop.  This was the surprise museum of my trip.

What a serendipitous occurrence to see the Rays play the Seattle Mariners at Safeco Field.  As I travel around the country and get to see the baseball fields I am constantly amazed at the pure joy of our American past-time.  The approach to the field with the excited fans, the carnival atmosphere outside of the stadium and the theatrics inside.  We were well rewarded on our trip to see Seattle play.  Segway must have a strong hold here in Seattle because they were all over the place, including the baseball field entrance.  Even the artwork was great: notice the baseball chandelier and the baseball mitt sculpture.  Once inside it was a tough crowd for some hometown fans from Tampa.  But halfway through the game that we were winning came two adorable young men all crazed about the Rays.  We found out later that they were soldiers leaving for Iraq the next day.  Everyone in the surrounding area put up with their wild enthusiasm knowing they were on their way to fight this crazy war.  Love the soldier – hate the war.  By the way, the Rays lost in the 12th inning.

Many of you may know that I am not a real “public emoter”.  Is that even a word?  Don’t know, but you get the idea.  But I was moved to tears as I stood on the deck of this magnificent cruise ship, with my sister, leaving the incredible port of Vancouver and knowing that I was taking a voyage to honor Frimit.  Mom also took this cruise and she would be thrilled to know that I was taking my dream trip with my sister.  It would only have been more perfect if Ellen could have been with us.  Alas, we were on our way from the top bridge of the ship looking at what I have to say must be one of the most beautiful ports around.  The sails on the building are part of the Vancouver convention center.  The buildings near the port have an amazing symetry of design.  That’s something I haven’t seen since I traveled in Jerusalem.  I would say this city is ready to host the Olympics in February of 2010. 

Hello from Alaska.  We finally made it to the shores of the state where I have longed to be for so long.  The city of Ketchican wasn’t much prior to the cruise ship business and now it’s the first port of call and there was a perfect tour for us.  It was rainy (over 90% of days in Ketchican are rainy) and chilly so our tour to a Native American culture center, salmon fish hatchery and eagle sanctuary was the best choice.  The one surprise was the antique car collection at the culture center.  These were the cars that made it to Alaska in the early 20th century.  The totem poles and Tlingit artwork are among the most iconic designs of the Alaskan native people.  We went to a replica of their Clan House and learned about the “Potlatch”.  It’s a big family celebration, often including the raising of a totem pole. The family holding the Potlatch gains status by creating the greatest extravaganza.  It’s an honor to go into debt doing so.  Is this too reminiscent of a certain coming of age celebration, I ask?  Anyway, we saw Alaska’s only female totem pole carver.  She was a proud student of her family’s tradition especially since she is the first woman to do this.  By the way, a totem pole for your back yard would run about $2500 per foot.  The one she was working on was 50 feet – you do the math.  From there we went to an eagle sanctuary and salmon fish hatchery.  The eagles were so remarkable and so is their wing span.  Hopefully Risa was able to give you a visual of that fact.  The salmon hatchery is doing all it can to maintain the salmon population of Alaska.  They release hundreds of thousands of salmon in the sea every year.  Finally we got to the Totem Pole Center and saw more great examples of Native Alaskan artwork.  One tidbit about the art.  In order to make the paint that has survived many hundreds of years the women of the clan would mix the ore or minerals found in the earth to make the black, red and blue used in the paint with the oil from the salmon eggs.  But the binding ingredient used to keep this mixture together was the mystery our guide asked us to solve.  He said it was a substance peculiar to the women of the clan.  That really had our imaginations going wild.  After a few embarrassing guesses he revealed that it was the urine of the women.  The abundance of the female hormones found in the urine gave the paint its longevity.  Wild, huh?