Outline

Rachel Cusk is the author of Outline, a book I picked up from the free book cart at the library in Webster, Wisconsin. She is an excellent writer. A woman living in London gets a job teaching writing to a group of ten people in Athens, Greece. She gets into a conversation with her neighbor on the plane.  He ends up taking her for rides and swims on his boat several times. Then he tries to kiss her and she wants no part of that. She has friends in Athens and has meals with them and their friends. She listens to the stories of her students. Finally, on the day she is due to fly out, she meets the next writing teacher who is already in her apartment when she woke up. During the week she gets calls from her children. One of them got lost on his way to school so she talked him through that and he wasn't late. After reading this book, I want to go back to Greece but maybe not in the summer.

 

Chimney Rock

 I was super excited to come back to Winona because a lady had a 1 bedroom house available for rent for only $800 and it was RIGHT ON THE RIVER! Turns out she listed it as available before the current tenant decided to move. And he's not moving now. I should be glad I didn't get it because I would not like her as a landlord. Shucks. Maybe I'll return in May and look again. In the paper I read about a Festival of Trees at the Winona Hospital. I got there about 9:30. Fifteen older women were just setting up. The festival starts tomorrow. I looked around anyway. Since I was parked next to the lake I decided to go for a walk around it. I always like to carry a leaf or a stick or a pine cone in my hand when I walk. I walked into the grassy area next to the lake where the lotus flowers grew. I was real happy to get a lotus seed pod to hold. It rained some but I had a rain coat on. I thought about all the cool animals or birds I have seen this year. I saw manatee in Crystal River. I saw a black bear in Tamarack Park. I saw a weasel right on this path in Winona. I saw a golden winged warbler at Maplewood State Park. I saw a green anole in Little Rock. In a couple weeks I need to go to Duluth to get my teeth cleaned. Maybe I will take Highway 1 into Ely and hopefully see a moose. By the time I got back to my car I needed to use the restroom so I went back to the hospital and saw the festival of trees. Then I drove over to Levee park to see the Mississippi. Both the Winona University research boat and the tour boats were out in the water out of sight. I did see one tug boat. I drove over near the library to read the Winona paper and the Saint Paul Pioneer Press. Tomorrow I will scoot over to Minneapolis to vote with Offspring #2.

You can see chimney rock across the lake. The yellow tree on the left in a gingko which is one of my favorite trees. My former friend, Monica, had gold earrings shaped like gingko leaves and I always admired them.

This Is Actually Not Possible

What in the world? The last time I used this zipper on my suitcase was October 30th. This morning I tossed my sun hat on top of the suitcase and the string went through the hole! Now I am going to have to cut the string from the hat and sew it back on again. I just don't understand. Can you explain it because I sure would like an explanation.

 

Wandering Stars

 A couple of years ago I read There There by Tommy Orange. Wandering Stars is a sequel to that book. The story starts out with the Sand Creek Massacre on 1864. Then we read about the Carlisle Indian School. And finally we learn about the aftermath of the mass murder at the Pow Wow in Oakland, California which happened in the First Book. The Native Americans in the story are all related to the young man who survived the Sand Creek massacre.  This book is a terrible indictment about America's war on it's own people. I loved it.

Artsy Day

Cedar Rapids has quite the art scene down here.

Grant Wood is one of my ten favorite American artists. Norman Rockwell is my favorite. Grant moved here at age 3 or 4 when his father died and lived mostly in this town until he died at age 51 of pancreatic cancer. So he was mostly a town boy and not a farm boy and he liked to draw things back on the farm when he was young.

He studied art design in Minneapolis for 3 summers after graduating from high school.

Later he studied in France, Germany, and Italy.

This is his portrait of his mother. They lived together for most of their lives. They say their relationship could be contentious.

He had tons of friends coming over and she got tired of answering the door. Behind this man is a map of Iowa.

When his sister's husband was in the hospital getting cured of tuberculosis, she stayed with them too.

Once a fire broke out and all three of them had some injuries.

This door has a clock on it. When Grant left he would use the clock arms to indicate if he was gone, where he had gone, when he would be back, or if he was in the bath tub. He had his bathtub sunk into the floor of the hayloft of the carriage house he lived in next to a mortuary. I need a door like this.

After seeing the art museum I walked over to that carriage house and watched a movie and got a tour of the upstairs.

The tour guide was very knowledgeable.

For a time he taught school. He made this bench that sits outside of the principal's office. It's pretty funny. He had students cut out designs out of tin based on a template he gave them. He took all those pieces of ten, lined them up in vertical rows, and used them to cover his radiator pipes. He also had students paint the wood on his floors. I asked if that was ethical. I was told it was ethical at that time.

They say he was a favored teacher.

He quit teaching because he made more money doing portraits. He started a theater company in Cedar Rapids too.

Grant Wood lead an influential life. One of his early jobs was making designer jewelry.

Too bad he had to die so young. He was married once to an opera singer. When she traveled to California to visit friends, he broke up with her via letter. They were married only a short time. He had no children.

The man in the picture was his dentist. The woman is his sister.

This one showing the rolling hills and farmland of Iowa is my favorite. The docent said there was much art available to see at the Stewart Library at Coe College. So I walked over there too. I decided not to take any pictures as I had taken so many already. I walked back to my car based on pure memory thank you very much. I drove to a park to look at the Cedar River before heading back to my hotel.

 

Side Trip

 As I drove from Independence, Missouri to Cedar Rapids, Iowa, I noticed more and more trees with no leaves left on it. Most of the corn has been harvested but not all corn. In one 20 minute period of time I saw 1 National Park Police truck, and 7 other local police cars or trucks pass me. I was going to arrive in Cedar Rapids early so when I saw a sign for the Amana Colonies I took the exit on impulse. An extra 25 miles won't hurt. A sign said Willkommen! I didn't get out of the car but now I wish I had decided to stay here instead of Cedar Rapids.