For the shortest month of the year there sure are a lot of things to celebrate! Abe Lincoln's birthday, Presidents' Day, Valentines Day, Black History Month, etc.
On the first day of the month we attended the Nebraska Jazz Orchestra concert. I especially like this yearly concert because it celebrates the "Young Lions." These are high school students from all over the state who compete to perform at this event.
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| Ed Love directs the Young Lions |
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| Enjoying the concert |
Bob Washut, accomplished jazz composer, arranger, and piano player, was the featured guest. I especially enjoyed his versions of "Reverend Jack," "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes," and "Giant Steps."
We went to a concert at the Pinnacle Bank Arena with James Taylor and Bonnie Raitt. It was fabulous!
Early the next morning we drove to Omaha to catch a non-stop flight to Philadelphia.
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| The time-stamp on this photo says I had a BloodyMary at 10:22 a.m. while waiting for our flight. |
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| Ready-to-go travelers |
The night we arrived in Philly, I went with Felicia and Ruby to Germantown School to hear a sold-out Acapella concert. Specially qualified groups from around the area were invited to perform.
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| These young men were amazing! |
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| This group was from Germantown School. Awesome! |
Rusty enjoyed the evening at the Kimmel Center where Sam played with the Philadelphia Orchestra.
I dined at a new restaurant with Ruby and Felicia. I learned two new words. The restaurant was called Hygge, pronounced (hue-guh). It is a Danish word that is similar to: a special feeling or moment; cozy, charming.
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| Ruby & Felicia |
The other word I learned was Gruit, which is ale made from herbs and spices.
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| It was delicious! |
The Caviezel family taught Rusty and me how to play Rummy-cub.
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| Ruby gives Sam advice after she has already won. |
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I had a chance to go to a coffee shop and hang out with Ruby.
She helped me play Backgammon with her. |
Rusty and I spent a day at Valley Forge National Park. (Thank goodness the U.S. Government had reopened for business.) What impressed us the most was the immense size of the area; it covers miles and miles.
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| George Washington and the Continental soldiers spent the winter of 1775-76 at Valley Forge. |
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| Valley Forge was the 4th largest city on the continent, following New York, Boston and Philadelphia. |
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| I took a nice long walk along the Schuykill River. |
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| Felicia took us to lunch at the old City Tavern. |
John Adams referred to it as "the most genteel tavern in America." It reportedly has ties with meetings of sedition in 1774 and the response to "the intolerable acts." The Continental Congress's first Fourth of July celebration in 1777 was held here. It was torn down in 1854 and then rebuilt identical to the original by the National Park Service in 1975.
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I had the flight of General Washington's Tavern Porter, Thomas Jefferson's 1774 Tavern Ale,
Poor Richard's Tavern Spruce, and Alexander Hamilton's Federalist Ale. |
Mars is the new owner of the Caviezel household.
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| He is a charmer! |
The Philadelphia Museum of Art had a traveling exhibit that featured famous designer dresses. I couldn't miss it!
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| The gowns were from 1947 and moving forward with the majority being in the '50s and '60s. |
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| (see below) |
A few days after the Philly trip Rusty played with the Lincoln Municipal Band in our city's celebration of Abe Lincoln's birthday.
This year Valentine's Day was another special event for Rusty and me, and also our guest, Lorraine.
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| Dolled up and ready to go. |
Abendmusic hosted and evening of love songs, followed by wine and hors d'oeuvres.
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| Tom, Ariel, Drew |
It was billed as a concert by Two-and-a-half Tenors." Tom (left) is self-deprecating and referred to himself as the Half Tenor, but he certainly held his own with Ariel and Drew. There was a special moment when Tom's two children (about 3 and 5) surprised him and came to the stage. He held them and sang Mr. Roger's song, "It's You I Like."
Rusty and I love to cook and entertain ourselves by trying something new. This one was a winner!
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| Baked cod and Eggplant with filling. |
The cello professor at UNL is a member of the Concordia String Trio. They did numbers from Enescu, List (not Franz), Fine and Beethoven. My biking friends and I enjoyed the performance.
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| Karen Becker, surrounded by me and her biking friends. |
There were too many Black History events for me to attend them all, but the Nebraska Historical Museum had an event I enjoyed about famous "colored" people of Lincoln in the early 1900's.
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Ed Zimmer, our local historian, did the presentation.
Pictured here are two sisters who came from a tribe in Africa; each
one became a professional career woman. |
I was fascinated by the beauty, elegance and intimacy of the photographs from Earl McWilliams and John Johnson. They were taken on black and white glass negatives and so there is no record of who the subjects are. Careful research has enabled Ed Zimmer to identify a few of the people in the pictures.
Another man, Aaron Douglas, is called the Father of Black Art. He graduated from the University of Nebraska with a degree in art before moving to Harlem. He was a working artist of the Harlem Renaissance and an integral part of the New Negro Movement.
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| This mural was installed on the 135th Street branch of the New York Public Library. |
Sadly, once the KKK became prominent in Lincoln, (mid 1920's), opportunities for "coloreds" were very limited so many of these fine folks did not stay in Lincoln. It was in the mid 1950s before Lincoln Public Schools hired the first Black teacher, although many had applied in previous years.
Before I left the Nebraska Historical Museum, I took a quick trip through their exhibit of "150 Years in Nebraska." Two displays had personal meaning for me. My dad worked for Behlen Manufacturing and was friends with his boss, Walt. Walt's daughter wore this gown when she was an Ak-Sar-Ben Countess.
The other display was of a canoe.
Rusty and I are building a canoe that I think will be much prettier than this one. However, we are in our fifth year and it still isn't finished. I have faith we will get there!
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| Rusty gives advice and jams a little with a couple players from Ogalala. |
Many people in Lincoln are complaining about the snow and the cold and the long winter, Call us crazy, but Rusty and I took a short vacation up north where it was just a little colder and snowier.
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| At times, travel was slow-going. |
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| We had a lovely evening with our friend and guide, Steve Johnson. |
We spent a day skiing on
groomed trails, something we don't have in Lincoln.
We hung out at The Front Porch, a local coffee shop.
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| The man in the ball cap is who we rent from when we stay in a wilderness cabin. |
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| Rusty liked this sign at the coffee shop. |
We spent another day snowshoeing across Hegman Lake which is inside the Boundary Waters.
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| Di crossing the portage. |
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| The southern half of Hegman Lake. The tiny dot out there is Rusty. |
The regional dog-sled race happened while we were in Ely. It was as much fun to watch the mushers feed and prepare their teams as watching the race itself.
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| Looking through the screen at our hotel while mushers feed the team. |
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| This outfit had a smoke stack on the back of the pickup. |
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| Mushers work in sub-zero temps to prepare for the race. |
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| These dogs are harnessed and anxious to pull a sled. |
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| Magnusson Racing is a professional outfit; racing dogs is their only occupation. |
The teams took off every two minutes for a run of either 30 or 50 miles. It was very hard for the holders to hang onto the team before the timer said "Go!"
Over half the people at the race were wearing mukluks. Many were wearing fur hats made from local wildlife.
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| This guy had a coyote skin on his back for warmth. |
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| Of course the low tire signal came on with such freezing temps. |
We had a great time and can't wait to go back in May!
March 1. Happy 93rd Birthday to my beautiful mother!
