October

Early this month I heard Stacy Bare speak about our mental health and spending time outdoors.  Rusty and I both love spending time outdoors and so most things he talked about resonated with me.  Stacy's intended audience was UNL students.  With the high rate of depression among young people, I felt his presentation was most appropriate. 

If interested, check out either of these two links:

https://www.thenorthface.com/about-us/outdoor-exploration/champions/stacy-bare.html

or

https://blog.theclymb.com/out-there/healing-power-outdoors-interview-veteran-stacy-bare/

Stacy Bare at the UNL student union.

The Flatwater Shakespeare Company performed Macbeth at the Stables at Wyuka Cemetery.  Very appropriately, this is an outdoor venue.  The acting and costuming were superb!  I especially enjoyed the 3 witches.

 

Lady Macbeth and Macbeth take their final bows.

Lincoln's independent theater, the Mary Riepma Ross, shows many documentaries as well as other non-mainstream films.  This month Rusty and I saw two films at the Ross.

Some of you may be old enough to remember reading editorial columns by Molly Ivins.

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/05/movies/raise-hell-the-life-and-times-of-molly-ivins-review.html

Molly wasn't afraid to say exactly what she thought about politicians.

The second movie we saw was "Miles Davis".  His beginnings as a jazz musician happened before there was easy access to camera/video, so the early part of the film is mostly still shots with incredible voice over done by Carl Lumbly.  Many of Mile's sidemen are interviewed in the documentary.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miles_Davis

 

Miles Davis:  Birth of the Cool!

My fellow teachers at Irving still maintain an active book club.  This month we read The Charm Bracelet by Viola Shipman.  It was a very sweet story about 3 generations of women and shared stories revolving around the grandmother's charm bracelet.  Although the book is not challenging (think Hallmark movie), it did inspire me to purchase a charm and a bracelet for my granddaughter, Ruby.  I also wrote a short story for her about the meaning of the charm.  I'll be sending the book and bracelet to her for her 9th birthday next month.

In mid October we went to the Rococo Theater to hear Stefon Harris and Blackout.  Stefon is a  vibraphone and marimba player.    He was amazing!

Stefon Harris and Blackout

 

Hammering out some cool sounds!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stefon_Harris

After the performance we went to the after party at the Capital Cigar Lounge.  Because of Rusty's connection with musicians, we were invited into the private members only section.  We had fun chatting with some of the more famous, but it was a very late night for two old people like us.

Sharing a cigar at the Capital Cigar Lounge

OLLI (Osher Lifelong Learning Institute) and UNL presented an all-day symposium on Women's Rights, commemorating the centennial anniversary of the 19th Amendment.  Speakers addressed the history of the struggles for women's suffrage; the impact of women in elections over the past century, women's involvement in elective office, and the status of women's rights on a global scale.

I spent a half day in Seneca Falls, NY a few years back and have also read several books about women's suffrage, but I still found plenty of new and interesting information at the symposium.

Our good friend, Artes Johnson, has spent much time over the last few years researching, filming, and presenting information about the largest African American settlement in Nebraska; the 1910 census recorded 8 residnets in DeWitte. His work is called "Descendants of DeWitte."  I had an opportunity to see his film this month.

Lincoln Journal Star article about the Descendants of DeWitte project

The Nebraska Chamber  Players gave another outstanding performance this month!  We heard pieces by Mozart, Berkeley and Bowen.

 

The Nebraska Chamber Players

Our baby maple tree had its first very red leaf this year.

On Sunday at church a six-piece jazz group sang "Autumn Leaves" and this is what the parking lot looked like.

Another OLLI event I attended this month was a tour of a home-grown company called

HUDL.

https://www.hudl.com/

This is a sports technology company that was founded in 2006 by three UNL graduates and now employs more than 1,300 people globally and about 500 at its headquarters in Lincoln.

Hudl employees around the globe tune in live to watch the company's weekly all-hands presentation held at headquarters.

Some of the perks at this company are unlimited paid time off, covered individual healthcare premiums, free catered lunch, professional development stipends and tickets to professional sporting events.  If I were still in my 20's I definitely would be looking for a job at Hudl! We had a fair number of Trick-or-Treaters tonight.  I've gotten to know many of the neighborhood kids and was looking forward to seeing them in costume.  Here are the 3 Tran kids who live next door. Haley Jason Ava Happy Halloween!

September

One of my more recent projects was the 18 year-old bench on the front porch.  It was faded and rusted, so I prepped it and painted it.  Then I made a coordinating cushion.

...and I had a new sign made for my garden.

Love the fall colors!

We celebrated Lindsay's 41st birthday at KOEN Japanese BBQ and Shushi.

Jeff, Lindsay, Celeste, Di, Rusty

Celeste is pretty good as using chopsticks!

We had some fun at "The Hub and Soul" with live music and good food.

Longtime friends, Rich and Susan.

My Just Sayin' bike group had about 40 people at our end-of-season picnic.

Di, Kristi, Ellie

The evening ended with a beautiful full moon.

My Loveknotter's group enjoyed a lovely brunch on Chris's deck.

Jan, Linda, Chris, and special guest, Mom.

Dar and Tom came for a visit and brought Mom with them.

Tom whipped up a nice big breakfast of steak and eggs.

Dar was the sous chef.

Dar helped pick cherry tomatoes.

We took everyone to hear Big Band Jazz at Che Sodo.

Enjoying the music: Rusty, Mom, Dar, Tom

Mom is not a huge dog-lover, but Gretchen convinced her otherwise.

Gretchen played rough tug-of-war with Tom, but was very gentle with Mom. 

It was so great to spend time with my Mom!

Mom and I spent a half-day touring the State Capitol.

Afterwards we stopped by locally owned bookstore, Francie and Finch, so Mom could see my new postcards for sale.

My favorite evening with my Mom was when I was able to help her take a bath.  Her independent living quarters only allows for showers, and she much prefers a bath.  I was able to get her in and out of the tub safely, give her some soaking time, and then wrap her up in a fluffy, white, robe.  "I feel like a princess!" she said.  A special memory for me!

Not a great picture, but we were thrilled to spend an evening listening to the St. Louis Symphony.

ANOTHER TRIP TO THE BWCAW

Day 1, suuny, warm, no wind.  Perfect!

Guide, Steve, and special guest, Kate.

At the start of Little Indian Sioux River, the foam looked like small icebergs.

This is the same campsite we shared with Dar and Tom a year ago.

I can't remember all of our many trips and the many places we have stayed, so I always refer to specific places as having...

Trees

Rocks

(some pretty moss on these rocks)

and Water

Lorvey, I'm working on my pano technique.

We had plenty of fish every evening, and usually leftovers for breakfast, and sometimes lunch.

Kate is depositing fish guts on a nearby rock.  It was fun to watch the eagles come in and snatch them.

This picture shows the distance from our campsite to our view of the hungry eagles.

Me on the portage near the rushing waterfall.

Lunch on Heritage Lake.  (Rusty, Steve, Kate)

Kate and Steve on the portage to Shell Lake.

I'm preparing a Boletus Mushroom that I found (looks a lot like a giant hamburger bun) for dinner.

Chef Steve always prepares wonderful meals!

 On the third morning Steve was preparing the fire for coffee when he saw a bull moose swimming across the opening to a portage on the other side of the lake.

Conversations around the campfire are special, engaging, and informative.

I took this picture just to embarrass Rusty.  After dropping me off at camp, he paddled the tandem canoe from the stern out to get fresh water.

Promotional pictures often show the bow up in the air, but it is not a desirable way to paddle a canoe.

We had several storms in the evening, so the canoe needed to be flipped in order to avoid being filled with water, and snuggled in the trees so as not to be blown away.

Our canoe at rest for the evening.

It was a great trip with some very pretty views of the wilderness!

Reflections

Forever pool