Poor John a few days before the crime. Photo by my cousin, Colleen
I cracked an emotional this morning—that’s Aussie slang for having a temper tantrum. It wasn’t a big one, but Poor John and the fellow in the airport knew I wasn’t happy.
Earlier in the morning, we were packing our gear to head from Denver Colorado to Bogota Colombia in South America. At the last minute, I asked Poor John to pack the Vegemite in his bag—after all he had been carrying it most of the time anyway.
Vegemite is an Australia icon. It’s also one of those love-it-or-hate-it foods. I happen to love it. It’s a savoury breakfast spread/paste, made from yeast extract and tasting quite salty. It looks gross—like black–brown shoe polish—but you only need the slightest little bit to transform a piece of toast. I love it spread ever-so-thinly on toast with sliced tomato and cheese. Poor John likes it okay, but nowhere near as much as me.
So what was the problem today? Poor John packed my precious Vegemite—the jar that we had already carried for seven weeks—in his carry-on pack.
My heart sank when they pulled him over at security. I just knew it was the Vegemite. I hadn’t noticed that he packed it in carry-on, but I still knew it was doomed.
The security guy didn’t know what Vegemite was—it’s not a gel or a liquid I said—but he sure wasn’t going to let it through. He was nice about it, even apologetic. He said we could take the bag back and check it in, but that’s not an option if you’ll miss your flight. I could tell he felt bad, but I figured some of his concern was directed at the fellow (Poor John) I clearly wanted to throttle.
It was only after I stamped away from the counter that I thought to ask if he’d have let peanut butter through. Vegemite is the same principle. Does anyone know if peanut butter gets allowed through?
Anyway, I begged the guy not to destroy it. ‘It’s precious stuff. Ask around and give it to someone who’s been to Australia,’ I said. But he assured me it would go in the bin. What a heartbreaking waste.
I was pretty dark for the next couple of hours. Good grief, Poor John is a seasoned traveller and surely knew better than to pack it in carry-on.
I’m mostly over it now—this public whinge (complaint) sure helps. But four months without Vegemite will be quite depressing. I took one jar through Asia (seven months) and three jars to Africa (one year). In our last little bit of travel in Africa, I gave the limited remains of the third jar to a group of young Aussie backpackers. They were over the moon and I felt like a fairy godmother.
Katie catches Charlie in mid-flight
I can’t leave the USA (we fly to South America tomorrow) without introducing my great-nephew, Charlie. I’m talking about the little Charlie, because there’s a big Charlie too, who is my nephew.
Little Charlie is the second son of my niece, Katie. He’s a live-wire to say the least and might as well be named Houdini. He’s into everything, impossible to contain, fast on his feet, an accomplished climber, a pretty good shot when he throws and a quick learner. Katie is doing a fantastic job as Superwoman—and comes close to corralling and keeping up with him.
At the moment, she is living with her mother, who happens to be my sister, Susan.
Katie’s husband, George, is with the US Army in Afghanistan until the end of the year. So Katie is doing an amazing job of managing two energetic sons. Her older boy, Georgie, is six now and quite grown up! He’s having lots of fun playing soccer and basketball, and is turning into a good cook too. He sure helped me a lot—and Charlie horned in too.
Little Charlie is about 16 months old now. Several months ago, when Charlie began to walk, Susan and Katie bought every baby gate sold in Oklahoma. The contents of the house are now surrounded by them.
A selection of baby gates and barriers
They are at the top and bottom of stairs, around the entertainment centre, around computers, blocking off rooms full of temptation and danger. At last count there are five gated areas (Susan calls them ‘safe zones’), six doorway gates and three portable ones to place as needed. The night we arrived, Katie was cutting out a new barrier from a sort of stiff foam. Charlie had figured out that he could climb up and slip through the railings on the stairs.
All that said, the kid has cute in trumps!
Susan posted this story on her Facebook page the other day. A young, childless married woman at Soccer City—during Georgie’s class—observed baby Charlie. ‘He is just adorable,’ she said. A few minutes later she added, ‘Don’t get me wrong, but he is great birth control.’
Jean enjoying the drive!
I can’t resist posting this photo of my cousin, Jean.
When we caught up with Jean and her husband, Wayne, in Omaha for a family wedding, they were chasing a ride-on lawnmower (not literally) that they had ordered about two weeks earlier.
Every time Wayne called, he got the same run-around—it would be in any day now! He finally said to forget it—if it wasn’t in by Tuesday. Then he was going to take his business elsewhere.
We drove back to their place in Minnesota on Monday, and Wayne got the verdict on Tuesday—still no mower. So off we went shopping. The saleman showed them a great used model that only had 396 hours on it. Wayne and Jean had a few spins around the carpark. I never knew a ride-on mower could be so much fun.
I can see this thing providing hours of entertainment, assuming they don’t fight too much over who gets to mow.
Don’t miss Fisherman’s Wharf in Victoria on Vancouver Island.
We almost did because there aren’t many obvious signs pointing to the area—in fact, we saw signs only after we’d been there.
But we were lucky enough to have had dinner with Elyse, a fellow traveller in Africa in 2009. She said the wharf was fun to see and a perfect place for lunch.
So after spending the morning exploring the Royal British Columbia Museum, we took a break and got our hands stamped so we could get back in. Then we headed straight past the ferries and kept walking along the shore for about 20 minutes.
Oh wow, then we came upon it—the Float Home Village!
Float homes you ask? They look exactly like a houseboat. The difference is they don’t have a motor. But they still have a lot going for them—for starters they are colourful, welcoming, unique and quirky!
A trio of float homes
The village has 33 homes. There’s a mix of working people and retirees, and residents range in age from 1 to 70-something.
Lots of homes had signs explaining the benefits of float-home living, such as the ever-changing scenery, access to harbor events, climate and family-friendly community.
Resident have formed an official community association that is active in charity fundraising, environmental projects and other community events.
Several float homes were for sale with prices ranging from $189,000 to $349,000. People aren’t allowed to rent out their float home, but they can have roommates or a caretaker for up to six months if they are away.
Maybe I can talk Poor John into returning one day as caretakers for a few months. He might be tempted. There’s a great ice cream shop and the popular Barb’s Place Fish ‘n Ships!
He could even shop at the secondhand book stall. Check out the recipe I saw there for bear stew.
A visitor adds some chew to the gum wall
Having just written about the spines of cacti, I thought it was worth mentioning the other sticky find we made.
I’m talking about Seattle’s gum wall—considered to be the world’s second germiest tourist destination (the Blarney Stone is No. 1). My cousin, Colleen, took us there as part of a tour of the remarkable Pike Place Market.
Officially known as the Market Theatre Gum Wall, this landmark is covered in used chewing gum—lots and lots of it. The 15-foot-high wall extends for 50 feet and some parts are several inches deep in gum! Some people even create artworks out of their old chews.
Dripping good fun
The gum-sticking tradition began almost 20 years ago when patrons at Seattle’s Theatre Sports stuck gum to the wall and added coins to the blobs. Theater workers scraped the gum away twice, but eventually gave up after market officials decided the gooey wall made for a good tourist attraction.
Seattle’s ghost tour starts by the gum wall and apparently it’s a popular spot for wedding photographs. A scene in the movie, Love Happens, was shot there.
This isn’t the only unusual wall we have seen on our travels. Check out our trips to the John Lennon Wall and love locks of Prague.
Golden Barrel Cactus
I like cacti, but that’s probably because of a story my mother used to tell when I was a child.
Her father had a swag of siblings and most all of them moved to California at a young age, but he stayed in the Midwest. One year, he decided to take the family west for a visit. On the way they stopped often to look at the scenery. At one spot in the desert, grandpa wanted to take a picture of my mother and her sister, my Aunt Peggy.
The girls posed and—just like in the movies—grandpa kept telling them to back up until he could get them framed right in the viewfinder. Of course, he had to stop cold when my mother backed into a small but deadly cactus and ended up with a bum full of spines.
Oh the screams, and the rest of the night was spent lying on her stomach while grandma extracted the hundreds of spines with a pair of tweezers.
I heard the story plenty of times before I ever saw a real cactus, and it always reminded me of the cartoon about Wile E. Coyote and The Road Runner.
So you can imagine how much I enjoyed visiting the cactus house at the Montreal Botanic Garden. Here are some of the beauties we saw. Sorry I don’t know the names of all of them. Let me know if you do.
You can also check out my posts on the garden in general and its Japanese-themed garden. Or check out the sticky stuff at Seattle’s gum wall.
Japanese Garden
I have already written about the Montreal Botanic Garden in general and now I’d like to introduce its exquisite Japanese garden. Opened in June 1988, this show-stopping area combines stone, water and plants to create an environment that is both serene and sophisticated.
Ken Nakajima designed the 2.5-hectare garden and carefully specified the placement of every stone, flower, tree, shrub and water feature. There are peonies, rhododendrons, irises, crab apples and many perennials. A large stone sculpture sits at the edge of a small lake stocked with the colourful carp, called koi.
There is also a cultural pavilion, designed by architect Hisato Hiraoka, with exhibition halls that have displays on bonsai and penjing, artwork, the tea ritual and other aspects of Japanese life.
We saw an elegant wedding gown created by businesswoman Keiko Ichihara and made out of Mino paper. Ms Ichihara is trying to preserve traditional Japanese paper craft by developing innovative ways to use it.
I plan to post items about the cactus, bromeliad and begonia areas of the botanic garden, so come back for more.
Lollypop plants that come from Brazil, Ecuador and Peru
We’ve been skipping around North America, so I reckon it’s okay if the blog skips around a bit too. I just have to jump in and do thing because, frankly, the photos of the Montreal Botanic Gardens have been burning a proverbial hole in my brain.
These gardens are sensational and an absolute must-see if you are ever in Montreal. We spent most of a day there and it was the first touristic thing we did in the city—unless you count the bus rides we took to get there, which were entertaining in their own right.
Brenda, an online Food.com friend of many years, welcomed us to the gardens, which are on the east side of town. She and her husband, Lee, have annual memberships and go often, and it’s easy to see why. Not only did Brenda ‘lure’ us there, but she cagily managed to buy our admission tickets too. That woman is quick, good-hearted, gracious and very generous.
Costa Rican skullcap
The garden was founded in 1931 in the midst of the Depression by then Mayor Camillian Houde. Henry Teuscher designed the grounds and Lucien F. Kéroack, architect, designed the art deco administration building.
The garden spreads over 190 acres (75 hectares). There are 30 outdoor gardens—each with a theme—and numerous greenhouses including 10 for exhibits, and another 45-plus for plant collection, research and propagation.
With such diverse responsibilities, display areas and almost 22,000 plant species and cultivars, the garden is considered one of the most important botanical gardens in the world. Four years ago it was also designated as a National Historic Site of Canada.
A penjing display
Garden staff strive to educate the public in general and students of horticulture in particular, as well as to conserve endangered plant species. The grounds are also home to a botanical research institution, to the Société d’astronomie de Montréal and to the Montreal Insectarium.
Even in winter, when the outdoor gardens are bare or covered with snow, the greenhouses remain open to visitors. Each year, there is also an indoor Butterflies Go Free exhibit that runs from February to April.
In summer, there are more than 100 employees working in the gardens as well as scores of volunteers. There’s no shortage of work, especially when you realise that another name for the Chinese Garden is the Garden of Weedlessness.
By the way, the garden is so huge and with so many themes that I will post separate items on Japanese, cactus and bromeliad gardens—and maybe begonias and simply beautiful leaves too. Stay tuned—so many pics to share.
Sorry for when I don’t know the exact names of everything. I photographed plaques when I saw them and have provided the names I know. Contributions and corrections are most welcome. Garden lovers may also like to see my posts from Adelaide, Dallas and Georgia. And if you’re hungry, check out Cooking on Page 32.
Thanks again Brenda for a fantastic outing!
Minden Opera House stage
Small towns can do great things and that’s definitely the case with the farming community of Minden, Nebraska. Poor John and I had a couple of great nights in July staying near Minden with Steve and Lynne Favinger, dear friends from my university days.
Steve made a point of driving us into town for a good sticky-beak (Aussie slang for a ‘look around’). The community is prospering with new industries, businesses and eateries—I had one of the best-ever reuben sandwiches.
But what really blew us away was the refurbished Minden Opera House. Built in 1891, the opera house stopped being an entertainment centre in the late 1940s.
Ceiling mural features the courthouse and railway
More than 60 years later, the Kearney County Community Foundation set out to restore the then hardware store to its bygone glory. The work took a couple of years and was paid for completely by grants and donations.
The new and improved opera house opened about two years ago. Today it is the setting for all manner of theatrical, musical, educational and community events, such as weddings, conferences, graduations and recitals. When we stayed with Carol Roeder, another long-time friend, we saw a video of her granddaughter’s dance recital at the opera house.
A ‘My Way’ tribute to Frank Sinatra was playing on the weekends around the time we were there, and we were sorry that we had to miss it.
All ready for intermission
But we did get to see the opera house itself. We were especially lucky because Dave, who has a role in looking after the building, was happy to give us an impromptu tour. I got a kick out of the sign on the front door. It stated the opera house hours and went on to say—more or less—that you could get in at other times by making an appointment or getting lucky. Like I said, we were lucky.
Dave showed us the performance hall and stage, along with the ceiling mural (images relevant to Minden) and fibre optic display (the mural lights up to give you an indoor starry night which is hard to photograph). Dave also explained a lot of the background to the renovations.
We even got to see the Green Room, which is decorated with posters, signs, memorabilia, signatures and comments from previous performances. I like Tom Mabe’s two-cent’s worth. Ya gotta love Nebraska weather.
Thanks Minden for offering up such a great stop! And I just noticed that season tickets are a bargain at $60. Book now.
Sculpture in the Gilcrease gardens.
Three places are at the top of my to-go list in Tulsa area—Woolaroc, the Will Rogers Memorial and the Gilcrease Museum.
I’ve already introduced the first two, so now its time to stop by the Gilcrease, which has the world’s largest and most comprehensive collection of art, artifacts, manuscripts, documents and maps from the American West. It galleries display and store more than 250,000 items.
Oilman Thomas Gilcrease started the collection in the 1930s after he toured Europe, where he was impressed by the wealth and grandeur of Old World culture.
On his return home, he looked to his own heritage for inspiration and set about creating a collection of fine objects that reflected the breadth of Native American history and culture.
He bought entire of collections of western artworks, as well as books, photographs and associated archival material. These and other acquisitions brought him important pieces by Frederic Remington, Charles Russell, Thomas Moran, George Catlin, Willard Stone, Alfred Jacob Miller, Thomas Eakin and many more.
Butterflies grace the Gilcrease gardens
On periodic forays to the famous artists’ colony at Taos, New Mexico, Gilcrease developed friendships with and purchased paintings directly from several artists. He also extended his encouragement and support to promising young Native American artists.
His first museum opened in San Antonio, but due to a lack of interest in that part of Texas, he moved the collection to Tulsa in 1949.
By 1953, Gilcrease found himself financially strapped and unable to pay some $2.5 million he owed to business associates and to galleries and art brokers for various acquisitions.
As he began to look for a way out of his difficulties, several suitors for his collection emerged. To fend off the entrees of competitors and to keep the collection in tact, the City of Tulsa organized a successful bond issue in 1954, designed to pay the oilman’s debts and to secure his treasures for the community.
Later in the 1950s, Gilcrease deeded his collection, the museum buildings and more than 13 acres of land to the community.
More sculpture at Gilcrease.
Today the City of Tulsa and The University of Tulsa work in partnership to preserve and advance the museum and its many themed gardens.
The images here are from the Gilcrease gardens. I wish I could have shown photos of artworks inside—especially paintings by Moran and sculptures by Remington. But the museum no longer allows photography inside. If I ever find the photos I took in the 1990s, I add some here.
Where to next? 