DC Current vs. Philadelphia Spinners, May 26, 2013

(2013 Sean Carpenter for UltiPhotos)

. . . look at that . . .  upper left of photo:  Addie with napkin on her lap eating a burrito, me with my hand over my mouth, probably saying, "oooohhh - catch it!" (or having a reaction to the Chipotle's burrito I just ate), and Mary and John doing play-by-play.

Major League Ultimate Frisbee is amazing.  Addie has been playing city-league Ultimate for a couple of years and has become a follower of DC Current, so she brought us to a game to watch them play the Philadelphia Spinners.  Now I am a DC Current fan.  The game is fast moving like soccer and rugby and there are elements of basketball in the way the players move on the field on offense and defense.  But while the players, cutters and handlers, move swiftly with agility, sometimes breaking out at top speed toward the goal, the frisbee often seems separate and isolated, hovering or progressing in slow motion high in the air.  

This is where the crowd interaction comes in.  As the frisbee is flung down field like a hail-mary pass in football, imagine your vision screen splitting.  On the field the action becomes fast forward with players picking and cutting and swirling until two players bust out like wide receivers and book it toward the goal and the direction of the frisbee.  But in the air it's slow motion and that is where the attention of the crowd is.  We anticipate the throw then lean in toward the take-off, rise from our seats as the frisbee gains altitude, bodies slowly moving in unison, shoulder to shoulder, following the frisbee as it progresses downfield, locating the receiver and defender on the field, calculating time, velocity, and distance to contact, frisbee-receiver-defender, frisbee-receiver-defender, frisbee-receiver-defender . . . we become one with the frisbee . . . reeeeeeach . . . ahhhh . . . serious hang time, an eternity really . . . snag! goal!  Our voices provide a soundtrack as well.  "Oh . . . aaaaaa-aaaaaa-AAAAAA-AAAAAA-AAHHHHHHHHHHH . . . AHHH?   ?   OH!"

Phew, I just relived those moments.  So, so fun.

So there is an art connection.  Basketball, tennis, and now Ultimate Frisbee is art to me.  There is grace, agility, choreography, expression, passion, and beauty.  Sports, like art, is a big part of my life; it influences my way of observing and perceiving and being in the world.  It provokes such emotion in me - joy, mostly, although it is satisfying and acceptable to yell, "Ah, you're a BUM!"  (like I'm from the 1940's, right.)

Take a look at the Ultimate Frisbee photos I've added and also through the link below.  There is art there:       

photos: DC Current vs Philadelphia Spinners

(MLU photo)

(MLU photo)

Paper Moon Diner

(photo by welcometobaltimorehon.com)

I've been back at home on MDI for a couple of days now, after visiting Baltimore and my daughters, and celebrating Addie's graduation from college.  Eating at Paper Moon Diner was one more highlight of the fabulous weekend in Charm City.  Addie and I had eaten there before - she brought me a few years ago after introducing me to the Baltimore Museum of Art - special day.  So we knew we had to take John and Mary because the restaurant is very . . . colorful . . . and the food is de-licious!  Today, I'm still thinking about the diner and our memorable meal.

For me it was, what Addie calls "a life-changing experience."  Addie's life has "never been the same" since she experienced this same life changer three years before at Paper Moon Diner.  We knew about it, but never really understood it.  Seemed silly, really. But no, not silly, for real.  This life-changer is a:  

Bacon Milkshake 

"Bacon Maple Syrup and Bacon Crumbles blended with your choice of vanilla or chocolate ice cream."

I ordered it because it was challenging and chocolate, and because it was there.  It arrived in a tall, old-fashioned frosty milkshake glass piled high with real, dense, sweet whipped cream, chocolate-drizzled, with a long, thick slab of bacon slid into the blended chocolate ice cream.  Was the bacon ornament or nourishment?  It was art cuisine, sensuous and seductive.  It was overwhelming.

And I drank all of it . . . now I am different in the world, I am changed, my perspective has shifted.  My life is more interesting for having consumed a Bacon Milkshake.  Yum.

I probably should mention that I also consumed a:

Grilled Havarti  

"Grilled Sunflower bread with melted havarti, fresh spinach, and mango chutney."

You know when your server sets your plate in front of you and you don't even bother to look at the other plates of food that have been served at the table because your own is so riveting, and you take your first bite and hold it in your mouth and savor every layer of flavor, and in one moment you begin to hum and do a subtle, little dance in your chair, and close your eyes for just another moment, and then open them and smile and say, "oh my . . . this is soooo good"?  That's what I did. Yum. 

trust me, it was beautiful

Paper Moon Diner Lobby

                           

Away From Home - Baltimore!

John, Mary, and Addie (the one posing)

Baltimore is the place Addie has chosen to live.  On Friday morning she graduated from college and on Saturday morning she moved in to her house in Charles Village.  After we hauled her stuff, she gave us a walking tour of her new neighborhood, a several block radius of early 20th century row houses, and funky shops and restaurants; facades and porches are painted brilliant, offbeat colors, especially vivid in the bright beautiful day.  We like Addie's new digs.  I can't imagine her anywhere else, for now.  

Addie and John

We continued a short distance to the Baltimore Museum of Art to see the Matisse collection - my idea, but they were happy to join me, John, Mary, and Addie.  We like museums.  I'm thinking how lucky I am that Mary, who lives in DC, and Addie are so conveniently close to world class art museums - for when I visit them, or . . . for when I need a place to stay while visiting the museums.  But anyway, Matisse was as dazzling as ever.  I was star-struck, in awe, and content.  

We talked all about Matisse, Charles Village, and what is Addie going to do now? over gluten-free Indian food and cupcakes (what?) at Sweet 27.  (We didn't miss the gluten.)  One day away from graduation, Addie is in the phase of, "Well, I'm going to make a plan to make a plan . . . "  So she's on her way.  Each of us offered our own kind of support and encouragement:  John is confident that, "whatever, she's going to be just fine."  Mary, her older sister, is honest and practical in her recent, similar experience, sure that, "well, reality will hit and . . . "  And I am hopeful, while confident that Addie is off-beat and brilliant like the colors of her neighborhood.

On leaving the restaurant I took this photo of the facade.  We strolled away while I reviewed the image and I was startled at the Matisse-like quality of the design and color.  I scanned through the other images of the row houses and saw that all the colors are Matisse colors, as if Charles Village was his canvas and his Fauvist, Impressionist, Abstract Expressionist palate highlighted roof peaks, turrets, columns, porch rails and steps.  It is all so whimsical.  

Sweet 27 Cupcakes and Cafe

I made some color comparisons.  I can't help but think the residents looked to Matisse for inspiration:    

Young Woman in a Blue Blouse, Portrait of L.N.  Delektorskaya

Matisse

1939

Charles Village row houses

Henri Matisse

Place des Lices, St. Tropez

1904

Charles Village row houses

Henri Matisse

Portrait of L. N. Delekorskaya

1947

 

Henri Matisse

Still Life With Lemons

1943

Henri Matisse

The Snail

1953

Tidal Pools at Wonderland

Small Moment Art

May 18, 2013, Wonderland

The tide was just right at Wonderland.  

Kind of mid to low and ebbing.  Massive slabs of grey pink granite had been exposed to the sun for several hours, bleached and salt glistening.   Warmth radiated from the stone, moderating the cool spring air and sunlight reflected off stone and water creating a luminous Impressionistic effect.

Isles of Shoals, Broad Cove

Childe Hassam

1911

After taking in the familiar

panoramic view of the Western Way,

the islands, and the 

mountains of MDI,

I found myself drawn to the pools

left by the receding ocean tide

in the granite hollows.

I think they are incredibly intriguing with their tiny 

micro-worlds of marine plants and animals,

each one a small moment in time.

I'm a kid again crouched and imagining and poking

and greeting critters, and savoring

the feel of the pure, cool salt water on my hands.

I've played in these same tide pools with my daughters.  Wonderland and much of the southwestern shore of MDI was their playground.  Crabs and starfish became their pets and barnacles bloodied their toes, and they discovered that if you hum to a hermit crab (or was it a periwinkle) it will dance.  

They believed that.

They are grown up now and live in cities and will always love their home on MDI.

When they come home,

we hike out together to the granite

shore of Wonderland, seeing it as if for the first time, again.

So, yup, I'm thinking about my daughters as I'm poking about in tide pools, my head down, focused in, discovering and imagining and remembering.  

Oh . . . hey John.

Beautiful day.

Stopping by Somes Sound

                    Somes Sound Taken from the Somesville Road, James Emery, 1886                                                         Photo, S. Maxwell                      

         
         

March 24, 2012,  Mount Desert Island

Every day I drive by this view

Every day for 12 years

I've driven past sipping coffee, planning my day

the slow poke in front of me slowing me down from rushing my day

But today

I drive slowly and

stop

and say, “. . . wait a minute . . . ”

I park the car

get out

and walk a few feet into the field

a little to the left, a little to the right

up, down

Finally, “This is the spot.”

I look.  I think, “Amazing . . . .”

​

What is amazing, really, and what is so true, and what is so cliche is how I rush, 

take things for granted, donʼt stop and smell the roses, 

and all of that. 

I miss time spent with so much that is beautiful around me.

Iʼm too often whizzing by.

But today 
I chose to stop.

​