Chicago Adventure: Art and More Art

Over the past 13 years, my family has explored children's museums, toy and Legos museums, science museums, air and space museums, natural history museums and zoos. We've visited a mint, an open-pit iron mine, an underground iron mine, the National Mall and even that goofy Mystery Spot in Michigan's Upper Peninsula.

But we had never taken in an art museum beyond seeing the Mounties at the Tweed. So I was surprised on this trip to Chicago that one of the first things our recently turned teen wanted to see was art. Specifically, he wanted to visit Cloud Gate, aka The Bean, and Crown Fountain at Millennium Park, which he had learned about in 6th grade art class with Mrs. Hannu. But he also didn't balk, much, when I suggested, well maybe insisted, we visit the Art Institute.

We had fun interacting with and photographing the reflective bean and the enormous wall of glass bricks that projects faces of native Chicagoans. It was good to be outside. Being hearty Duluthians, the brisk wind off Lake Michigan didn't deter us. But it did keep the crowds away and make it easier to slip inside the Art Institute on the pretense of getting warm.

One hour or two? A compromise. Four exhibits or six, and a trip to the gift shop? Another compromise. Instead of standing on the stairs while I use the restroom, go look at the glass paperweights. I was beginning to think this would be a trying experience. But when I entered the hall, my son was eager to show me the paperweights he liked best.

We both were in awe of the Hall of Miniatures, European and American rooms crafted on a scale of one inch to one foot. And he was absorbed in photographing exhibits in the Hall of Medieval and Renaissance arms and armor. I sensed reluctance when we moved on to paintings, but then we happened upon some Van Goghs. We had recently watched the Dr. Who episode of "Vincent Meets the Doctor," so we had to explore that room and a few more.

I was looking forward to examining some architectural works by Frank Lloyd Wright, but I could tell he really wanted to head to the hotel for a late afternoon nap. And who wouldn't after boarding a plane at 6:30 a.m.?

We made a quick stop in the gift shop. Realizing we had missed Andy Warhol, Edward Munch, Edward Hopper's Nighthawks, the Chagall windows and more, I almost headed back into the museum. But common sense prevailed. He had visited his first art museum and, for the most part, enjoyed it.

Insightfulness Hits Home

I just completed J.D. Vance’s Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis. It’s a good read, especially if you want to glean an understanding (Does anyone think our country could use more empathy these days?) of the plight of poor whites in greater Appalachia.

Listening to a panel of authors on CBS’ Face the Nation on New Year’s Day, I had pledged to read this book and a couple of others: Diane Guerrero’s In the Country We Love: My Family Divided and Amani Al-Khatahtbeh’s Muslim Girl: A Coming of Age. Vance’s book was the first of these I came across in the new books section at Mount Royal library branch.

Beyond its relevance to the divisions in our country today, Hillbilly Elegy gave me a lot to think about regarding my own experiences growing up and living my young adult years in West Virginia. I – thankfully -- grew up in a much, much more stable family than J.D. Vance. I didn’t experience divorce, multiple fathers, a drug-addicted mother, extreme neglect, and poverty during my childhood.

But I reported on the effects of such family instability spilling over, often messily, into communities during the first five years of my journalism career covering eight rural counties around Parkersburg, W.Va. I was perplexed at some of the stupid, violent, even murderous acts otherwise calm and reasoned people committed.  And I had heard of cases where someone who was defending their family’s honor – that Hillbilly Code of Honor – wouldn’t be convicted.

I left my home state in 1989. My husband, son and I still travel back annually to visit my Mom and cousins. I’m proud of my Appalachian heritage. Sometimes I long to return and just stay in the home my mother and father built on that acre of former farmland up a hollow. It would be foolish to move my son and husband from a state that’s always near the top of the rankings on education, health, economics, environment and opportunities to a state that’s always near the bottom. And I wish that wasn’t so.

New Rebel Forces

Tom and I accompanied this motley crew and others to Star Wars: The Force Awakens up at Lakes Cinema last night. I'm not so sure I'd want to meet up with these guys on Mos Eisley.

A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away...

So how do you bring a new generation up to speed on a movie series they didn't grow up watching? In discussing the new Star Wars movie that's due out next month at our son's soccer games this fall, we realized that several of his teammates hadn't seen the original three or later three movies. The solution, a Star Wars movie marathon sleepover, developed from there.

Last Saturday, we hosted six boys for a viewing of the six movies on the big screen at our synagogue. They spread out camping mattresses and sleeping bags on the floor and settled in for the shows. In between they played Paintball together on networked computers, enjoyed pizza, snacks and breakfast, and got about three hours of sleep.

Good thing we decided to start with the original three movies, which lead into the new one. We ran out of time midway through the second of the later movies. The boys have a solution to that: have another Star Wars movie marathon sleepover. However, it might be a while before my husband and I fully recover.

Dr. Who Conundrum

When my 10-year-old son decided to be Dr. Who this Halloween, my initial reactions:

• Way cool!
• Which doctor, and if it's the 10th will he fit into my old Converse high tops?
• Hope he isn't disappointed when people can't figure out who he is.

We headed out trick-or-treating last night. Imagine our surprise when, after knocking on the doors of just two immediate neighbors, we ran into two more versions of the 11th Doctor. The three "Doctors" lined up for the photo at right, their sonic screwdrivers engaged.

In case you're wondering what's on my son's head: To quote the Doctor, "It's a fez. I wear a fez now. Fezes are cool." (Bow ties are too.)

I only wished I had bought that fleece jumpsuit made to look like the TARDIS. I could have stood on a strategic street corner instead of traipsing about the neighborhood as J.K. Rowling's sorting hat.

Great Literature

By sheer coincidence I find myself reading two books about the sea simultaneously. Both are turning out to be excellent reads, most notably for their absorbing tales and descriptive writing.

Our family read-aloud is Margi Preus' "Heart of a Samurai," a book that was gifted to my 10-year-old son. It's a story about a Japanese boy who is shipwrecked, rescued by a whaling ship, and comes to live in America in the 1840s. We're captivated by the boy's efforts to adopt western life, the cultural comparisons he makes, and his struggles to achieve his dream to once again see his family and homeland.

My personal read, E. Annie Proulx' "The Shipping News," is a true delight I discovered in a Little Lending Library on Minnesota Point. A widowed man moves to his ancestral home of Newfoundland with his two young daughters and aunt to start new lives.I'm awed by the vivid images of life in Newfoundland, the simple way in which the complex struggles of the dad in starting life over again are portrayed, and the depth the author has given her colorful cast of characters. I savor carefully crafted phrases, such as evoking his daughter's "Beethoven scowl." I'm smitten with the small-town newspaper stories the protagonist and his colleagues cover and, especially, the headlines that run through the main character's mind about his own life.

Both books received high prizes: Preus earned a Newbery Honor, Proulx the 1994 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction.Reading them, makes me commit to writing more regularly and entertain the idea of returning to newspapering -- but at that small-town level where it can be a lot more fun.

Dose of reality

In a heated election year, it's important to have a credible source. I appreciate this organization: www.factcheck.org and the work it does!

Our bookworm

Our son, now a first-grader, read an entire book this afternoon.

It wasn't a picture book, nor an easy reader, but a 106-page chapter book called "Winter of the Ice Wizard," Number 32 in The Magic Tree House series.

He has tackled other chapter books, starting with the "Spiderwick Chronicles," which he completed over the summer. But he hadn't read a whole book in one sitting before.

He reads just about anywhere -- in his bed by headlamp after we've tucked him in for the night, sprawled across the living room floor, on a train ride with Grandma Edna, in the car, in the hammock in my brother-in-law's cabin.

His love of books comes as no surprise, considering I have read to him, and still do, every morning before breakfast and every evening before bedtime since he was born. What sometimes surprises us is the reading level of the books he selects.

We just completed JRR Tolkien's "The Hobbit," a story that continues to captivate my husband and myself, as well.

Other good reads for young boys: The Mouse and the Motorcycle, Runaway Ralph, Ralph S. Mouse (Beverly Cleary)
Henry Huggins, Henry and Ribsy (Beverly Cleary)
Kung Fu Panda: The Movie Storybook (Catherine Hapka)
National Geographic readers: Bats! Snakes! Pandas, Mummies, Storms (various authors)

Mother's Day riddles

A dog, a moon, a ball and a forest -- those were the clues my 6-year-old son gave when trying to have me guess what my Mother's Day surprise involved. And two suns, he added later.

The actual surprise was this painting my husband commissioned of my German shepherd Reba, now deceased, and some of her favorite things.


The suns were a part of my breakfast in bed of Twin Sun Toast, another recipe from my son's Star Wars Cookbook. Like all the other dishes (Oola-la French Toast, Han-Burgers and Galaxy Grilled Cheese) we have made from this book, it tasted great. Although, he and his Dad made quite a mess of the frying pan.

Spring break diversions

While the first half of spring break was absorbed by preparing for and participating in first and second night Passover meals, we still had time to complete Vincent Van Gogh's Starry Night.

Actually I started the puzzle, which my son bought his dad for Chanukah, about a month ago. I pieced together the edges one stormy weekend, thinking it would be a good family diversion. But neither my son nor husband showed much interest in working on it -- until I brought it to the stage in this picture.

We carefully spread a tablecloth over it when we had guests over for dinner. I'd work on it from time to time, sometimes adding a couple pieces before rushing off to work or other activities.

As I post this, 10 pieces remain to be fitted. I'm hoping my 6-year-old son will finish it while I attend a meeting tonight.

Spring break diversions

We had a couple of long-time friends over this evening to play Risk -- Lord of the Rings version. It was awesome, especially since this Risk neophyte ended up conquering more than half of Middle Earth and won her first game.

Budding chef

My son fixed supper tonight. He followed step-by-step a recipe out of his new Star Wars cookbook for Galaxy Grilled Cheese, then handed the last step of grilling the sandwiches to me. The cheddar and pickle concoction was quite tasty.

Great Super Bowl ad

I can imagine my son and his dad doing this.

His turn

My son turned the table on us tonight.

Instead of me reading to him, he read to us -- two stories: "A List" and "Dragons and Giants" out of Arnold Lobel's Frog and Toad Together.

More good books for children

Goodnight Goon by Michael Rex. With its "...skull and a shoe and a pot full of goo. And a hairy old werewolf who was hollering Boo" this petrifying parody of Margaret Wise Brown's Goodnight Moon is sure to make any 6-year-old want to scream, "Goodnight monsters everywhere."

Owl at Home by Arnold Lobel. This book holds two stories that make my son giggle hard enough to fall off the couch. In "Strange Bumps," Owl gets scared of the two bumps that are under the covers at the foot of his bed. And in "Upstairs and Downstairs," Owl comically tries to be both places at once.

DK's Jewish Holidays Cookbook has great traditional recipes, like turkey kreplach and savory cheese sufganiyot, and non-traditional recipes, like matzoh brei and Persian lental salad. And it's designed to get children helping out and cooking in the kitchen.

The power of books

Among the pirate books my son checked out of the library last month was "Real Pirates: The Untold Story of the Whydah."

It's a true story of a slave ship that was captured by pirate captain Sam Bellamy. Heavily laden with treasure, it sank in 1717 during a nor'easter off Cape Cod. Author Barry Clifford discovered the ship in 1984 and wrote a book about the galley and its crew.

Inspired, my son and husband built a model of a ship, adapting it to look like the galley in the book -- right down to its Jolly Roger and British flags and a miniature Captain Bellamy in a red coat.

To my son's disappointment, it has 12 cannons instead of the Whydah's 18. But true to form, it's a sleeker and faster ship than his Daddy's elaborate model of the Constitution. And that makes him happy.

More great books from the library:

• Suprising Sharks (Nicola Davies)
• The Best Book of Pirates (Barnaby Harward)
• The Pirate Cruncher (Jonny Duddle)
• Skippy John Jones in Mummy Trouble (Judy Schachner)
• Big Wolf and Little Wolf: The Little Leaf that Wouldn't Fall (Nadine Brun-Cosme)
• Frog and Toad are Friends (Arnold Lobel)

Thank you, Dr. Seuss

My son can read.

He has known how to spell his name and other basic words like Mom, Dad and cat for more than a year. I've watched him distinguish between words such as on and in. And every once in awhile, he's picked up an object and read off three or four words.

But last night, I was reading There's a Wocket in My Pocket out loud to him. It's due back at the library in a couple of days and can't be renewed because we already had renewed it once, a month ago. We hadn't read the book in quite a while.

He stopped my reading of the book, just as I turned from the page of the boy talking about the friends he had found. "Mom, I can do this," he said excitedly. "Let me do it."

"...Like the TELLAR and the NELLAR and the GELLAR and the DELLAR and the BELLAR and the WELLAR and the ZELLAR in the CELLAR," he read, his fingers underscoring each word as he read it. He turned the page.

..."And the GEELING on the CEILING...

...and the ZOWER in my SHOWER..." He turned the page again.

..."and the ZILLOW on my PILLOW. I don't care if you believe it. That's the kind of house I live in. And I hope we never leave it."

He stumbled once, on the word "that's." Of course, if you were simply listening to the words without knowing he was reading a Dr. Seuss book, you might think he was mispronouncing a lot of them.

Dr. Seuss and PC

Since the advent of Dr. Seuss week at my son's preschool in March, my son has been checking out from the library every available Dr. Seuss book that we don't already own.

I've long been a fan of Dr. Seuss. As a first-grader, I checked out Fox in Socks from my elementary school library so many times that my teacher had a talk with my mother to suggest I try some other books. My husband bequeathed to our son his extensive collection of Seuss "Bright and Early," "Beginner" and "I Can Read Books" from when he taught elementary school. And numerous friends and relatives have gifted our son with such Dr. Seuss classics as The Lorax, Thidwick the Big-Hearted Moose, Yertle the Turtle and Horton Hears a Who.

Still, I was surprised by the number of Seuss books I hadn't ever heard of: The King's Stilts, The 500 Hats of Bartholomew Cubbins, I Had Trouble Getting to Solla Sollew, I can Lick 30 Tigers Today!, McElligot's Pool. Although, after having read some, I'm not surprised they aren't as widely circulated today.

"With helpers who all wear their eyes at a slant"

"And, speaking of birds, there's the Russian Palooski,

Whose headski is redski and belly is blueski,"

-- If I Ran the Zoo

Obviously, a reflection of a different era in political correctness.

An excellent story

My husband recently introduced my son and me to Mary Norton's 1952 classic, "The Borrowers."

The first book in a series about a family of little people who "borrow" things from "human beans" was one of his favorites as a child. It quickly has became one of ours.

In "The Borrowers," we are introduced to young Arrietty Clock, her father Pod and mother Homily. The Clocks live under the floorboards near -- what else? -- the grandfather clock.

The drama builds when Pod gets "seen" by a boy upstairs. The Clocks decide it's important to teach their 14-year-old daughter about the ways of borrowers and the world above. But Arrietty defies the protocals of being a borrower and actually develops a relationship with the human boy upstairs.

"Just get out of there," my son, unable to stand the suspense, cried out as I read about the first time Arrietty was seen. His alarm and relief at key moments of discovery and resolution were visible as we read the book.

Some other good books we recently brought home from the library:

• One Tiny Turtle (Nicola Davies)
• Big Blue Whale (Nicola Davies)
• Mouse Soup (Arnold Lobel)
• Duck Soup (Jackie Urbanovic)
  

More best books for children

My son and I enjoyed several children's books from the library this past month. The one that delighted us the most is Big Wolf and Little Wolf by Nadine Brun-Cosme, with illustrations by Olivier Tallec.

It's a fairly new book about the budding relationship between a big wolf and the little wolf who comes uninvited into his space one afternoon and decides to stay awhile. When the two part, the big wolf is left with a heart-breaking longingness that makes my son and me sigh sadly.

Owl Moon by Jane Yolen inspired us to reserve a time near the next full moon to go out owling with Daddy in Hartley Field.

And Queen Esther Saves her People by Rita Golden Gelman and Jewish Holiday Games for Little Hands by Ruth Esrig Brinn need to be remembered for their usefulness in putting on the Purim carnival at religious school.