by Diane: London brings to mind the question - what is great art?

My early September trip with two of my dear, wonderful, fun granddaughters  to London and Paris was filled with memories to treasure. This was a bonding trip not to be focused on art but to encompass all our interests. Fortunately culture and art was abundant and I got to see art as a younger generation sees it.  Melissa organized the trip scheduling transportation and lodging and prearranging some attractions.  She listed all our most desired attractions giving McKenzie the first priority since this trip was to celebrate her graduation from high school.
The first day's weather in London was what must be typical mist with light showers.We took the Hop on Hop off Bus Tour. Our first stop was the Memorial to War Animals that I believed was promoted by a great aunts and cousins. If great art changes my perspective of how I see the world, then this memorial succeeds as great art by my definition.. Seeing images of so many animals forced without consent into war convinces me that forcing animal to war is an animal rights violation.

We took both the blue and the yellow line Hop On Hop Off Bus. We hoped off after crossing the Thames with the purpose of exploring the Globe Theater, a choice of McKenzie's.

Close by the theater we heard organ music and investigated.  We entered the Southwark Cathedral and listened to the organ recital. Coming across this recital was a happy surprise especially for Melissa who plays the organ. The organ was thunderous and at other times meek but tremendously emotional. The effect of organ music in a resonate church is definitely a great art that can change how we see the world. I was impressed by how many steeples Christoper Wren designed to replace those destroyed by the Great London Fire.

                         H. W. Janson's  HISTORY OF ART.
We had lunch in a restaurant under the London Bridge.

Then continued through the covered open Borough marketplace
with gorgeous displays of food. Is it art?

In the afternoon we took a ride on a boat up the Thames River.

 

Tuesday, September 10th we went on the Harry Potter Tour.

Movies like the Harry Potter series are a popular art form for the general public like in Shakespeare's day his plays entertained the populous. Not only has J.K. Rowling's phenomenal book caught on but the movies are the work of many artists being orchestrated by Warner Brothers.

For me  her perception changing theme is seeing the magic of kindness. Motivated by kindness Harry and his friends break school rules and magically escape severe punishment.

The Warner Studio's creation could be considered great art on another scale. The scale of phenomenal craftsmanship and creativity!  The jaw dropping phenomenal cinematography effects stands out as art of high accomplishment and greatness. A story well told is great art.

 

 

 

 

Wednesday morning September 11, we walked to Buckingham Palace. We watched a guard do a little marching. Then we walked the path around a monument with a monumental statue of petite queen Victoria. The pomp and ceremony of British royalty is culturally interesting to my granddaughters but the glamorous is not strongly  resonating with me like when I was 9 years old. I pretended my dolls were the  queen and her court after watching the crowning of Queen Elizabeth on TV. In the mean time I have lost this glorious imagining. Maybe seeing the palace and gardens with my granddaughters effected me a little like how I define great art.
 Then from our hotel we took an Uber ride to Pancreas Station where we checked our bags so we could go to the British Library where we saw the exhibit of old books and the Magna Carta.of 1215. "The Great Charter" established the principle that everyone is subject to the law, even the king, and guarantees the rights of individuals. King John repealed the charter but being great it was not only reinstated but is a foundation of republics like ours. It affects all of us every day.
After a quick examining of beautiful old hand made books and original  musical compositions we rode the Euro Star to Paris Disney. More how I am enlightened by the younger eyes of my grand children tomorrow.
Tomorrow the post will be about our experiences in Paris.

Immigration

by Rain Trueax

 Sonoran Gopher Snake at our Tucson backyard pool. He/she might look scary, but they are very beneficial to the environment. You can tell a dangerous snake from this one by head shape. Rattlers have triangular heads. The rattles are less reliable as they can lose those various ways. It's nice when we can clearly define what is dangerous and what is beneficial.

Originally, I had not planned on starting with from where my thinking on immigration has come, but Diane asked that I do that. She and I come from different backgrounds but have been friends for over 50 years. In the early mornings, we used to meet for coffee, when we both lived in a Tucson apartment complex. Our husbands would leave for Graduate School, and she and I'd talk over different things that seemed important at the time. We often disagreed, but it didn't matter. We didn't get mad. She'd head off to paint and I'd write. It was a creative environment, one I have never actually duplicated.

Recently, she and I decided here to discuss some big topics that we know we don't see the same way. We are doing it to show people can disagree and remain friends. We can let it go when we can't convince someone else that we are right. One of the problems today is the bubbles in which so many live. They hear only one side and get to thinking everyone out of their bubble is bad. I've been unfriended for that very reason on Facebook. I've come to believe that in most bubbles, if I read them at all, it's smarter to not say what I think unless it's Amen. The bubble is their right. It's a shame though as hearing from other viewpoints can let us know the ones who think that way are not bad people for disagreeing.

As for my own background, I come from working people, mostly lower income but responsible folks. There wasn't an elite among us-- intellectually or economically. I have jokingly called myself a redneck because I understand those people and ranchers tend to work with the basics of life. My people valued education but didn't see someone with a fancy degree as necessarily any smarter than someone without a high school diploma. They were more knowledgeable, of course, at least about some things...

One of my main lessons from childhood is--actions have consequences. I grew up with a belief that idealism is fine, but it has to be tempered with reality. This was reinforced when my husband of 55 years and I bought a farm over 40 years ago. Farming teaches you even more strongly that idealism doesn't get the work done. It doesn't fix broken fences. There is a reality that those who work the land learn or they go back to the city. For farmers and ranchers, work is not a temporary vacation. It's a day by day reality. You do it or it does not get done. 

True, some farmers do pay those not legally here to do the work but not many cattle ranchers as it's dangerous work where you need to be skilled or it won't turn out well for you. That is also true of most forestry work; and in my part of Oregon, I see very few migrants in those jobs. The only big farmer nearby has brought up workers from Mexico but applied for them legally with blue cards. That lets the workers come and go.

Now, I do see a lot of those likely without documentation seasonally for Christmas tree harvesting. They aren't here later. Generally speaking, work for migrants has meant a need to move with the crops-- this is not new. It was big in the US during the Dust Bowl years in the '30s for families like Ranch Boss's father's. It is true today for those living in RVs, who go from job to job. Steady work isn't always available for some-- here illegally or otherwise.

My time in Arizona, where the border is today an issue, began in 1965 and has been off and on until it increased when we finally bought a second home in Tucson 20 years ago. Tucson is a place of many ethnicities, a city proud of its past with influences from the early Mexican settlers, the Native Americans, the Chinese, and yes, European settlers.

I've seen the difference illegal immigration has made to Southwestern places where I enjoy re-creating, mountain islands and valleys along the border. There was a time, when we could explore washes down there or out of Tucson with no concern for who we might meet. For those who don't know, the scary people are not generally speaking the migrants but those who bring them and drugs. I've personally seen what it has done to border towns like Nogales where the fences got more onerous and intimidating, where the ones I'd see hanging around looked more dangerous-- on both sides. Where rudeness to women got more out in the open by the comments made. That was not the Nogales of 1965.

One of my favorite areas to explore out of Tucson (Ironwood National Monument now) had a group of immigrants murdered as they waited for a ride-- murdered by a rival cartel. It's a place we no longer go without watching for what's coming. 

Same thing with nearer to the border. We go but with caution and yes, with a gun. On the ranches down there, I've read their stories, seen for myself the plastic garbage strewn (which when cows eat kills them), seen cut fences, to which I, of course, relate. I've read how tanks were left dry after migrants refilled their bottles and left the tap open. This whole thing of having people crossing land with no respect for it can't be understood unless someone understands and tends to the land. 

Despite understanding the side of those who have their land and want to protect it, I also sympathize with those here without papers, who work hard but find their lives on hold as they never really know if there will be a knock at the door. This is an intolerable problem and it's made worse that some profit from it-- on both sides of the partisan divide. 

Because of my nature, I read both sides, desperate stories like this one [Risks for the migrants] but I am a practical woman, made so by my life and belief in rules-- an archaic way to be in today's world apparently. I also believe that with a country 22,000,000,000 in debt, where we aren't going to see 0 interest in the future, what can we really afford? There is no sugar daddy out there to pay that all off. We have to live responsibly as individuals. Why is the government different.

So, here we go with what I have come to believe-- and yes, it involves a wall--