Mal and Lauren

March 4, 2022

Washington, D.C. is well-known for its Smithsonian museums and galleries, which people come to visit from all around the world. But the city also has more than its fair share of smaller private museums and galleries. One of our favorites is The Kreeger Museum. Situated in the middle of the affluent suburb of Foxhall, the museum is located in the former home of David and Carmen Kreeger and houses their collection. The mansion was designed by iconic American architect, Philip Johnson, in 1963. It is worth a trip to the museum just to explore the stunning building. But the art collected by the Kreegers is also astonishing. Among the paintings and sculptures are works by Picasso, Miro and Cezanne. There are sculptures by such legends as Henry Moore.

As well as its permanent collection, the Museum also hold temporary exhibits. At the moment they are showing prints by local print maker, Lou Stovall. When we first came to the District, over thirty years ago we came to know Lou. He has a studio in his home in nearby Cleveland Park where he and his wife Di have created a large body of beautiful work. The workshop has also been used by such famous artists as Alexander Caldwell and Jacob Lawrence. He is not only a fine artist but also a fine gentleman.

Here are a sampling of some of Lou’s works.

December 31, 2021

On a grey but unseasonably warm final day of 2021 we decided to go on a road trip and drove down to Annapolis, about thirty miles east of Washington D.C. Situated on the Chesapeake Bay, Annapolis is the capital of Maryland. In fact, from 1783-1784 it was briefly the capital of the United States. Originally settled in the mid-1600s, it had a number of names until in 1694 it finally became Annapolis, named for Princess Anne of Denmark and Norway who was soon to become Queen Anne of Great Britain, reigning from 1702-1714. The town currently has a population of over 40,000 and has a thriving old town with a main street that runs down to the bay. Here are some photos from our stroll around town.

Standing on a hill at the center of town is the Maryland State House. The capitol building has the distinction of being topped by the largest wooden dome in the United States constructed without nails. Construction of the building began in 1772 but it was not completed until 1779 due to the ongoing American Revolutionary War.

Some of our older readers may remember the hugely popular 1970s miniseries Roots, based on the Alex Haley novel of the same name. At the foot of main street on the edge of the City Dock is the Kunta Kinte – Alex Haley memorial that commemorates the arrival point of Alex Haley’s African ancestor, Kunta Kinte, whose story is related in the book. A sculpture group at the memorial site portrays Haley seated, reading a book to three children.

November 11, 2021

When Mal was a child he lived for a few years on Kirby Road in Bethesda, Maryland. In 1966, his parents bought this split level house on Kirby Road for $38,000.

The house was recently torn down and in the next photo you can see the new house that replaced it. We are not sure what the new house would be worth but it is a safe assumption that it would sell for something in the range of $2 million. In another sign of the change of the times, compare Mal’s parents’ gas guzzling Chevrolet Biscayne parked in the driveway with our brand new electric Tesla.

Some of the original houses on the street have survived. The following house belonged to our next door neighbors, the Gregorys. They were an older couple who used to look after Mal reasonably often. On one memorable occasion, while babysitting, they took him downtown to a jazz club. Mal can still remember the small cocktail lounge and the band’s drummer allowing him to play on his drums between sets. Mal can’t recall whether his parents were bemused or upset on learning that their seven year old son had spent the night hanging with DC’s martini sipping, cigarette smoking, DC jazz enthusiasts.

Here is another of the surviving original homes on the street.

But most of the original homes have been torn down and replaced with much larger rebuilds. Here is what Kirby Road looked like in the 1960s.

And here is what it looks like now.

It’s not just the homes that are being replaced or renovated. We walked by the three schools where Mal and his siblings attended. Mal’s older brother, Russ, went to Thomas W. Pyle Middle School.

Named for a Maryland educator, the original school was established in 1962, not long before we arrived in Bethesda. Now it one of the largest and best performing schools in Maryland with over 1,500 students.

Just around the corner and up the road from Pyle is Walt Whitman High School, where Mal’s older sister, Christine, attended for a while.

Named for the famous American poet, Whitman also opened not long before we arrived in Bethesda. In 2019, it was named Maryland’s highest performing school. Based on the size of the school parking lot, many of the schools’ over 2,000 students appear to drive to school.

The elementary school that Mal attended was called Whittier Woods and stood right next to Whitman. It closed in 1977 and for many years the original buildings were used by the Maryland Board of Education for administration. Recently, it was torn down and has been replaced by a large modern addition to Whitman.

There were not too many homes in the neighborhood that we deemed interesting enough to be photo worthy. Many appeared to be standard developer rebuilds. But here are three exceptions.

November 1, 2021

On our way from Kiawah to Charleston, we stopped by the magnificent Angel Oak. The tree is a Southern live oak and is estimated to be about 400 to 500 years old. It stands about 66 feet tall but what is truly remarkable is how far it spreads with branches reaching 187 feet in length. Local folklore tells stories of ghosts of former slaves appearing as angels around the tree, although the tree actually gets its name from Justus and Martha Angel who owned the estate on which the tree stands. Nearby development threatened the tree with the effect that the construction would have on available groundwater and nutrients. Thankfully, local environmental groups won a litigation that preserves the seventeen acres adjacent to the tree. So hopefully it will be around for many years to come.

Signs on the gift shop reminded visitors to wear masks but not concealable weapons.

With time to spare before our late afternoon flight, we went for a walk around historic Charleston. With a population of over 150,000 people, Charleston is the largest city in South Carolina. It was founded in 1670 as Charles Town, honoring King Charles II. Here are some of the beautiful old buildings we saw during our walk.

One of the quaintest was this building which also, according to the sign, houses America’s oldest liquor store, established in 1686.

October 31, 2021

On the last day of October, we went kayaking. Jasper led us through the narrow streams that wind through the marshes to the beach where we saw something truly incredible and somewhat frightening, as befits Halloween day. But more of that later.

As we kayaked along, we saw a host of wild life, including a soaring bald eagle and a cute little American mink, which peered out of the rushes before diving into the water and disappearing. As Eve pointed out, with the alligators for bags, belts and shoes and minks for coats and stoles, Kiawah’s not a bad place for those wishing to enhance their luxury clothing collection.

Where the stream met the ocean, we parked the kayaks and went for a walk along the beach.

But the main attraction was the dolphins. While we stood on the beach, four dolphins slowly swam up and down the opposite shore, herding fish toward the beach. And then all of a sudden, all hell broke loose as the dolphins drove the fish up onto the beach where they snatched at the stranded writhing fish. The storks were also apparently aware of what was about to happen, as they hovered nearby and quickly leapt into the fray to grab some fish for themselves. Apparently, this is called strand fishing and Kiawah is one of the few places in the world where you can see dolphins catching their prey in this manner. While we were there the dolphins tried their luck about four times. Click on the following image to see a video of the dolphins in action, taken by our videographer, Jasper.

That wasn’t the only scary wildlife sighting of the day. Back at the house, we saw this lizard, sticking to the kitchen window and creepily checking us out.

October 30, 2021

On our next day on Kiawah, Jasper and Eve led us on a long bike tour of the island. We stuck to the more sheltered landward side of the island. This part of South Carolina is called the low country and it’s easy to see why. The area is very flat and we enjoyed the beautiful views of the extensive marshlands that sit between the island and the mainland.

Dotted throughout the island are scores, if not hundreds, of ponds and each one seems to have a resident alligator or two. Beside each of the ponds is a sign pointing out that it is illegal to feed or harass the alligators. It surprised us that such a warning was necessary. Harassing alligators seems to be self-evidently inadvisable. We also wondered whether it is illegal to feed the gators if they happen to be feeding on you.

Just to show that the signs aren’t just hype, we noticed this massive alligator resting not far behind one sign.

Here he is a little closer up.

Here a couple more of his brethren that we spotted along the way.

Often the ponds are right in front of peoples homes, which makes going out to get the morning paper a whole other thing altogether.

October 29, 2021

We just got back from a very enjoyable long weekend with our good friends, Jasper and Eve, at their place on Kiawah Island. Kiawah is a barrier island on the Atlantic about 25 miles south of Charleston in South Carolina. Named for the Kiawah Indians who lived in the area, it is primarily a beach and golf resort. On its 13.5 square miles, there are no less than seven golf courses, including the prestigious Ocean Club that has hosted numerous PGA tournaments, including the 1991 Ryder Cup and the 2012 and 2021 PGA Championships. We rode bikes over to the Ocean Club, which sits beside the beautiful long beach that spans the length of the island. The wind was very very strong and playing golf must have been extremely difficult. Nevertheless, there were lots of golfers on the practice range getting ready for their rounds. Fortunately, we weren’t there to play golf. Rather, Jasper led us on a walk along the empty beach to the tip of the island. Here are some photos from along the way.

September 27, 2021

By the mid-1900s, Venice had fallen into neglect and become labeled as the “Slum by the Sea”. However, recently it has become an increasingly desirable neighborhood, with some homes selling in the millions of dollars. The result is that it is now an interesting mix of old and new. There are still a lot of the original small homes, many of which have retained their bohemian character. But interspersed among those old homes are many large modern concrete and glass houses.

We liked this home’s quirky sculpture

And this home’s living wall

As examples of the old and new that exist in Venice, look no further than these two shops on Abbot Kinney Boulevard. On one side is the original smoke shop. Directly, across from it is a brand new and very chic cannabis boutique. To add to the look, a Tesla was parked out front.

Speaking of Teslas, we have seen many during our time in Los Angeles. Teslas are only built in five colors (silver, black, white, blue and red). Those who want something a little different are forced to get custom paint jobs. Here’s an example.

September 26, 2021

In our AirBnB, there is some interesting artwork, so we decided to start todays post with a quiz. Pick which celebrity each of the following paintings depict. The answers are at the end of the post.

At the start of the 1900s, wealthy developer, Abbot Kinney, set about building a new seaside resort, south of Santa Monica. In order to drain existing marshes, Kinney built a canal system and named the new resort after Venice, Italy. We went for a walk around the canals, which are lined by a wide variety of homes.

This guy was quietly perusing passers-by.

It’s just a couple of blocks from the canals to the beachfront, so we once again made our way down to the free-for-all that is Venice Beach. We passed this large mural, titled ‘Luminaries of Pantheism’. According to the dictionary, pantheism is a doctrine which identifies God with the universe, or regards the universe as a manifestation of God. It’s also a worship that admits or tolerates all gods. So here’s the second contest of the day. Name the luminaries. Once again the answers will be at the end of the post.

There’s always plenty to see at Venice.

We then headed inland to Abbot Kinney Boulevard, a mile-long road lined with trendy shops, restaurants and galleries. Happily, there was a gathering of Lowriders while we were there. Lowriders are customized cars with low bodies that are also equipped with hydraulics so they can bounce up and down at the driver’s discretion. They are closely identified with LA, having originated there in the mid-1900s in the hispanic community. But now they have become popular throughout the USA and internationally. They have a particularly strong following in Japan, where there are more than 200 lowrider clubs.

And so, here are the answers for today’s quizzes.

Luminaries of Pop

Top (left to right): Snoop Dog; Amy Winehouse; Michael Jackson

Middle: Salvador Dali; Katy Perry; Andy Warhol

Bottom: Pharrell Williams; Lady Gaga; David Bowie

Luminaries of Pantheism

Top: Albert Einstein; Alan Watts; Baruch Spinoza; Terrence McKenna; Carl Jung; Carl Sagan; Emily Dickenson; Nikola Tesla

Bottom: Friedrick Nietszche; R.W. Emerson; W.E.B. Dubois; Henry David Thoreau; Elizabeth Cody Stanton

September 23, 2021

We took advantage of the bikes that came with our AirBnB and took a long ride through the surrounding wine country and into Sonoma town.

We rode through Sonoma’s suburbs, checking out the houses. These similar houses were across the road from each other. They were taking different approaches to landscaping, with one sticking to the traditional grass, while the other had converted to the more environmentally friendly desert look.

There were a number of large victorian style houses that were reminded us of neighborhoods back east.

This massive historical home took up a whole block.

We are not sure if the owners were trying to be ironic or were completely self-unaware but their conserve water sign seemed at odds with the massive green lawns. Perhaps some eco protestor had snuck in the sign without the owners noticing.

We particularly liked this house with its shady verandah.

And this mid-century modern home.

We stopped by the original Williams Sonoma store, started in the 1950s by Chuck Williams. Now Williams Sonoma is a massive kitchenware retail chain with over 600 stores nationwide.

The town surrounds a beautiful and large town square with the city hall at its center.

The hall is guarded by two large untitled heads, sculpted by Jun Kaneko, a Japanese ceramic artist who lives in Nebraska.

There is something comforting about a park that is confined on all four sides by traditional buildings. With its shady trees and ponds, it was definitely an inviting space.

On one side of the square, there were various historic buildings.