Friday, June 17, 2005

Wave Hill "Meteorologic Phenomenon"

Funny - I just scanned through my titles going back into January - found that Frogma has gotten to be a rather one-track blog these days. Boats boats boats. Well, that's what summer is for, right?

OK - I am definitely bummed out that I can't race tomorrow (well, I could, but after the last couple of days, I could be beaten by a 5-year old in a Loon so I don't see much point) - but since I now have that summertime rarity, a boat-free weekend, stretching ahead of me, I'm at least going to take advantage of it to catch up on a couple of dry-land things I've been wanting to do.

Saturday is just cleaning house - and maybe finishing my thoughts on the symposium. At this point I talked about the day where everything worked impossibly well. I haven't moved on to the 2nd day when I experienced a couple of mild crossed wires due to some differences in teaching styles between the various disciplines.

Sunday, though, I think I'm going to go to Wave Hill in the Bronx. This should be rather wonderful if the weather is as nice as it's been for the last couple of days - Wave Hill is a grand old country estate (the Wave Hill website has an interesting history) overlooking the Hudson that was donated to the city and is now a cultural center & public garden - from what I've heard, the gardens themselves are worth a visit = somehow I've just never gone! Perhaps because the Brooklyn Botanical Garden is spectacular enough, even without the Hudson, that I've never felt the urge to roam that far from home when I want some quiet garden time.

However - I'm going to make the trek on Sunday because there is an art exhibit there that's of particular interest to me! It's called Meteorologic Phenomenon. Here's their description:

"Explores a variety of artistic responses to the weather, that elemental force that shapes all human relationships to nature. Atmospheric conditions influence ecological and biological progress as well as cultural and technological developments. The artists consider the weather as a psychological condition, source of scientific information, and artistic inspiration".

It sounds like a really fascinating exhibit. And I'm not just saying that 'cause I'm in it! Which I am (yikes - now I hope I'm not cursing myself - maybe I should wait until I go & make sure I didn't end up on the proverbial cutting-room floor - nah, I'll take a chance) - along with a couple of river-rat friends of mine, Harry and Captain Sarah from the schooner. We are just a couple of the people Margaret Cogswell talked to about our experiences with weather on the Hudson. Between the three of us, we've had a few - I can't wait to hear how it all comes out. I just hope I didn't say anything stupid - I was amazed, when I went to see her last winter for the interview, how much fun I had telling her some of my stories & just how long I was able to rattle on. I was actually scanning my old posts tonight to see if I could spot posting about going for the interview in the first place, but I didn't have any luck digging it up. Anyways, I'm really looking forward to it - she wasn't going to use anyone's voice in a narrational style, more take snippets and weave them together - so I'll be listening for me, naturally, but it'll also be fascinating to hear what she used from my friends, and from the others she got to speak to her (I believe there were tugboat pilots and I don't know who-all else). The other exhibits sound pretty interesting, too.

Heh heh. One minor oops, though. Looking at the invitation card this evening, I discovered that the reception was LAST week Sunday. Somehow I thought it was this week. I'm going anyways. Just a lot less likely to break out one a' them-there "dress" things I was considering wearing when I thought it was the opening weekend. Just for kicks, y'know? And it would have been fun to see Margaret again & meet some of the other artists, too.

I definitely plan to take a camera & take some pictures in the gardens (nope, haven't broken down & bought digital yet so posting will have to wait for roll to be finished & developed. I'll look forward to sharing those eventually, but there will definitely be something in the way of a review here on Sunday night!

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