Monthly Archives: June 2016

Rest in peace, Margaret

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Our hearts are full today. Meredith’s mother Margaret died Monday. She had suffered a major stroke a few days before and passed away quietly Monday evening, without regaining consciousness.

It is hard to find words to express what she meant to us and how we feel. Margaret was fond of John Donne’s poetry, including this famous one, which she could recite in large part from memory, so we offer it now:

DEATH be not proud, though some have called thee
Mighty and dreadfull, for, thou art not so,
For, those, whom thou think’st, thou dost overthrow,
Die not, poore death, nor yet canst thou kill me.
From rest and sleepe, which but thy pictures bee,
Much pleasure, then from thee, much more must flow,
And soonest our best men with thee doe goe,
Rest of their bones, and soules deliverie.
Thou art slave to Fate, Chance, kings, and desperate men,
And dost with poyson, warre, and sicknesse dwell,
And poppie, or charmes can make us sleepe as well,
And better then thy stroake; why swell’st thou then;
One short sleepe past, wee wake eternally,
And death shall be no more; death, thou shalt die.

Beer and Cannibals

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Museum of Man
Balboa Park
May 30, 2016

We went with our middle daughter and her husband to the Museum of Man in Balboa Park. Meredith had visited that museum recently by herself, but she had not been in to see the special exhibit about cannibals, and the rest of us had not been there for many years.

Museum_man_beer

We first explored the Beerology exhibit. It chronicles the history of beer making around the world. Many different cultures, using a variety of grains, have made beer. Each region has a separate display case and write up. Various ancient artifacts are displayed in the cases. Our son-in-law is a home brewer and was particularly interested in that exhibit.

We also spent considerable time in the special exhibit about cannibals, Cannibals: Myth and Reality, which is located in the separate exhibit space across Laurel Street from the main building. It is not a permanent exhibit, but it will run until 2018. The displays include interesting artifacts, videos, and explanatory displays. We were taken a little aback, though, by the moral relativist undertone to much of the exhibit. It is best summed up by a button Meredith picked up when leaving, which said “Cannibals are people, too.” Extensive space is devoted to survival cannibalism by Europeans and people of European descent, such as the Donner party, shipwrecked English sailors, and the plane crash survivors in the Andes. Little differentiation is made between survival cannibalism and ritual cannibalism. Neither the reasons for ritual cannibalism nor its relation to human sacrifice are explored in any depth. Our guess is that the curators were so leery of giving visitors unfavorable opinions about ethnic groups whose ancestors practiced ritual cannibalism, that they missed an opportunity to educate. The exhibit is entertaining, and at times informative, but it is not enlightening.

Museum_man_cannibals

The adult admission price for the museum and cannibal exhibit combined is $20; for the museum alone it is $12.50. There are discounts for seniors, military, students, and youths. Parking is free in Balboa Park, but visitors may need to park some distance from the museum and walk or ride a shuttle.

Leonis Adobe 2016

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Leonis Adobe
Calabasas
May 28, 2016

On this visit we took Margaret to visit the Leonis Adobe in Calabasas. We have been there before. The site is well laid out and maintained. In addition to the two historic dwellings – the adobe which dates from the mid-19th century and the Plummer House relocated from West Hollywood – there are livestock and plantings typical of what would have been found on the Leonis ranch in the 1880s.

Leonis_2016

The adobe is furnished with period furnishings and artifacts, some of which are original to the site. The costumed docents are quite helpful and generally well-informed. (Bob was able to explain to one docent that an unusual artifact in the pantry was a butter churn, of atypical design, because his mother had an antique one of the same type.)

As with many historical buildings, the adobe building is not completely wheelchair accessible. We took Margaret around the grounds and into the ground floor of the adobe. Bob went up the steps to see the second-story rooms while Meredith stayed downstairs with Margaret. Much of the site can be seen by a wheelchair patron though, including the outbuildings, with old wagons and farm equipment; the livestock and gardens, as well as the main part of the adobe and the Plummer House, so it was well worth the visit.

We purchased a small bag of hay in the gift shop when we arrived, and fed some of the sheep and goats. Margaret enjoyed both feeding and petting them. We admired the horses and longhorn cattle from a distance; visitors cannot get close enough to touch the larger animals.

Leonis_goat2

The Leonis Adobe Foundation put together the Passport 2 History program, and we have used that booklet and website as a guide to many of our outings. There are over 80 participating museums and historic sites throughout Central and Southern California. A few months ago we misplaced our physical passport, so we bought another one ($3) on this trip.

Admission is free, but donations are encouraged, and we made sure to drop a contribution in the box.

After we had seen all that we wanted to see, we went next-door to the Sagebrush Cantina for lunch. Meredith’s sister Kathleen joined us, and we had a nice time catching up. We all enjoyed our lunches. The menu is predominantly Mexican food, but there are other choices as well. Margaret enjoyed wild mushroom tacos with goat cheese.

Since our visit fell on Memorial Day weekend, we made it a point to stop at the Veterans cemetery in Westwood. After we dropped Margaret off, we stopped for flowers, then visited the grave of Meredith’s stepfather Eli. The entire cemetery had been decorated with miniature flags by each grave; quite a sight waving in the breeze!

VA_Westwood