I like living near this historic body of water. I’m reading the 1970s best seller “Chesapeake,” by James Michener (dedicated to a Mari). My mom sent it to me when we moved here, and I always love reading about a place when I’m there (travel post on THAT coming soon). We are on the countdown for Norfolk these days, so I am racing to finish this 1,132 page whopper! After that I’m thinking Moby Dick for a little light summer reading.
The kids were excited to show Chris the fishing pier (on the Chesapeake) where we like to play in the sand, drink $1 cups of beer, and have French fries for dinner. Another night we got Taste and brought it to the ship (also on the Chesapeake) to have dinner with Chris on duty.
It’s amazing how fun it is having TWO ADULTS at home! Amazing!
While I’ve got this book echoing around in my head, I find myself drawn to the American landscape room at the Chrysler. Gorgeous marble sculptures of Native Americans and Europeans who adopted native lifestyles, intricate forest scenes—a million stories played out across the walls.
Over in the Renaissance gallery, conservation work continues on the 400-yr-old Van Dyke of St. Sebastian, a Roman soldier tied to a tree and shot by arrows for being a Christian. One of the conservators explained the popularity of St. Sebastian among Van Dyke and other painters of the time: as Martin Luthor’s Protestantism was spreading across Europe, Protestants and Catholics were calling each other heretics.
Just days before, I had been reading about this very subject in “Chesapeake.” Queen Mary was Catholic, the next king was Protestant (King James? I forget). Anyway, that is why the Eastern Shore of Maryland is a separate state from Virginia—Maryland was founded as a refuge for Catholics and named after the Catholic queen thanks to Catholic Lord Baltimore, while Virginia was Protestant.
There you have it: art, literature, history.
Kyoto’s Sacred Rain
Kanagawa Shimbun Features Atsugi Dancers!
Yatta! Japanese Baseball!!
Day Five