TRADITIONAL CHRISTMAS CARDS.

Christmas cards trend toward themes. Popular at one time are replicas of old-fashioned cards. So familiar are Currier and Ives, small snowy towns, people sledding through the snow. This one is a famous painting and charming. (Not Currier and Ives.)

This is also a painting. The clothing shows the affluence these children enjoyed, reflecting their times.

A famous Madonna painting. There are so many beautiful paintings of the Madonna in museums all over the world and many of them are replicated on Christmas Cards.

What would Christmas be without an angel?

Or thoughts of peace and good will?

Also from a painting, these happy children playing in the snow.

A more contemporary vision of children playing in the snow.

Something warm and fuzzy.

This is my favorite. It much reflects the era of my childhood. The kids of all ages, a couple of them playing on the floor, the boy reading in his socks with his feet up on a book, apples on the tree, showing your treasures to grandpa. The homey pictures on the bureau. The girls are wearing those awful long stockings I hated so much growing up in a winter clime.

A touch of humor. Birds, animals and nature play heavily on Christmas cards.

This one is such a sweet tickle. It also shows another tradition; we decorate and light up trees in our yards.

Famous artists lend their skills to a Christmas card.

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A Christmas tree can be almost anything.

I read in Smithsonian where it took a long time for Christmas trees to catch on. Now, a Christmas never goes by without a card with a Christmas tree of some kind on it.

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I liked this lovely message. Some are old worn out clichés.

Christmas caroling is something not many people do anymore, but Christmas has its own special music, evolving year by year. But the old songs never go away.

A popular song clings to us for years and here we see a popular song in this card, “…the partridge in a pear tree.”

A Christmas card can be whatever you make it. And here I have to salute a local artist, Bambi Papais. She and her sister Judie are both terrific artists admired and locally renowned. So with that in mind, I hope you’ve enjoyed my rummage through my box of Christmas cards from 1992.

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Happy holidays.

Mary

TIME OUT.

I didn’t do anything yesterday but swim, read, paint and eat. I wanted to go to a polo game in Indio, but Jim wasn’t up to driving anywhere so we just stayed home. The above sculpture I thought of naming Back Pain, or  Writers Block, and then decided on Constipated as in our activities were constipated yesterday. (This sculpture is in a Reno arts gallery.)

This unusual bench came from the same gallery. The first word of the bench spells Inhale.

And, again from that gallery, this is a water “dish”. Rain collects in a circular trough near the center and holds water for birds or other small critters. Their “rock” collection is unusual.

Since my bike was stolen, I’ve been think a lot about bikes and this painting is one I liked really well but I’ve forgotten where this painting hangs.

I’m a fan of Rene Wiley and she recently did a series of paintings on bikes that I liked so I’ll post a few of them. Her gallery is in Galveston, Texas on Post Office Street.

Her paintings are for sale on-line, as well.  This is Green Cruiser.

Colorful Cruiser.

Blue Cruiser.

I think I’ll try to paint bikes, though yesterday I started with palm trees. The only problem is, I have yet to get another brush. Maybe today.

I’m hoping to do the Walking Off Pounds program again today at 9:00. The snacks I ate yesterday should disappear today, right?

Browning, Montana

Yesterday I drove the motorhome the 35 miles from Cut Bank to Browning, Montana.

We continued traveling along U.S.Highway 2 West.

Along the way we saw our first glimpse of the Rocky Mountains about 50 miles distant. Look closely at the far horizon…

As always you may left click upon an image to see an enlarged view and then click once again to see an even larger view…

Browning holds a very interesting record… From January 23, 1916 to January 24, 1916, the temperature fell 100°F (56°C) from 44°F (7°C) to -56°F (-49°C). This is the United States and also the world record for the greatest temperature change in 24 hours.

Browning is also the largest community on the Blackfeet Indian Reservation. You can read all about Browning by clicking this link… http://browningmontana.com/

First stop was at the Museum of the Plains Indian. It was very interesting, but unfortunately it has a no photography policy. You can read about the museum by clicking their official website link… http://browningmontana.com/museum.html

But, in an adjourning two rooms were two displaying artists. First was…

Here he shows some of his works…

In the next room was…

Then we walked across the street to the Blackfeet Heritage Center & Art Gallery which also has a no photography policy and you can read about by clicking their link… http://blackfeetnationstore.com/store/

On duty in the gift shop was another artist happy to show me his work. John Isaiah Pepion has a website at http://pepionledgerart.com/

He does ink and oil-based colored pencil drawings on old ledger paper as a background…

A closer look…

Here are some other of his drawings…

Despite the no photography policies of the two places, I still managed to get some nice photos of some great work and got to meet the artists as well!

We parked overnight in the lot behind the museum. This photo will also serve as a quasi for my usual dinette window photo as the view would be the same more or less…

Yesterday was a decent day. 79 degrees…humidity still far to high. Today’s forecast 87 degrees. YUCKITTY!

We’ll continue our westward travel later this morning.

Enjoying Indian cultures is another joy in the life of a full-time RVer!

The red dot on the below map shows our approximate location in the State of Montana. You may double left-click the map to make it larger…

Enjoying 65-75 degree temperatures with low humidity most of the year is a primary joy in the RVing lifestyle!

“Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance you must keep moving”…Albert Einstein

On October 27, 2012, I created a two-minute video titled America The Beautiful. The music America The Beautiful is by Christopher W. French. The photos, which I randomly selected, are from the states of Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Montana, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Texas, Tennessee, Washington and West Virginia (not shown in that order)…are mine. Yup, That’s me standing in front of the Post Office in Luckenbach, Texas…Y’all!

Click this link to start the video. Make sure you have your speakers turned on and go to full screen asap.
http://youtu.be/FfZUzEB4rM8

If you have not checked out my Ramblin Man’s Photos Blog, you can do so by clicking this link…
http://ramblinmanphotos.wordpress.com/

All original material Copyright – Jim Jaillet 2013
For more information about my three books, click this link:
http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/panamaorbust

Maurice, Louisiana – Day 2

The motorhome is currently parked at VFW Post #9822 in Duson, Louisiana. It’s been such a pleasant and quiet place to stay along with conveniently located to things we;ve wanted to see. We now are planning to depart here on Sunday.

Mary was so enthralled by the Vivian Alexander Gallery and Museum…she needed a second visit. If you missed yesterday’s Blog entry…here’s the link…
http://wp.me/pDCku-7hq

So, yesterday we drove the Bronco the about 10 miles south to visit the Vivian Alexander Gallery and Museum once again.. Here is their official website link…
http://www.vivianalexander.com/

Here are some photos that I took…

As always you may left click upon an image to see an enlarged view and then click once again to see an even larger view…

More examples of their work…

I spent some time with Alex Coldwell who told me of some of the procedures involved in the process. He buys the eggs already cleaned and sterilized…ready to be worked on. Here’s a photo of a large Rhea Egg…

Here’s an oven he designed for part of the process…

Here…his daughter Liza is working on an egg…

Linda..an artist/apprentice works on her design…

Enjoying unusual local galleries is another joy in the life of a full-time RVer!

Since Mary will fly back to her home in California this coming Tuesday…in the afternoon we went to the local UPS store so she could have some of the things she has bought along the way sent to her home rather than trying to carry them on the airplane.

The red dot on the below map shows our approximate location in the State of Louisiana. You may double left-click the map to make it larger…

Enjoying 65-75 degree temperatures most of the year is a primary joy in the RVing lifestyle!

“Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance you must keep moving”…Albert Einstein

If you have not checked out my Ramblin Man’s Photos Blog, you can do so by clicking this link…
http://ramblinmanphotos.wordpress.com/

All original material Copyright – Jim Jaillet 2013
For more information about my three books, click this link:
http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/panamaorbust

Taos, New Mexico – Day 10

The motorhome is currently parked at the Fraternal Order Of Eagles Airee #3489. My visit to Taos is now completed and I plan to depart today for a new destination.

For today’s Blog, I’ve got some odds and ends items for you…

One thing that pops ups early on searching the Internet about Taos is that portions of the 60’s movie Easy Rider were filmed here and the Director/Co-Star Dennis Hopper lived here for a number of years and, for a celebrity, was quite visible in the  community.

If you do not know who Dennis Hopper was, by clicking this Wikipedia informational link you’ll soon know a lot about him…
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dennis_Hopper

If you are not familiar with the movie Easy Rider, clicking this Wikipedia link will take care of that…
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Easy_Rider

Here are a couple of photos from Easy Rider…

First a close-up of Dennis Hopper and Peter Fonda riding their motorcycles…

As always you may left click upon an image to see an enlarged view and then click once again to see an even larger view…

Here they are riding though the Taos Pueblo on which I did a Blog entry two days ago…

The jail scenes from Easy Rider were filmed at the Old County Courthouse which today houses artists co-ops. I went there the other day and took this photo….

The jail cells used in the movie are now part of an art gallery…

In 1975 Dennis Hopper was arrested and put in this cell…

You can read about that incident by clicking this link…
http://www.absolutecelebrities.com/mugshot/dennis_hopper.html

Here’s a link about Dennis Hopper being made Honorary Mayor of Taos…
http://ireport.cnn.com/docs/DOC-254659

He was also a prolific photographer, painter and sculptor. He exhibited at the Harwood Museum of Art on which I did a Blog entry yesterday. Here’s a link describing that event…
http://harwoodmuseum.org/exhibitions/view/37

Dennis Hopper died in 2010. The service was held at San Francisco de Asis Church on which I did a Blog entry about one week ago. This link describes that event…
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1283918/Dennis-Hopper-laid-rest-Native-American-burial-memorial-service-attended-Jack-Nicholson-Val-Kilmer.html

If you’ve forgotten or have never seen the movie Easy Rider, you can view the entire film by clicking this link…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bvLpJod8nt0

Dennis Hopper died when he was 73…and I’ll be 72 in December…Hmmmmm!

Moving on to another Taos celebrity…It’s reported Julia Roberts and her family live on a ranch about five miles north of town. Here’s a link about Julia…
http://au.lifestyle.yahoo.com/new-idea/news/star-watch/article/-/5989086/julias-little-gems/

A number of movies have been made in Taos. To view the list, click this link…
http://www.filmtaos.com/Movies.html

Taos is such an artsy town…they even decorate their trucks…

Taos is an interesting town. Other than a disappointing non-historic central plaza, I’ve enjoyed my visit here.

Enjoying unique towns is another joy in the life of a full-time RVer!

If you have not checked out my new Ramblin Man’s Photos Blog, you can do so by clicking this link…
http://ramblinmanphotos.wordpress.com/

All original material Copyright – Jim Jaillet 2012
For more information about my three books, click this link:
http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/panamaorbust

CHRISTMAS PARTY FOR ARTISTIC SOULS

In yesterday’s blog,  I mentioned the Red Hats. Joellyn Gano, left,  is also a member of the Calaveras Arts Council and enjoyed both parties on the same evening at the Murphys Hotel.  Her husband Dave is a painter. Joellyn plays a mean accordion, just one of her many talents. Penny West, served as director  of the Calaveras County Arts Council and kept that organization growing and strong,  nurturing all of us since 1981.  She now shares that position with Mary Jane Genochio.

Judi Caine Papais, left, has a marvelous studio with wonderful north light and teaches as well as paints. She is a well known artists along with  many others too numerous to name. Judi belongs to another arts group in the county. Murphys may have the most galleries of all the small towns in Calaveras, but there are many others if you wish to spend a day perusing the awesome talents of this community. If you are looking for culture,  music, dance, visual arts, sculpture, or pottery, you will find it here.

Good friends, Dave Self and Pastor Meg Self attended. Dave, with talents previously hidden from view. He drew illustrations for Glen Wasson’s book and will be coming out with a book of his own poetry soon. He amazed me.

Glen with his wife Joan, a talented photographer. Glen provided the entertainment for the night and kept us laughing with renditions from his current book, Tales Mark Twain Would Have Loved To Steal.
Glen is well known for his doggerel. He writes on the spot and read a poem he composed just for the evening. But, I mentioned the Red Hats. Glen wrote “A Gentleman’s Response To The Red Hat Ladies” and kept us laughing at his indelicate response to the repression of men’s natural tendencies.

When I am old I will not care
About the kind of clothes I wear
They may be tattered, old or ripped
And I won’t care if my fly’s not zipped.

In crowded elevators I may break wind
And look as though I’m quite chagrined
At some innocent person standing there
Whom I’ll indict with a reproachful stare.

And I don’t care if the ladies mind
That I pinch them hard on the behind
I’ve always longed to play such sports,
Especially those with bulging shorts.

I’ll go to church in my overalls
Wear polyester plaid to formal balls
I’ll watch TV in my under wear
And scatter beer cans everywhere.

I’ll scratch myself in private places
Just to see the look on people’s faces.
In mixed compay I’ll tell lewd jokes
To scandalize those proper folks.

At dinner time I will pick my nose
And wipe the boogers on my clothes.
And to me it really doesn’t matter
If I grab the last thing from the platter.

Until I’m old I’ll still behave,
It isn’t nice to be a knave.
But, I can’t wait for that joyful day
When I’m old enough to act that way.