Crazy Storm

 It is the 28th of May and we have been woken by tornado sirens and the power out.  As I walk to the front door and check outside, I find the neighbors tree in our yard.  Wow, we were sleeping sound and I cannot believe it didn't hit our house.   I WAS supposed to take the car in this morning and leave in half an hour so obviously that isn't going to work.  A quick call later and it'll be tomorrow morning and today will be an attempt to clean up this mess.

Within 15 minutes a couple of men from our neighborhood arrive with chainsaws and begin the challenge of finding my driveway.  This is just so sweet of them.

They make pretty quick work of it and within an hour have the driveway fairly cleared and piles of branches everywhere.

Right around this point, we lose cell service and all internet as well.  Perfect.  I did manage to get one post out that we were okay, but that's it.  Power company says that the power will be out perhaps until Saturday.  Oh goodness - this is Tuesday and we are supposed to leave Saturday morning.  Mister heads out to find internet for a bit so he can get some work done and discovers that south of us is doing better.  Around 4 in the afternoon, the neighbor has someone there to get the remaining branches out of their tree as they were hanging precariously over our driveway.  They also load up some of the branches and haul them away.

We don't want to open the refrigerator, so off to Lakewood Growler for internet and food.  Mister gets more work done and I use the time to check online and send some messages/make some calls as well.

29th - Still no power but first thing this morning I take the car in maintenance, leaving Mister to work at the coffee shop he found yesterday.  

I returned home after the car maintenance to find that the power is gloriously on and nothing melted in the freezer - that's always a good sign.  In fact, the ice cubes were still loose.  However, still no internet and cell is VERY sketchy.  I can get a weak signal if I stand near the front window.  This lets me make short calls and that is it.

Ducks and a Gorgeous Sunset at White Rock Lake

 It is time to get out of the house.  A trip down to White Rock Lake always calms the soul and allows nature to permeate and relax us.  As we approach the Pelican viewing point, a Mama Duck and her little ducklings catch our eye.  Do you see them?

Still Birthday Season

 My birthday weekend continues.  Today Mister has started out with a brand new coffee/pastry shop and it is sooooo yummy.  I guess calling it a bakery is more apt and they are working to enlarge their offerings.  

Birthday Fun - Dallas Zoo (Hippo Heavy), Davis Coffee, Manhattan Project, and Family

 It's my Birthday!!!  We are off to the zoo bright and early for a member morning and while we are walking around, my phone is constantly buzzing.  I LOVE IT!  Who wouldn't?  I heard from my mom, four children, three grandchildren, and two girlfriends while enjoying the zoo.  Crazy, right?  At any rate, you're more interested in the animals, I bet.  Here ya go:  Baby flamingoes.

A Weekend in the Life With Rain

 There are just some times when ya gotta get out no matter what.  We are having rain, rain, and more rain, but every so often it lets up enough to make a dash someplace.  This morning we are off to breakfast at a new-to-us coffee shop, Middle Ground.  We spotted it last night while at dinner in the same shopping center and want to check it out.  Along the way - ya just never know what you will encounter.

Artscape at the Arboretum and a Beautiful Sunset

 We have tickets to the Member Preview of Artscape at the Arboretum this evening and the weather has given us a small window with which to enjoy it.  Come along for some fun and an evening walk.  Century plant preparing to bloom.

The Impressionist Revolution - Monet to Matisse at DMA

 For those who follow this blog and my quilt blog, you will know that I LOVE Monet.  When this new exhibit was announced, I instantly wanted to see it and cannot believe it has taken me two months to do so.  At any rate, today is the day and you know the drill - I'm going to educate you against your will as this is how I remember and learn.  If you only wish to look at the pics - go for it - they are amazing and these are some of the greatest artists in my humble opinion.  It is the 150th anniversary of the first Impressionist exhibition and this is a fitting celebration for it.  The core members of the Impressionist movement included Claude Monet, Edgar Degas and Berthe Morisot.  They set the foundation which following generations of avant-garde artists reacted, from Paul Gauguin and Vincent van Gogh to Piet Mondrian and Henri Matisse.  Come along with me today and see how many you recognize BEFORE reading to see.  I'll place the pictures first this time.

So - how did it all get started?  In 1874 an artist's collective that called itself the Anonymous Society of Painters, Sculptors, Printmakers, Etc. opened the first of what became eight group shows held over the course of twelve years.  The participants in each exhibition varied, and, beyond a shared rejection of artistic tradition, so did their subjects and approaches.  What unified these independent artists we now call the Impressionists was the desire to publicly exhibit their work.  Read that again --- all they wanted to do was exhibit.  Seems innocuous enough.  However, the only public exhibition venue for living artists in 19th-century Paris was the annual Salon organized and juried by the state-run Academy of Fine Arts.  Artists who diverged from Academic tradition (the styles and subject matter favored by the Academy) frequently experienced rejection and were left with no other avenues to garner critical and financial success.  By organizing their own exhibitions, the Impressionists bypassed the official system, an act that was as rebellious as it was entrepreneurial.  Despite the artists' efforts, the Impressionist exhibitions scandalized the Parisian public and were generally considered a failure.  Apart from a few forward-thinking critics and collectors, there was little appreciation or market for this subversive artwork until well after the last show in 1886.  Read that again --- Subversive.  Oh how I laugh when you think of what is subversive today.  Okay - here we go and I love this first one.