Sunday Sunrise

We thought we were gonna walk down to the lake to watch the sun come up but I had my clock set for 6:30 instead of 6:00, and my phone's set on "quiet hours" from 10 PM to 8 AM.  Oops.  So I missed Lala's 6:10 phone call, besides it's overcast.  I threw on my yoga pants and a hoodie and went out to see what I could see of the sunrise from here.  I think it's pretty good, don't you?

We went to breakfast at Paradigm yesterday (coffee and a homemade muffin), then to the John Michael Kohler Arts Center to see the fiber and vitreous ceramic exhibits.  Also, they have the best bathrooms in the Midwest, maybe in the whole USA.  This was our second visit and we hadn't used the restroom last time but Lala did yesterday, came out and said, "you gotta go check this out."  The main women's one is decorated with painted or raised design tiles that seem to be all about being dressed (or not in a few cases) and the toilets are amazing.  The main men's room is all about power and success with inspirational mottoes all around, even in the sinks.  There are 3 other, smaller bathrooms on the other side of the galleries, the family one has small decorated tiles with children's names on them and stuff like "Barbara likes to dance in her socks."  The women's room is sedate with charcoal gray monograms on white tiles but there are ceramic towels, brushes, mirrors, and an evening purse and pair of gloves in niches around the room.  The men's room over there is a tribute to Delft pottery and celebrates water in all its uses; there's a car wash and waterfalls, even a bouquet of water guns over the urinal.  Guess it's meant for inspiration for bashful kidneys.  *snort*

The main fiber exhibit had some pretty amazing stuff.  We liked this "bubble" made with steel fiber and glass beads, and the oversize Catholic priest's vestment crocheted and knitted.  There were busy colorful pieces with sequins and jewelry and knitted flowers applied all over.  Some of the stuff was crazy, but the one we both wanted to handle was a book/stack of felted wool pages with machine embroidered quotes on each page.  Instead of getting to draw in the Glass Gallery like we did last time there was a piece of muslin in a stretcher and lengths of red yarn with big tapestry needles knotted to the ends that you could pick up and sew a little with.  We did.

I think the creepiest was this greyhound head lying on the floor staring into a projector and as you looked at it, the eyes blinked every once in a while.  Uber creepy.  


In another gallery there is a display of embroidery that reminded me of botanical prints but they were large and fantastic.  DD likes to embroider, I wish she could have seen them.  That gallery is in what used to be JMKohler's house, a Victorian Italianate mansion, and I glanced through the locked door into what had been the dining room to be surprised to see a life-size horse sculpture in there.  Hey, there's a horse in here!  It looks like they use it as a meeting room.  I think the horse would be a distraction.

We went to the Charcoal Inn for a burger (for Lala) and brat burger (for me) and fries for lunch.  We split up to write (Lala) and knit (me) for a while then we met in the motel's breakfast room to play with art supplies.  I brought some stuff to do--what's called Zentangles

(semi-regimented doodling) and a One Drawing a Day book I got at Goodwill for a few bucks with pens, markers, oil crayons, colored pencils, and a whole lot of other stuff, and we spent an hour or so making a little art.  It was fun and looks pretty cool, I think.

For supper we went to Harry's Prohibition Bistro for wood-fired pizza, marinated roasted vegetables, and caramel gelato. It was yummy--and packed.  You should go.

After supper I knitted and Lala read me the story she's been working on.  I finished the first "purse dickey" side and I think it's just what I hoped.  It was a grand day all around.

March 21--Ralph Krubner, Also Larger Earth.  Pete came to and looked out the porthole next to where he lay.  A big blue marble swirled with white floated in the black void.  Marble.  Black sky.  Twinkling stars.  Space, he was in space.  He rubbed the lump on the back of his head.  Damn that Persuasion Squad.  he had done his time on a flatship ferrying cargo to a base on the dark side of the moon but down one--or six--too many brewskis and here he was back in space with a headache he didn't deserve.

Sorry this ran on so long but I had so much to show you and tell you I couldn't hold it all in.  Talk to you again tomorrow when I'm sure I'll be a lot more boring.
--Barbara