Seen Art ?

 I have spent many hours, but never enough time, looking for art in our world. My favorite book to express art is called SEEN ART by Jon Scieszka and Lane Smith. Each time I read it to myself my mind goes on its own path of remembering and finding art in my life. 

The National Wallace Monument was built in Scotland between 1861-1869 to commemorate William Wallace, who defeated the English on September 11, 1297. To the Scots he would become a hero. To his enemies he was an outlaw, a murderer, and a traitor.  The Victorian Gothic style design features crown spire, turrets, and gun loops, and the statue of William Wallace.  

Why is this art? In my own terms because the castle shares a deeper meaning of man and humanity. It tells the story of light and dark through its structure, its origins, in contrast with the beauty of the landscape surrounding it. The statue of William Wallace represents man's struggle against man. 

Seattle offers an outside art museum near the heart of downtown.(Olympic Sculpture Park)  What a treat to sip on hot tea while strolling through a landscape of art. On one of our trips to Seattle we toured  many places filling our eyes with deas, my camera with images, and our stomachs with tasty delights until we simply ran out of daylight.  

Seattle's Space Needle can be seen from so many perspectives. I thought this one was most unique. 

We don't have to travel far to see art. Simply taking a moment to enjoy the leaves changing colors and falling from the sky is moment enough to feel art. 

Jack Chapman, artist, on display at The Resonator 

On an evening Art Walk stroll in downtown Norman, Oklahoma I spied a wall full of art in the Resonator.  I couldn't take my eyes off this collage sculpture. The dice can be found in one of our game drawers, the Japanese fan in my golf bag to use on hot days, the ribbons in a box a decorations, the fake pearls in strings in my art bag from the days of puppetry. The shoe. It's the shoe I don't own. I think it belongs to Cinderella's wicked step-mother. Then again if I owned that shoe would  my mind and hands put these items together to give people a chance to stop, think, imagine, and smile or would I be wicked?

Will Rogers portrait painted by Mike Wimmer, shown in the Will Rogers Museum. 

"A man only learns by two things," Will Rogers said, "One is reading, and the other is association with smarter people." I see the painting as rendering the personality of Will Rogers and the space he filled on our Oklahoma prairie. I often think of Rogers' ability to entertain and communicate with everyman as the real art behind this picture. After all Will Rogers was highly talented, click here to view his skills with the rope: Will Rogers--The Ropin's Fool.

My sister-in-law, Vreni, has shown me over the years how to find art in very day life. Her art walks during COVID captured my imagination and taught me to look deeper into even the smallest of objects. 

Sometimes art is right before your eyes 

There may be a fool born every minute but I'm not one of them. The other day I actually found Art, not where he usually is, but under a tree.

Art, what are you doing under that tree instead of playing down the fairway, where I usually see you? 

Perhaps, Bucchianeri was correct when he said, "Art is in the eye of the beholder, and everyone will have their own interpretation."

The Cat's Meow

The Cat's Meow

by guest writer and cat owner

Joyce Bump Milliser, MHS Wardog Class of 1965

Daylight Savings Time! What does that even mean? Can we scoop up time and put it in a bottle to use whenever we want more of it? Let me know if you find that secret.

The Town Cryer on top of little brother Soxs.

I have a cat! Enough said for some of you. Max (aka The Town Cryer) obviously didn’t receive notice of our little yearly change. He went right on meowing this morning at his usual time…5:30. He didn’t have a clue that my clock NOW said 4:30! I tried to put him off. He ignored my effort. So at 5:55 his time, 4:55 my time, we walked thru our morning routine. My day starts when his day starts. No savings there.

After letting Max out, I find myself sitting in my rocker thinking about time…the phrase how time flies came up. I thought how at age six I couldn’t wait to start school. Then a short twelve years later I couldn’t wait to get out. Then I couldn’t wait to marry and have a family. Now, this very month, Dale and I celebrate fifty-six years together, and my oldest will be fifty-four!! Wow! If I could Turn Back Time what would I do differently? LOTS of things!! But time machines aren’t really available except in Back to the Future So I’ll have to try and make time to do better from here on out. Ok, don’t go there. Make time! Wow!

When I worked, my daily prayer was that my customers would be on time. As a hair stylist and self-employed shop owner that was very important. Otherwise I got pushed into no spare time at the end of the day. That happened often. Ask me sometime “why” I fired three customers in my twenty-two years behind a chair.

Psalms 90:10 says “Our days may come to 70 years, or maybe 80, if our strength endures; yet the best of them are but trouble and sorrow, for they quickly pass, and we fly away.” So…I’m living on borrowed time and YES they have passed by quickly.

Soxs, our gentle quiet cat. 

Ok. If I’ve jump-started your own journey through time I’ll leave you to it. Because my knee has popped the last two days and I can hardly walk I’m staying home from church. I never like that but I look forward to where the Lord will take me today. Our times together are often fun, teachable moments. I can already see His love and protection when I look back on my last 75 years. His timing is always perfect. Let’s use our time wisely today. Bless you!

*I wanted to share Joyce's story because we no longer have cats in our home lives, and consequently no new cat stories to share. I think a new perspective and new storytelling helps to lift our lives, and that's why I asked Joyce to share her Max story.

I, too, love cats and have lived with many over the years, like Frisky. Click on this blue link to read his story Frisky, the Cat with Nine Lives

Murphy Doodle--the Witness

penny is my fence doggie  friend

 my dog friends are so much fun to play and run with in the backyard,  sometimes penny comes over and we play gentle on days when she does not want to play with me and somedays we play chase and roll and bark bark bark

oliver is my brother

when my brother, oliver, comes over or i go visit him, we run, roll, and bite just like when we were puppies, oliver is brown and white and i am black and white, people think we look alike, how can that be ? 

when bebe comes over we run, run, and run, bebe likes to drink a lot of water and play in the water, i do not like to play in the water but letty makes sure that bebe has a big bowl of water to drink and splash in

bebe likes the water better than i do

bebe makes a mess in the water, her gold long hair and even her tail get wet when she sloshes in the bird bath or crawls in the tub, i prefer to run the fence line and bark at squirrels

one warm day before the rains came bebe and i spent the morning running around the yard, letty came out to fill the water bowls and something bad happened to her

she does not remember so i have to help her and tell what happened

after she filled the bird bath with more water for bebe letty turned to walk back in the house and i ran out into the yard to play

bebe ran after letty in leaps, on the third leap she hit letty's left leg and i saw letty fly in the air toward the yard, she landed on her yard side shoulder and head then did not get up and go inside 

i never saw that before except on tv when i watch football, it is called blindsided and i think it really hurts everyone who gets hit like that

i have been blindsided by my doggie friends sometimes and it can make me roll over, i get up and run after my doggie friend, but letty did not get up and chase bebe

one day penny blindsided me 

then i heard letty scream and cry

jack didn't come help because he was not home, i didn't know what to do, bebe kept running around letty and letty kept screaming, i almost howled like i do when the siren rings on some days

when i saw letty crawling to the back door i knew i had to help, i began to get underneath her body so it did not drag on the back porch, she was crying, i heard her say thank you murphy, help me and i did

at last she got on her knees and opened the back door, bebe ran in first and i was so mad i almost ran after her to bite her, but i stayed with letty

inside letty stopped moving and laid down on me and cried cried cried, i whimpered because she was on top of me, then bebe sort of helped when she stood in front of letty and barked, that made her move

at last she reached for her phone and called for help, bebe left with her family, and jack came home

i think if letty could walk on four legs like i do she might not fall so far to the ground

jack looked at letty's hand, her ring finger was crooked, her ring finger leg was crooked and her ring finger ankle was crooked, it did not look like letty's body, i backed away and wanted to cry,

then they were gone

i stayed home and protected the house just like jack told me to, when they came home letty crawled on the couch where i sleep and went to sleep, 

this is me sleeping on my corner of the soft couch, letty would not share a picture of herself, she said my words had to show the picture

many days passed and letty slept on my couch with her legs up on stacks of pillows, she wore blankets around her, it looked strange, her foot is bigger than my head, maybe

no matter what she could not walk very well, and she had to walk with help from a red wheeled cart, or jack, she could not throw my toys, whatever bebe did really hurt letty and now letty cannot play with me,

now she sleeps in bed and i still worry about her

i miss playing with her, but jack is the best, he plays with me, we walk every morning even when he has to put on coats, he throws the frisbee for me, he feeds me, and he puts water down for me

he even feeds letty, i see him stand at the stove where letty used to stand and i can smell food, breakfast is the best time because he gives me left overs,

he even stands at the sink and makes noises like letty did with the dishes, he pushes a machine across the floors that i chase and bark at, but he does not stop, he says he is helping letty feel better

now she can walk very slowly in a big boot, but she does not go outside and play kick the ball

friends come over everyday to play with me and bring her food, i like that part,

i crawl in bed with her at night now just to make sure she is happy and then i get down

she is happy because i hear her laughter and i know she will be better and playing kick ball soon

Dear friends, yes the fall was bad, but the good thing is that I was in great physical shape from strength training, walking, golfing and stretching. If  I had not been so very healthy I might have broken a leg, a wrist, and an ankle. 

 I saw this at Physical Therapy Central before I fell. Now I don't think it is as funny as I once did.