Christmas Traditions: We Hear the Angels Sing

 

Santa's on the way. For my grandson Chase.

It came upon a midnight clear, 
that glorious song of old,
From angels bending near the earth,
to touch their harps of gold.
"Peace on the earth, good will to men,"
from Heaven's all gracious King.
The world in solemn stillness lay,
To hear the angels sing. 

My Christmas bouquet with
Dan's Florida Spider Lilies

My brother Loren and I loved sharing this time of year together and with our family wherever we happened to be.  We had so many wonderful Christmases from the time we were young children in Rochester, NY.  Our parents made sure of it. 

Andy's tree, 12/2021

The traditions continued into our adulthoods, with our own children, and now with their children. We shared as many Christmases together as we could, in Rochester, in Toledo, Tallahassee,  St. Petersburg, in DC, and in between.  Even if we were apart, the holiday spirit connected us, held us close. Same this year. The traditions continue. 

Loren inherited mom's make-believe tree, and he always had it ready to take out and light up. In fact, he brought it out early and kept it up late. It held lots of warm memories. We'd remind him that is was April and his Christmas tree was still up. '"Yeah, I'll get to it."  He did, in his own time. I understand it now. Whenever I take out a Christmas tree, or admire a tree that a family member puts up, the sight and scent of it bring comfort and joy. 

This year on the St. Petersburg waterfront
under a full moon. Shared this with Loren so many times
over the years.

Andy's Fireplace, which
Loren enjoyed as much
 as I am now. 

Loren didn't like the commercialism, but he loved the spirit, the music. He had a good voice and sang Christmas carols, just like my dad. He loved the candles and the lights. My brother was a romantic at heart. He listened to love songs--Elton John, Paul McCartney, Nat King Cole,  Kenny Rogers, Andre Bocelli. Never tired of them. Nor do we!

I liked giving him gifts at Christmas, mostly books, or a subscription to the National Geographic, a membership to the Smithsonian, National Museum of the American Indian, or to one of his favorite environmental groups. Loren usually gave little presents he had bought at the gift shops of one of his charities. St. Marks, in Tallahassee, was a favorite. 

Our mom's Christmas
cactus, tended by Andy
to this day.

This year I’m giving Loren this song to sing: "It Came Upon a Midnight Clear," because its message was never more important.  Loren believed it, always told it. And so do we.

We pray that the "Age of Gold," the age of peace foretold by prophets, is coming round.  We say this every year.  "Peace on the Earth," good will to everyone on planet Earth.  This year is no exception.  It's a Christmas tradition.

This decorated house in St. Petersburg is just
like the houses we decorate every year. 

For lo, the days are hastening on, 

By prophet bards foretold,
When, with the ever-circling years,
Shall come the Age of Gold.
When peace shall over all the earth
it's ancient splendors fling,
And all the world give back the song
which now the angels sing.

A Florida Road Trip Down Memory Lane: From Tallahassee to the Villages to Tampa/St.Petersburg

Christmas on the St. Petersburg waterfront under a bright gold full moon.

Andy and I took another Florida road trip, this time to visit friends we stay in touch with the best we can on social media, cell phones, and passing photos back and forth.  We aimed to see them face-to-face, in person, and have those long conversations we remember still, and the warmth and comfort that goes with them. Time for a trip down Memory Lane. 

The Villages have everything.
Recreation Center & nature trials.

When Andy first mentioned a trip to the Villages to see old friends, I pounced on it. "Well sis, if we're going there, why not go down to Tampa/St. Petersburg." I lived in the Tampa Bay area on the Gulf coast of central Florida before taking off for Ukraine with the Peace Corps in 2009, and I loved it. Miss my friends.  I'm so glad she said "great idea," because it turned out to be fantastic and wonderful for both of us, a friendship tour. 

Andy, Linda, and I

First stop, The Villages, to visit Linda and Rodney, with whom Andy's been friends for decades when they lived in Tallahassee. It was fun and heartwarming. We learned that the Villages now has 120,000 residents, 55 golf courses, every activity for seniors imaginable, and 3 zip codes. It's perfect for Linda and Rodney. It was fun being there because we're seniors who know how to laugh and how to keep these aging issues of concern in some perspective. We stick with the positive, enjoy every moment, fully in the now, satisfied and at peace. We had a lovely tour, a great lunch, and good conversation flowing easily between what's happening today and where we were before. We toasted to friendship and good health, and expressed hope we'd visit each other again soon. 

Bayfront Hilton
courtyard

Next up, with Andy driving (a good long-distance driver) and me navigating (pretty good), we headed south and west, a return to the "10 Years a Floridian" chapter of my life. I never thought I would say it, but I grew to love the place. It happened as I worked for the Florida Humanities Council, the NEH state program whose main job is helping Floridians learn about and promote their state. 

"Make Florida Home." That was the theme. Millions of people come and go in Florida, most born in other places, from some place else, attached to other states. It infuses the culture here.  It's a challenge to build that sense of place and attachment that makes you care for it. Snowbirds. Even if they come every winter for decades, or move here permanently in retirement, they call any state but Florida "home." How do you make people care about the State or get them to appreciate its cultural traditions and sacred places? Care about preserving it? How do you encourage them to appreciate its past and present, both the paradise and the Noir? In short, how do you entice them to "Make Florida Home?" 

Whenever I'm back in Florida I do feel at home. I came to know the state and to care for it. Familiarity breeds attachment. That was the purpose of the Humanities Council's award-winning magazine, The Forum, as well, which explored all aspects of the State's history and culture, its natural and built environments, its literature, art, music, folklife traditions. It still does.  

My Old Northeast neighborhood, decked out for Christmas.

I was back in St. Petersburg, back home. The Bay sparkled; the aging brick streets, uneven as ever, rose up to greet me; the houses, the bungalows and variety of architectural styles were beautiful, decorated in their holiday finest; and a short walk to Beach drive and along the Bay to downtown brought comfort and joy. 

The development downtown amazes. It is filled up with high rises on every available space, along with great Museums, lots of tourists attractions, cafes and restaurants. It's like New York City on Tampa Bay, I marveled. Sandie and Christopher snidely snickered. "Overdeveloped," they said.  They live downtown, and they've seen it happen. 

Still, I savored the flaura and fauna, the exotic flowers blooming like happy faces under the Florida sun and the balmy weather, the Live Oaks and ancient Banyon trees across from what once was the iconic Moon Under Water English pub. We spent lots of time there. My grandkids played around those Banyon trees whenever they visited their Nana. So many happy memories.  

A fav memory photo:
Sandie & me

But best of all was seeing dear Sandie and Christopher. It's been too long we all agreed, hugs and love flowing. They were friends with our brother Loren, too. Christopher helped Loren self-publish his memoirs, "An Asperger Journey."  Sipping wine and savoring memories, Sandie brought out the lovely Indian elephant sculpture that Loren had given her as a gift many years ago. We shared time. We shared meals and thoughts. We had an evening meal at Cervice's because it was a place we spent so much time together.  It's no longer the Moon, but we shared a lovely dinner of tapas and wine at "what used to be." And as an added bonus we got to bask in the waterfront under a brilliant gold moon.  Just like old times.

But the good times continued the next morning with Sue Johnson, a friend going back to Ohio days. Sue is an art therapist, a talented artists, and a Tai Chi master teacher. We had a lovely breakfast at the historic Hollander hotel, a place her daughter stays when she visits her mom. We just took up from where we left off a few years back in St. Pete, our memories bridging Ohio and Florida, and lots of space in between. Sue updated Andy and I on the museum world in St. Pete, the Chihuly Collection and her new favorite, The Museum of the Arts and Craft Movement. Just three-years-old, this architectural wonder was founded by philanthropist and collector Rudy Ciccarello. Sue said the art was incredible. She made it sound so fantastic that I will have to return to St. Petersburg just to see this museum.  

After musing about my next visit, Andy and I wound our way over the Howard Frankland bridge to Tampa to see dear friend Linda Ketley. She is an intrepid entrepreneur to this day, restoring houses and making them beautiful, helping friends with buying and displaying art and rare artifacts from around the world. Linda had just learned her sister Julia from England had died. We felt sad for her. Linda's family lives in the UK, where she has dual citizenship. I have always loved her international view of life and her multicultural interests, intrinsic to a beautiful woman whose Dad was Chinese and her mom English. Our  thoughts are with Linda during this grieving time. 

Our friendship tour was coming to an end, but we had one more stop to make in Tampa as we headed home to Tallahassee. We were going to see another friend with Ohio roots, the incomparable Dan Bitter from Toledo's Old West End days.  We've been friends ever since, even though Dan fell off our roof and broke his arm when he was painting our house. That's a story in itself.  

Dan is a walking encyclopedia of knowledge with never-ending curiosity. "I'm reading a book now on advances in Astronomy and space," he tells us. Just like Dan! He marvels at what's going on out there, among the planets and asteroids in the forever universe.

This is why I am Dan's ever-loving friend. He is the most brilliant guy I know, and also the kindest, most compassionate, a wonderful listener and loyal friend. And on top of all that, he made us a delicious crepe from a recipe he got from our mutual Old West End friend Sandy Frank.  He  topped it off with drops of fresh lemon and powdered sugar, and voila, the perfect crepe!   

Nor is it any wonder that Dan's home and big yard is an oasis for progressive souls, free spirits, and extra-talented friends who come to his place for movies, crepes on Sunday, and eclectic conversation among kindred spirits. Dan collects all good people and puts them together in memorable and meaningful ways. And, true to form, it happened this visit, too.  

Dan connected Andy and I with Marie Haley, whose lifelong partner was award-winning crossword puzzle maker Merl Reagle. Okay, puzzle fans, you know who he is. Merl died a few years ago, but his crossword puzzles live on.  Dan made sure Marie came for his Sunday crepes when he learned that Andy is an "incorrigible puzzlehead," as Merl called them. 

And guess what? Marie, who was also Merl's publicist and marketer, came with Merl's "100th Anniversary Crossword Book," published in 2013, and gave this gift to Andy, who was thrilled. The book of puzzles, which Andy, pen in hand, is already filling up, was in honor of Arthur Wayne, the inventor of the "strange, addictive interlocking mind game called the crossword puzzle." Marie regaled us with stories, including the time Steven Spielberg, a huge Merl fan, made a get well call to Merl when they lived in Los Angeles and he was in the hospital. 

Andy with Dan's bouquet of 
Florida Lilies

And so our friendship tour ended. We drove back to Tallahassee full of gratitude for friends. "That was the best Christmas present we could give each other," Andy said. 

As we got closer to home, I read a quote from Merl's book that wrapped it up: "The fact that puzzles are all about things that cross and intersect makes them a great metaphor for people staying connected to each other." 

"Perfect," Andy said.   

Dan's Spider Lilies, lovely and very fragrant

Monticello, Florida: Southern Hospitality

 

The John Denham House, Italianate, 1874,
a picture of Southern charm.

My sister Andy and I took a road trip to Monticello, in Jefferson County, Florida. You can gather that the town's namesake is Jefferson's Monticello and all the history that surrounds it. It's just about 16 miles up the road from Andy's, straight East on Mahan Drive/Highway 90, under a Canopy of Live Oaks dripping with Spanish Moss. 

When I'm in Florida, and I lived in St. Petersburg for ten years, it doesn't usually feel like the deep South, but it sure does this visit.  I'm learning more about northern Florida, that Tallahassee was all plantations from very early on, and they extended to Monticello and beyond. I even recognized the names of the streets as we were driving east, many belonging to old Plantation masters, the land made bountiful by the free labor of slaves.  

"The more you know, the more you see," I mused to Andy. She understood.  The antebellum era, Reconstruction, Jim Crow have deep roots here. It's a story we need to understand, how it infused our  history and culture. We recognize as well that the history is now overlaid by modernism, evolving cultural traditions and norms, incredible economic expansion, growing diversity, and changes to the land. .  

Andy brought us back to the present, pointing to a sign, Monticello Heritage Trail. We're here! "Look out for the Court House in the center of this picture," Andy said. And sure enough, it came into view. A large white, silver-domed, elegant structure in the center of the town, two tall pine trees standing guard at the entrance,  beckoning us closer. I could have been riding around the Ring of Kerry in Ireland, it was such a joy to see. 

We drove around the Court House, looking this way and that, getting the lay of the land. The 1890s red brick Opera House was to our right, and to our left a charming street of  antique shops like Huckleberry's, a Wag the Tale humane society thrift shop, cafes and restaurants, a clothing boutique, commercial buildings and stores. We could see why the Monticello heritage district is on the National Register of Historic Places, its sites and beauty as old as the moss-covered oaks.  

Off the main street a bit, we stopped by two lovely churches, one a white structure with a distinctive silver steeple reaching to an azure blue sky, the other a wooden structure with amazing embellishments, carvings and beautiful stained glass windows all around.  I googled it when we got back to Andy's and learned it is a Carpenter Gothic architectural style, built in 1885.  Fascinating. Next time I hope we can get into that church and see the windows up close. . . 

The Perkins Opera House, 1890

We walked in and out of shops, bought a few Christmas gifts at Huckleberry's and Wag the Tail, and then stopped for lunch at The Brick House restaurant.  We had freshly caught grouper and fried green tomatoes. Andy had fried pickles. It was down home Southern delicious. 

We continued exploring after lunch, each of us pointing out houses and structures that got our attention. I loved the landscape, gently rolling hills (possibly old Indian mounds), the trees, the bright green leaves of camellias in pink and white. 

We came upon two historic houses next to each other, both on the National Historic Register, according to the markers. The John Denham House, photo at top, is currently a Bed and Breakfast. Denham was a Scottish immigrant and a cotton merchant. His home is still perfectly lovely, settled comfortably under centuries-old Live Oaks. I couldn't take my eyes off of the octagonal cupola as I walked next door to the Palmer House. That was a mistake. I stepped on a sweet gum ball, I think it was, slightly twisted my ankle and went down, flat on my back. My cell phone went flying. I'm fine, but my phone's a mess. 

I dusted off myself, and my pride, and continued on the short walk to the Palmer House, which sits silently on a large expanse of green lawn.  It was built by Martin Palmer for his son John, the town's mortician.  It's a simple Greek Revival architectural style built between 1850 and 1874. I couldn't help but think of the Civil War raging at the time, and the need for John Palmer's services. This place is rumored to be haunted by ghosts. It occurred to me that a ghost might be responsible for the fall I took, but Andy insists it was not a ghost but my admiring the scenery too much and paying attention too little. 

Opera House entrance

  The entrance to the Opera House.

A delicious meal.

Because my super selfie made us laugh! 

this is a 2nd rewrite b/c I lost my first draft.

Sharon Elphick: Into the Neo-Pop 1980s and Beyond

Sharon Elphick, Bauhaus Bouquet. She  added flowers and trees to her well-known urban landscapes and graffiti art, and that's when I discovered her. She is a commercially successful artist. Google Sharon Elphick artist/images for dozens of her art works and products for sale. 

Spot the Difference. Gilcee print. @ art.com for
wonderful wall art, prints, posters, paintings.

Popular ceramic items for sale. 

Sharon Elphick was born in the same era as my daughters, the mid-
1960s, and they came of age in the same decade, the 1980s.

I wasn't really into the music and cultural trends of that time and found hip hop and electronic pop music beyond my understanding. Yep, my kids thought I was out of it. I knew they felt the same way about my music as I did about theirs. But hey, let's move on from Elvis Pressley and the Everly Brothers, because I have recently discovered some fabulous women artists who were greatly influenced by the 1980s and whose art I now find fascinating.

 Sharon Elphick is among them. Art historians note that during the 80s "influential art movements included Neo Geo, the Pictures Generation, and Neo-Expressionism." I admit these movements slid by me. I perked up a bit with the street art and graffiti movements, but it took a while to educate myself to these art forms. I'm still learning. It's enlightening, and fun.

 
There's not much biographical information about Sharon Elphick. She was born in the north of England and began her career as a textile artist. A few years after receiving an art degree in printed textiles, she moved from the more rural regions of the UK to London.

Elphick, Architectural landscapes in signature grids

Graffiti.

She ran smack into the 1980s and absorbed it all. She was fascinated by the urban landscape, especially the high-rise architecture, and also the grafitti art of the time. They inspired a burst of creativity that made Elphick a popular and highly respected artist from the mid-1980s and 1990s to the present.

Her love of pattern and texture, her use of geographic forms, grids and close spaces, spoke to the modernism of her generation. Neo Geo. This is the art for which Elphick became widely known and also commercially successful. As an article in the UK's Metro Times in 2008 noted: "Sharon Elphick is best known for her inventive patterns built up from fragments of the urban landscape. High-rise flats are transformed into wallpaper, and aerosol spots and architectural angles rearranged into brightly coloured abstract grids reminiscent of the paintings of the futurists and vorticists* of the early 20th century."

I like her modern art, but it wasn't what drew me into learning more about her. I saw photos of her flowers, trees and print and textile mosaics of the changing seasons on Christa Zaat's online Female Artists in History. To some of her fans at the time it might have seemed like a drastic move away from her popular style to a more traditional and floral style.

Now that I've seen more images of her work I can see that it's all distinctively Sharon Elphick. Her inspiration and content may have shifted a bit, but she didn't abandon the signature style that made her art loved and sold, in all its variety. She saw patterns, architectural shapes, and geographic forms in nature too, styling them into contemporary structures and grids that balance the more traditional. In the process, she created some wonderful and eye-catching pop art urban gardens for us. How delightful is that?

Now that I know about Elphick's art, I am seeing it everywhere. On mugs and plates, on posters, on Art.net, Pinterest, Epsy and other online art-for-sale sites. 

No wonder Elton John bought a copy of every editioned print after her work was featured in London's Times newspaper in 2008. I think I may even have caught a glimpse of some pieces when Linda Furney and I were at the Frieda Kahlo exhibit at the Victoria and Albert Museum a few years ago. I aim to go back and take another look.

Meanwhile, I am suggesting Sharon Elphick's art to my niece Ali, a nurse who's started her own interior design consulting business because she loves it. Her clients are eclectic, she says, so who knows but one of them might find Elphick as enchanting as Elton John did. Wallpaper, maybe, or a Gilcee print, a poster or a landscape painting. It's a whole new wonderful world.

New collages by Sharon Elphick weblog

Sources:

Elphick's gallery and shop,
  160 Columbia Rd, London,
for next time I'm there.

*  https://metro.co.uk/2008/08/13/sharon-elphicks-fleur-shows-consistency-in-change-378544/

*  https://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/elphicks-london?select=EgVInhZeesjqYRTONbofpg

*  Prints and Fine Arts website:  https://www.printsandfineart.co.uk/artist/3374/sharon-elphick#

* Had to look this up. The vorticists were a British avant-garde group formed in London in 1914 with the aim of creating art that expressed the dynamism of the modern world, kind of like the machines in the garden. Ezra Pound's wife was among them. See https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2011/may/28/vorticists-tate-britain-exhibition-review..  Here are a few examples.

.

Dorothy Shakespear, Composition in Blue and Black, 1914-15.
She was Ezra Pound's wife. Amazing, isn't it?


                 

                                      Edward Wadsworth. I like the rose color background..

See also a good article in wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vorticism.