Berlin
I moved to Berlin in January of 1986. I really needed to get away from Ithaca, and I had some issues which needed attention. I spent mornings at the Goethe Institute studying German and the rest of the day photographing. I was drawn to the city because of the division; one could see the extremes of Capitalism on the West side, then go through a checkpoint on the same day and see what the Commies were up to. It was like stepping back forty years.
I like the phrase “wer mauert hat’s nötig” which I always took to mean “whoever builds walls needs them”. Which is relevant here as the East Germans built the thing and then called it an “anti-facist barrier”.
In looking over my contact sheets this morning I realized that there are very few people in any of my wall photographs. It always amazed me that even on the West side, people stayed away from it (except the graffiti folks who must have worked at odd hours, as I never saw anyone writing on the thing).
I used to like to take the bus to Steinstücken and wander around. It was an odd little Western enclave almost totally surrounded by the East. You can read about it here. There was a rail line running straight through it and you could stick your head around a corner and be face to face with a guard tower. It always seemed a likely place for a crossing, but I never heard of one. / I met a lot of Berliners and was always interested to hear stories of unique situations with the wall. I was once told that at some locations there were gates where Westerners could use a key to access their gardens in the East. Probably not true, but interesting to think about.
Here is Checkpoint Charlie at night.
The wall has been down for 25 years now. I seriously doubt it was Reagan’s “Mr Gorbachev, bring down this wall” plea that had anything to do with it opening up. More like the East Germans made some really stupid mistakes, which is not surprising as they were running a completely effed up and vile organization.
Transition
I have been back from England for several days, but had some images from there I wanted to post, so this will be a bit transitional.
Cris and I had a nice walk in the Green Park and in St James’s Park on Saturday before heading back up to Stratford upon Avon.
There was an amazing exhibit at the entrance of St James’s called “Fields of Battle – Lands of Peace“. Photographer Michael St. Maur Sheil went to major sites of the first world war and documented what remains from 100 years ago. It is a brilliant idea, and executed really well. It is wild to see huge photographs mounted outside.
Whenever I drive from London to Stratford upon Avon I stop at the Oxford Services on the M40. Just above the carpark is a hillock where you get a great view of the countryside. I think I might have posted a similar photograph from a previous trip.
We basically did the same walk on Sunday that we had done the week before.
This time it was very misty. I am happy to say that the horse with the red coat had his friend back.
The nice thing about doing walks in different weather conditions is that you see the landscape in an entirely different way.
Although the beer looked pretty much the same.
As did the outdoor gents. (Gentlemen is such a nice word; it should be used more.)
After the Sunday roast at the pub, we went next door to Snowshill Manor. The whole place is really bizarre, and very interesting. The gardens are really nice and I was really pleased to see this Green Man water spigot. I have become somewhat obsessed with the idea of the Green Man; it is very pagan but you can still find him in some early churches in England. I think there are 4 in Shakespeare’s church in Stratford upon Avon. (There is also a great XTC song about him.)
It is nice to be home, although for some reason England is always the place I feel the most comfortable. But I live here, and it is a beautiful part of the world. The Olive was really glad to see us, and after the recent rains she has been able to find water (and mud) everywhere.
The Regent’s Park / Wembley
I met Cris at Heathrow yesterday. She has an all-day meeting today and in order to keep her awake and adjust to the time change, we did a long walk to The Regent’s Park late in the afternoon. It is amazing that the roses in Queen Mary’s Garden are still blooming in a major way this late into the year.
Earlier in the day I realized that England were to play San Marino at Wembley in the evening, and I knew that Peter would be disappointed if I didn’t attempt to get a ticket.
I got to my seat near half-time just as Wayne Rooney was taking a penalty to make it 2 – nil.
As San Marino is considered the worst team in FIFA, the crowd was a bit sparse; announced attendance was just over 55,ooo. The final score was 5 – nil England.
I have been to lots of League matches, but never an international at Wembley, and I must say that the Brits have crowd control down to a science. Some of it has to do with the design of the stadium, some with the way that the police control things, but mostly it has to do with the fact that the English do nothing better that queueing.
It was a great evening; I thought of Peter the whole time. I really wish he was with me.
Mr Turner and More
We made it to the Tate Britain today to see the Turner show. It was amazing. No photography in the temporary exhibits, so no pics, but oh my, what an exhibit. He was it.
The rest of the museum was nice. All Brit artists and huge, with lots of variety.
Walked around London afterwards and saw these coots in St. James’s Park. I love coots.
Long bus ride out to Hammersmith to have a few pints at The Dove.
To me, it is the nicest and most welcoming pub in London.
John and I have a long history here. We never made it to the V and A for the Constable exhibit. Maybe tomorrow or Friday.
Lamb and Flag / Covent Garden
Really nice pub in Covent Garden. Off tomorrow to see Mr. Turner and Mr. Constable.
A Lovely Sunday
I thought it might be a nice day today as this happened this morning when I threw a handful of things from my pocket on the bed.
John, Flora, Violet, and I drove to Broadway in the Cotswolds to walk from there to Snowshill and back.
We started on the outskirts of Broadway and we were immediately in fields.
Blackberries were plentiful.
Quite quickly we climbed up to the ridge where the view was spectacular.
As we were walking next to this pasture, we were passed by a horse carrier that contained one of this fellow’s mates. They were both whinnying and it was obvious that they weren’t happy about being split up. Horses are really interesting animals.
The footpath at times was on public roads, and at times just a narrow trail through the woods.
This is the view of Snowshill when we were about 10 minutes walk away.
Here’s another example of when the public footpath shares a country lane.
I have always liked these convex mirrors.
St. Barnabas is directly arcross the road from our halfway stop.
The Snowshill Arms is a great place for a couple of pints and the Sunday Roast. It was excellent.
After lunch, I stuck my head inside the church. It is very simple and not old (in relative terms), and the windows are beautiful.
This sweet little cat followed us for a bit and mewed the whole way.
Once outside the village, we were pretty quickly back into the woods.
It is such a peaceful walk, and we rarely saw others on the path.
Violet gave me this stone with moss growing on it.
This property is called Middle Hill House. It is pretty easy to fantasize about living in a place like this.
This sort of day is so exotic to me; for my friends who live less than an hour away it is a regular trip to make at the weekend.
It is so interesting to me that the public footpath goes right through the middle of farms and fields. We shared our walk with horses, cows, dogs, cats, and of course, lots of sheep.
This particular horse was very friendly though he could be a bit nippy.
A farm just on the outskirts of Broadway breeds dogs for the hunt, and these very friendly pups loved the attention.
A great day. Thanks to John, Flora, and Violet. Wonderful.
Willard Suitcases / 2 October
Peg and I had a very productive day yesterday. We made it through an entire storage box of suitcases; we must have shot at least 14. Most were close to being empty. This safety pin was (barely) holding one of the ribbons that secures items on the bottom of the case. It is a lovely shade of green. This case belonged to Mary E. B.
I am sitting in terminal 3 at Heathrow waiting to be picked up by John Wilson. Nice to be back in England.
Another Walk and a Baby
Cris and I took the Olive up into the woods late this afternoon. Thanks to Sarah, Leonard, and SCJ (all readers of this blog) I think I can safely say that this is a ghost plant (aka Indian Pipe, monotropa uniflora, or monotropa hypopithys).
And there is no doubt this is a dirty yellow labrador retriever . It hasn’t rained much lately so the woods (is?) are full of lots of mud holes and very little running water. What is most amazing to me is that within an hour she is completely clean again.
And my lovely niece Heather just had another girl. On Sunday, we got to meet her while she was chillin’ with her big sister.
I am off to the UK on Thursday for some work and some fun. My great friend John Wilson just sent me this link to a wonderful article on lists. It is a great story. He’ll pick me up at Heathrow Friday morning and I can’t wait to see him.
TEDx Martha’s Vineyard
I’m back from the TEDx event at the Vineyard. It was an intense couple of days and was really interesting. Aside from my usual anxiety about presenting the project to people, my biggest concern was how to get 10 20 x 24 inch framed prints from my house to the venue. It all worked out, but it was a bit nerve wracking.
I was really happy that I was only showing prints, and not doing a formal presentation. I travel around and talk about the suitcases quite a lot, but mostly in give and take type of situations. The idea of standing up and delivering a 15 minute presentation still seems a bit intimidating. It was really helpful though to watch how others talk about their work in this type of format, and I learned a ton about how I want to refine my presentations.
Here’s Jon Ronson giving his talk. I had read “The Psychopath Test” and seen “The Men Who Stare at Goats” and was happy to get the chance to hang out with him. So many creative and stimulating people were a part of the event, and the organizers did a great job setting up time for the participants to relax and talk about our work. It was an honor to be asked to a part of it and I am really grateful to all involved, especially Katy Decker who is an amazing bundle of energy and sweetness. It was also fantastic that my dear friend Sue Jackson, her husband Rick, and their friend Joanie made the trip over from the Cape. It meant so much to me to have familiar faces there.
The Vineyard is a really lovely place and as I hadn’t been there in years, it was great to be back.
It was only slightly weird that since the President was in residence for his vacation, the Coast Guard was out in force. I would guess it was just for training purposes, but there were three chase boats that shadowed us back to Wood’s Hole and it felt a bit strange to see a manned 50 caliber machine gun so near to the ferry.
I am hoping to post more here over the next week. Thanks, as usual, for following.
Block Island
We took the ferry to Block Island today. This evening we walked down to Mansion Beach. Cris has a knack for finding the most amazing things on beaches. She found an iPhone once in South Carolina.
Tonight she found this.
And then she found the box it came in.
It appears to be some kine of weather device that was attached to a balloon.
Here’s the code number.
It’s in the back of the car now.
Here’s a sand castle about to disappear.
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