JOURNEY EAST

The Sunday after my friend's party I again boarded the California Zephyr to begin my journey home.  The trip eastbound on both the Zephyr and the Empire Builder is the more scenic, as we pass through the mountains in the daylight.  And one thing was very obvious - the serious drought facing the western US this summer.  Just look how little snow was to be seen!  These views are Truckee and Reno, respectively.

 

 

Now contrast those with CO.

 

 

When you watch the Weather Channel (those of you not held hostage in yet another programming fee fight) this summer and they tell you how bad the drought is, remember you saw it here first.

 

After all the troubles going west, the Zephyr was actually early coming into Chicago, but then my next train left late, so I guess it evens out in the end.

 

From Chicago I took a train called the Cardinal, which winds its way through Ohio, Kentucky, and West Virginia, before running up the northeast corridor from Washington to NYC.  And there was a surprise - a different kind of sleeper.  This is an older-style single-level car called a Shore View.

 

 

It also has a unique two-piece entry door.

 

 

 

The roomette is about the same size as on the more modern cars, but it's taller, giving storage space overhead.  More importantly, each compartment has its own little bathroom.  This is a mixed blessing, as it makes the bed a little more narrow, but no leaving the room in the middle of the night.  Of course, I expect this is one of those occasions when it's good that I have no sense of smell.  Here's some shots of the room.

 

After coming through the Sierras and the Rockies, the mountains of West Virginia are smaller but closer; more personal somehow.  There were some impressive ice falls on the rocky hillsides, but they were too close to the tracks to photograph.  I did get some shots in the New River valley.

 

 

 

Here's a shot of the state capitol building in Charleston, WV which is taller than the dome in Washington.

 

 

 

There are two other points of interest on this route.  Before leaving West Virginia we passed through the Great Bend Tunnel, the site of the storied, and true, duel between a steam drill and John Henry, famously won by Henry.  The other spot is the Alderson Federal Women's Prison.  Sometimes referred to as Camp Cupcake, it has housed inmates as varied as Billie Holliday, Lynette 'Squeaky' Fromme, and Martha Stewart.

 

 

Having left late, we only got later, so I got to see a West Virginia sunset. 

 

  

 

At the end, I was the only one in the sleeper after Washington.  Weird feeling.

 

 

 

 

 



SNOWY SUNDAY

Spent an hour or so sweeping away Saturday's snow.  My push broom seemed the appropriate tool, as it was only an inch of powder.  Plus it's quieter than the shovel, to say nothing about the snow-blower.  Good to have a little exercise since my walks have been curtailed. 

There was a lot of evidence that I was visited by one of the small deer herds last night, accompanied by rabbits.  It will be a miracle if any of my shrubbery survives until spring.  I'm at the edge of a large greenway which runs the length of town under the high tension wires, crosses the golf course, and connects via Rancocas Creek to the woods in Mill Creek Park.  In addition to rabbits, too many squirrels to count, and at least a dozen white-tailed deer, Willingboro is also home to wild turkeys, groundhogs, possums, and 'coons.  Thankfully, no black bears as yet!  I'm surrounded by wildlife and have no need of zoos.

SACRAMENTO

During my trip west I paid a visit to my friends in Sacramento, Jim & Rosie, who I met this summer on the Alaskan cruise.  Rosie took me around the California capitol. 

 

 

We had an informative tour of the public areas of the CA statehouse by a volunteer docent.  There was a fair amount of idealized history, and some tales about the personalities that created California, as well as some bemoaning about the shift of population and political power from north to south.  Today, fully half of the seats in both houses of California’s legislature are from Los Angeles.

By the way, Los Angeles does not exactly mean the city of the angels.  The original pueblo was named the Town of our Lady the Queen of Angels, that being a traditional title for the Madonna.

There is a bit of symbolism in the color and decorating scheme in the two legislative houses.  The Senate is royal red and is presided over by the aristocratic George Washington, and the Assembly is green and is watched over by a portrait of Abraham Lincoln, famous for his common roots.  The colors mirror those used in the British Houses of Lords and Commons.

 

 

But the most fascinating item in the building is this picture.

 

This is, so help me, the official portrait of Jerry Brown, hung after his original term as governor.  Brown, son of former governor Pat Brown, was originally governor from 1975 to 1983 and was at that time was the sixth-youngest.  His term was marked to some extent by his unorthodox personality, driving an old Plymouth sedan, living in a modest apartment, and carrying on with ‘first girlfriend’ Linda Ronstadt.  Although actually pretty conservative, he was tagged as Governor Moonbeam by columnist Mike Royko, and the name stuck.  The portrait is scary, and particularly jarring hanging between conventional portraits of predecessor Ronald Reagan and successor George Deukmejian.  Once again governor, and now the oldest in state history, it is to be supposed he may take the opportunity to replace the original work once he next leaves office.  

A relatively small city, Sacramento nevertheless has a variety of building styles, which always get my attention.  As an example, one block apart are these two buildings, one a futuristic glass and steel tower housing a law firm, and the other a traditional soaring mass of granite focused on the other side of the Caesar / Lord equation (render unto . . ., etc.).

 

We also visited the Crocker Museum (same family that founded Crocker Bank), part of which is in the family’s mansion.  Here is a shot of me admiring some art.

 

There also were some of the arch-top doors I so admire.

 

Another favorite was this display of art glass, which included both the beautiful and the bizarre.

 

 

All in all, a very pleasant side trip.

MYSTERY WIND

I returned from my trip to find the wind had played another trick on my canoe.  In a post on November 25th I recounted how a wind storm had somehow pushed my canoe off its rack on the end of my deck.  Now I suppose pushing does make sense, even though this 12 foot long aluminum behemoth weighs 85 pounds.  But this is what I found a day ago when I returned from my latest journey.

Somehow the wind had flipped the boat right side up, and spun it 90 degrees.  The real mystery is how selective the wind had apparently been.  The patio table and chairs you see on the right were unmoved, as were the smaller wood pieces sitting on the deck. 

I can't for the life of me understand how the wind could be so maddeningly selective!  Of course, once right side up the accumulating snow and rainwater kept it from moving further.  In any event, maybe the bungie cords I added this time will keep the boat in place until launching time late in the spring.

SHEN YUN

For her birthday, my friend wanted to see the Chinese dance troupe Shen Yun, so I got us seats in a box for Thursday night at the San Francisco Opera House.  For those who are unfamiliar, think Cirque du Soleil in Chinese.  Here is a link to their website.

www.shenyun.com

 

It’s a beautiful performance, at once athletic and artistic.  There are many segments, some illustrating a period in Chinese history, some based on Chinese folk tales, and two strongly anti-communist pieces highlighting the suppression of Buddhism in the China of today.  Which is why there’s no Shen Yun company touring in China!  There was also one overtly religious piece showing the Buddha resurrecting a faithful martyr.  There were also three singing performances in Chinese, with the English translation appearing on the screen behind.

The screen at the back of the stage is a very interesting innovation, and a key part of the show.  At its simplest, it removes the need for physical scenery, as the required background is just projected on the screen.  But (spoiler alert) Shen Yun goes beyond simple.  Actors transition from the stage to the screen by hopping over a low set of steps that run the width of the back of the stage.  A character can do some live action, then hop into over the steps, next appearing in animation on the screen, where he can fight dragons, do the Crouching Tiger – Hidden Dragon style flying trick, or any other maneuver not possible in the real world.  Conversely, a figure can come down off the screen by having the image disappear behind the steps, then having a live actor jump up onto the stage.  Of course, on the screen anything can be animated, like a fearsome dragon.  One effect that was used twice probably caused uncomfortable feelings for the Japanese and Indonesian people in the audience – a giant tsunami!
 
Each piece begins with a narration in English and Chinese, which did add to the length of the program.  Listening to the Chinese version, I was reminded again how maddeningly complex the Chinese language is – all those musical quavers!  I once attempted a beginners’ course, but quit when the recording tried to illustrate the three ways to say the simple word ‘ma’.  I had to run the recording at slow speed in order to hear that one pronunciation had a rising inflection, one had a falling inflection, and one rose and fell, all in the space of a two letter word.  I quietly put the recording back on the shelf, and never tried again.  And by the way, I’m saying the narrator was speaking Chinese because I didn’t know if I was hearing Mandarin or Cantonese.

ANOTHER TRIP WEST

When I went west this past summer, I flew into and out of Chicago, which is where Amtrak hubs all their cross-country lines.  For this trip, I took the Pennsylvanian from Philadelphia to Pittsburgh, changing there to the Capital Limited which runs from DC to Chicago.  Travel in the winter is normally easier by train than trying to fly, but the winter storm we experienced was bad enough to snarl the trains as well.  The Capitol Limited left DC three hours late, and so I finally got on board at 3AM.  Bit of a waste having a room, although I did get to shower.  If I had gone to DC instead of Philly I would have been the same amount of late, but would have slept through it.  Oh, well. If I hadn’t gone this way I would have never seen how dead downtown Pittsburgh could be on a cold Sunday night.  And mind you, this is only about 10pm.

I did manage to find both a pizza joint and a bar (with both Wi-Fi and earsplitting music – yin and yang) within walking distance.  As I said, we were three hours late out of Pittsburgh, but I was hopeful we would get no later, and so would make my connection to the Zephyr.  My hopes were dashed somewhere in Ohio, however, as we sat for several hours behind another train that had broken down.  When we finally limped into Chicago more than five hours late, we found a zoo.  The Zephyr and several other trains were still on the board, listed as delayed, and some others had been cancelled.  Around 8PM they cancelled the Zephyr and several other trains, and what had seemed a zoo originally exploded into sheer pandemonium.  The staff was clearly not ready for the deluge, and lines snaked around the building as people tried (and largely failed) to get answers, satisfaction, or even tickets.  Even the next day, the ticket line was ridiculous, still running back into the great hall. 

I got the Diners’ Club Concierge to find me a flight out on Wednesday, since the next day’s Zephyr would not get me to the Bay Area until too late on Thursday.  I was able to book a room at the Holiday Inn I used last year.  Since it was downtown and a long way from the airports, it hadn’t filled up.  The reason for the cancellation of the Zephyr became obvious once I got to my hotel room.  I believe it made the national news.  The incoming Zephyr, which would have become my train out, got stuck in some ice and the passengers had to be bussed in to the city.

Here's a link to the Amtrak story.  http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/01/07/us-usa-weather-stranded-idUSBREA060N320140107?feedType=RSS

In my posts from this past summer, I made it clear that I really like Chicago.  I obviously didn’t do a lot of walking around during this serendipitous visit, but my impressions were unchanged by the weather.  Taxi drivers, bartenders, and shopkeepers all seemed to be taking conditions in stride, although it was the worst weather they’d seen in more than 20 years.  It was minus 15F on Monday.  That was the temperature; the wind chill was in the minus 30’s.  Tuesday it warmed all the way up to 5 above, and a veritable hear wave would take it up to 16 above on Wednesday.  Great place to live.

In any event, Wednesday found me at O’Hare for my flight on Virgin America.  Thankfully, this went off fairly smoothly.  The only hitch was caused by me.  I hadn’t remembered to redo my backpack for the change from train world to TSA world.  I had to stand there in my stocking feet, holding my pants up until I could put my belt back on, while they went through my bag.  They confiscated the multi-blade knife I always carry.  But the amazing thing is what they did not find or object to.  There was a smaller multi-function knife they missed, perhaps because it’s on my keychain and the keys masked it, and a wine corkscrew in plain sight.  The other oddity was, given their constant insistence on liquid containers being no more than three ounces, they said nothing about my great big one liter aluminum water bottle.  That had to stick out on the x-rays.  By the bye, if you’ve ever wondered what happens to confiscated items, visit the website below and search for 'confiscated items'.  There, you can buy knives and other items from the Harrisburg center, by the pound!

www.govdeals.com

So anyway I was forced back into flying.  I will say that Virgin America runs a somewhat less onerous cattle car than others I’ve encountered. There was slightly more legroom than on Frontier, and they didn’t charge for water and soft drinks.  And they were on time.  Contributing to that was the fact it was an afternoon flight.  Those have a better chance to being on time.  Since I was taking what I could get when I booked it, we landed in San Francisco rather than Oakland, but that was alright, since I could rent a car there and return it in Emeryville, right at the Amtrak station.  Anyway, flying got me back on schedule.

 

NEW YEAR FIREWORKS

In keeping with my love of fireworks, and my determination to not sit home and watch them on the 'tube, I bought a deck pass for the battleship New Jersey, which is docked in Camden, across the river from the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard, where she was built in 1942 and refitted in 1968.  Here's a file photo from their website: www.battleshipnewjersey.org.

 

 

I have a tenuous connection with the New Jersey.  During her 2nd world war service in the Pacific theater she was part of the command of one Admiral Marc A. Mitscher, and I served from '69-'71 aboard the destroyer (DDG35) named for Admiral Mitscher. 

Here's a shot of New Jersey's impressive guns from the foredeck.

But in any case, this night turns out not to have been one of my brightest choices, as it was frig-bloody-id.  They had a DJ out on deck, and the more inebriated of my temporary shipmates were dancing, but most of us were inside, in the officers' wardroom.  And another problem was the ship's high bow, which meant you could not see ahead from the main deck.  The fireworks barge was between us and the Ben Franklin bridge, which made it difficult to get a clear shot.  But I did get some.

 

 

It was fun swapping 'sea-stories' with the retired guys acting as docents, but I think next year I need a warmer place to party.  Also, I was disappointed that the fireworks did not involve the bridge.

 



In prior years, the bridge was a riot of dancing light and had waterfall fireworks pouring from the roadway.  Oh, well.  I guess the recession took another victim.

HOGMANAY

I celebrated New Year's Eve with a couple of events, deciding not to stay home as I have so often in the past.

Hogmanay - this odd-sounding event is a Scottish rite associated with the Winter Solstice involving a bonfire. The Lawrenceville* historical society has done this event on New Year's Eve for a number of years. The tradition is to bring written examples of the past Year's events which are best forgotten, and toss them into the fire. If you wish, they'll provide paper and pencil to write some on the spot. Not being superstitious, I didn't originally plan to play along, but I found some letters written to Cynthia by our daughters that seemed to be good candidates for consignment to the flames.

* (Another misspelt Laurence)

Here are some shots of the fire.

 

There were also some musical accompaniment- a bagpiper at the fire and a fiddler in the house.