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.