The Sculpture Garden at the MOMA

I love sculpture gardens and even though it was very cold I managed to spend a little time outside at the MOMA. My favorite is the Giacometti, the 10th picture.

A Day at the Met

The first museum I visited in NY was the Metropolitan. I wanted to see the Cubism exhibit: Cubism: The Leonard A. Lauder Collection and as much of the permanent collection as I could. Pictures are allowed of the permanent collection but not of special exhibits. I did manage to get a few pictures from the Cubism exhibit, which are under the Christmas Tree, before I found that out. The rest are just a few random pictures I took. My favorite one is the Chuck Close painting (10th picture). Cameron joined me for lunch that day and dinner that night after he got off work.

Clean Water for Kenya

"Charles is 48 years old, has 8 children, and lives in Aora Chuodho B village in Ndhiwa sub county, Kenya. Charles works as a subsistence farmer for a living. His community of Aora Chuodho B village does not have access to clean water. The water that is used for drinking and cooking is easily contaminated with bacteria that can cause diarrhea and other water-borne diseases. Charles is a friendly member of the community, and has been elected Promoter by his village to help its members obtain safe drinking water.
As a volunteer Promoter, Charles represents the community on Kiva’s website and educates the community on how to protect their families from unsafe drinking water by using a chlorine dispenser system. Charles and 4 other promoters in his community, namely Carolyn, Mary, Olivia and Ruth, need a loan to cover the costs of installing and maintaining chlorine dispensers at the water sources in the area. Charles wants to be a promoter because he believes that the chlorine will kill germs in water, thus making it safe to drink.
This loan is part of Evidence Action’s Dispensers for Safe Water program, providing rural communities with access to safe drinking water by installing chlorine dispensers where people collect water. The dispensers enable community members to treat their water with chlorine to make it safe to drink."
EvidenceAction

A Day at The Guggenheim

On my last day in NY, Cameron was able to join me for a trip the Guggenheim. The building was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright and the design and construction took place over a sixteen-year period (1943-1959). Pictures of the exhibits aren't allowed but they do allow pictures from the rotunda.
We saw an exhibit entitled Zero: Countdown to Tomorrow 1950s-60s. I had never heard of this group of artists and would probably not have gone to see the exhibit but it was one of the best exhibits I saw in NY (maybe because Cameron was there). This is a link to an article about this exhibit: ‘ZERO’ exhibit at Guggenheim New York shines light on lesser known 1950s postwar artists
We also saw a Kandinsky exhibit "Kandinsky Before Abstraction, 1901-1911" and the Thannhauser Collection, the permanent collection at the Guggenheim. I prefer Kandinsky after abstraction.
Almost forgot to mention the exhibit "V. S. Gaitonde: Painting as Process, Painting as Life" His work reminded me very much of the work of Paul Klee, one of my favorite artists.
Two works by Gaitonde:

My Pet Goat

My daughter surprised me this Christmas with the adoption of Erika, a goat from Farm Sanctuary.
Here is Erika's story from the Farm Sanctuary website: 

Erika’s surprise rescue story: In February 2013, Animal Control officers rescued more than a dozen sheep, one goat, and a calf who were struggling to stay alive on bread scraps from a backyard butcher in the Los Angeles area. The bodies of victims who had already perished lay nearby. Once we heard of this case, we welcomed the group and took them into our care. Most of the animals were transported to our Northern California Shelter, leaving only Claire (the rescue’s sole goat) and Felicity (her dear sheep friend) to reside at our Los Angeles sanctuary. On March 12, during their evening rounds, Southern California Shelter caregivers discovered that Claire had just given birth to a daughter, who we have named Erika. The arrival was a surprise, but a very happy one. Erika was tiny and bursting with life!
Personality: Erika is still young, so she is very curious and playful. And at times, she is quite demanding! Having been born into a sanctuary setting, Erika will never know cruelty. She has been treated as a princess since the day she was born and never hesitates to ask for what she wants — sometimes very loudly.
Erika has two moms: Erika has the luxury of being raised by not only one, but two mother-figures — her mother, Claire, and her Aunt Felicity, who is a sheep. The two watch over Erika carefully. Erika spends every afternoon playing on the hillside or snoozing in the sun — with her “Moms” close by.
Her favorite part of the day: This little goat is happy anytime food is near! Erika knows her feeding times and will announce them at the top of her lungs!

New York

In NY I stayed at the Wyndham Garden Manhattan Chelsea West, a hotel designed by Michael Graves. Here is a picture of the hotel plus 2 pictures I took from the window and another of the street a block or so away. I really loved this little hotel and will stay there again if I go back.

New York Eats

Here are a few pictures of the food Cameron and I had in NY. It was so nice eating photographed food with one of my favorite people. Just like old times when he was in Houston. We had a wonderful pizza and salad at Joe's Pizza one night. Another night we went to Mario Batali's restaurant called Eataly. It's a huge gourmet grocery store, farmers market and restaurant all in one. I had the delicious gnocchi in the picture and Cameron had soup. We also brought a few cookies back to my hotel room and shared those. The sandwich was from a vegetarian restaurant right around the corner from my hotel I believe but it might have been from a place close to the Guggenheim. Wherever it was from it was delicious. The ice cream was from Big Gay Ice Cream, a place I found after Cameron told me he was moving to NY. I believe it started as a truck but now has an actual storefront. Even with all the eating I did I didn't gain any weight because of all the walking.

A Snowy Day in Denver

Family

Polly Ann Rogers Dawson

Polly Ann Rogers was born in Calhoun, Tennessee in 1792 to Capt. John "Hellfire Jack" Rogers, a British Captain in the Revolutionary war and his 3rd wife Alcie, Alsey, or Aley Vann. Alcie Vann was the daughter of John Joseph Vann and Wah-Li, a Cherokee. Polly Ann married Samuel Riley Dawson and had 7 children. She died in 1854 in Mills, Texas. Polly Ann was also the half sister of Tiana Rogers Gentry who married Sam Houston. Polly Ann was my GGGG Grandmother.

Roasted Cauliflower with Onion, Garlic, and Thyme

1 small head cauliflower, cut into florets
1 onion, sliced
4 garlic cloves, unpeeled
6 sprigs fresh thyme
4 tablespoons olive oil
Sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Spread cauliflower, onion, garlic, and thyme in one layer on a large rimmed baking sheet and drizzle with oil. Season with salt and pepper.
Roast for 35 to 45 minutes, or until fork-tender, stirring frequently with a spatula or large spoon to even out the browning. Taste occasionally to see if more salt or pepper is needed. Remove from oven, remove garlic cloves, and season to taste.

I found this recipe online from a cookbook by Chloe Coscarelli called Chloe's Vegan Italian Kitchen. I made it on Thanksgiving and ended up eating the whole thing it was so good. That was the only thing I ate on Thanksgiving so I guess that's not too bad. I peeled the garlic even though the recipe says unpeeled and ate it along with the onions and cauliflower. The onions tasted like onion rings but better. My apartment smelled wonderful. I stole this image from the website where the recipe was posted because I have lost my photographer to the Big Apple.