Baldanza at the Schoolhouse

 

A former one-room schoolhouse near the Cannondale railroad station in Wilton is now the site of a very fine restaurant.  I went there last night for dinner.  Every table was filled.  As soon as one group of diners departed, the table was cleaned and reset and another group was seated.  I'll be back.

Tanglewood

 I am back in Connecticut after an interesting couple of weeks in Alaska.  

On Sunday we went to Lenox, Massachusetts, for an afternoon concert at Tanglewood, headlining revered folk singer, Judy Collins, on her farewell tour.

The opening performer was Amanda Shires.  Rosanne Cash followed with a good set, including Woody Guthrie's "Deportee" and Cash's own "Seven Year Ache."

Mary Chapin Carpenter and her band were crowd favorites.  Her set included a cover of Bob Dylan's "The Times They Are A Changin."  "Passionate Kisses" is one of Carpenter's biggest hits, and the crowd loved it.  She then honored Dolly Parton with "Coat of Many Colors."  Consistent with the day's emphasis on feminism, Carpenter also sang her own anthem, "He Thinks He'll Keep Her."   

There had been long breaks between sets, as it took quite a while to set up each artist's instruments and sound systems.  The show began at 2:30, long before Judy Collins appeared after 5 o'clock when dark clouds threatening rain were in the sky.

Judy Collins announced that she is 87 years old!  She opened with Joni Mitchel's "Both Sides Now," a lively song that was one of Collins' early hits.  She then invited Rosanne Cash to join her for a song Collins had recently written and then Mary Chapin Carpenter for another new Collins song.

By 6 o'clock, after a show that had so far consumed three-and-a-half hours, Judy Collins had not yet sung "Chelsea Morning," "Send in the Clowns" or "Amazing Grace."  Regrettably, with darkening skies, a drive of several hours in front of me, and a Tesla that would need a stop for charging, we had to leave before Judy Collins' set was over.  

Travel

The trip from which I have been showing photographs since August 18 was a Viking Ocean Cruise, Alaska & the Inside Passage, Vancouver, British Columbia to Seward, Alaska.

We began the cruise in Vancouver, where we boarded the Viking Orion at its berth at Canada Place.

Today participants in City Daily Photo will show photos that illustrate the September theme of "Travel." 

 Click here to see other photographers' interpretations of the "Travel" theme.

Seward Murals

 In 2011 two artists painted whales on the side of this building Seward, Alaska, as an experiment.  The mural was very popular, but it did not do well in the hostile Alaskan environment.

In 2019 the building was renovated.  The owner hired J. Leslie to paint whales again.  His mural "Return of the Whales" looks fresh seven years later.

The Ranting Raven Gallery is across the street.  It sells "unique gifts, original art, [and] local wares."  Three raven-related murals from 2014 are on the side of the gallery.

In the beginning, the world was all water.  Raven flew over and fell in love with Salmon Woman.  He asked her to marry him and she agreed, but only if raven creates land.  With the help of other sea creatures, raven obtains sand from the sea bottom and drops it to create land and islands.  Salmon Woman can now come ashore to dry her hair in the wind.

The world was dark because an evil Chief has hidden the sun, moon and stars in a box.  The raven discovers this and, disguised as the Chief's grandson, tricks him into opening the box.  Now the sun is released to light the world and the moon and stars light the night sly.

The Fog Woman story teaches respect for what you have.  Raven is greedy and takes this for granted and loses her, but not before she creates Salmon for the world.  Jennifer Headtke is the lead artist with a long list of contributing artists.

Across an alley from The Ranting Raven Gallery is an older 1999 mural, "Snapshots of the Past."  A photograph of William H. Seward is in the center of the left side.  Seward was the U.S. Secretary of State who bought Alaska in 1867 from Russia for $7.2 million, or about two cents per acre.

Linked to Monday Murals.

Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center

 This is a place that takes care of orphaned and injured Alaskan wildlife.

An adult female brown bear was recently brought to the center after she was badly injured in a fight with male bears.

I'm not sure I have seen muskoxen before.

A black bear paced restlessly.

I didn't know that reindeer are simply domesticated caribou.

Alaska SeaLife Museum

Seward is the most northern port city we visited.  While there, we went to the Alaska SeaLife Museum.   It is one of 23 Coastal Ecosystem Learning Centers (CELCs) across North America.  The goal of CELCs is to educate and involve people in addressing critical environmental issues.

For visitors like me with limited time, the Center also provides an opportunity to see some of the native wildlife up close in an environment safe for them and safe for me.  These are a horned puffin (above) and a crested puffin (below).

In the lower level of the Center, I watched a seal practice swimming upside down.  On the upper level I watched the same seal pull itself out of the water. 

There was one huge sea lion.

 There were some big and ugly fish to see, too.  I think they are rockfish.

A staff member enlisted two volunteers to feed the birds.  The volunteers loved doing it.

Sled Dogs

 One of the most enjoyable excursions on this Alaska trip was visiting the home of Seavey's Iditarod Racing Team, where we got a ride with sled dogs pulling our cart.  These sled dogs have been bred to race!  When they think their handlers are getting ready to hitch them up, the baying is deafening. 

 The dogs have been specially bred for generations.  Each racing family makes different breeding decisions.  Most are specialized working mix-breeds rather than a single purebred type. Mushers breed them for speed, stamina, and work ethic rather than looks. 

A sled in an Iditarod race is pulled by 12 to 16 sled dogs.  Our cart was pulled by 12 dogs.

And they're off!  It was fascinating and fun to sit behind them and admire their strength and teamwork.

The Seavey's grandfather, father, three brothers and now grandsons have all raced in the 1,000 mile Iditarod race from Anchorage to Nome, on the Bering Sea.  There are cups and trophies all around their campus.  This is the grand prize trophy for winning the 2017 Iditarod race.