High on Monet

I have been to many places to see works by Monet: London, Paris, Stuttgart, Chicago, Boston, and Washington, and Giverny, to name a few. So, I was excited to learn that the High Museum of Art in Atlanta was showing his work early this summer. When Alison came to visit, we went to see it. There she is above with Claude himself!


The show was very small, only four paintings, and a bit anti-climatic after the big Henry Moore exhibit at the Botanical Garden. The "big draw" was this huge, room-length, curved water lilies painting. "The highlight of the exhibition is a breathtaking 42-foot painting that inspires a sense of serenity, meditation, and the infinite. Painted at the end of his life, this series became Monet's "obsession," as he wrote in 1908. In these paintings, he sought to capture the beauty he found in nature, especially in his beloved garden at Giverny."

This and the other three, smaller works were all from the New York Museum of Modern Art, but I had already seen a really impressive and large exhibit of the water lilies large curved painted at the Orangerie in Paris in 1998. Now that is a Monet exhibit not to miss! Nor was the Monet at Midnight show I saw in 1999, which was the largest collection of Monets (80 works!) ever assembled in the world. Atlanta, and the High, are, however, trying.

More Moore in America

In July, my daughter Alison and I had the opportunity to see the Henry Moore (Large Sculpture) Exhibit at the Atlanta Botanical Garden, and we enjoyed both the Large Sculptures and the Botanical Garden itself. We had one of the few cooler, less humid days of summer and no crowds to distract us from the art and the plant life.

I had seen a Henry Moore exhibit years ago at the Mannheim Art Museum in Germany and greatly admired his large rounded human forms. The Atlanta show had twenty pieces displayed throughout the garden, which seemed the perfect place to show and see them, so different from the modern, white, cold museum in winter. This show was also the largest outdoor exhibition of Moore's works ever shown in America.

Henry Moore (1898-1986) was a British artist and sculptor and is one of the world's best-known and admired 20th-century sculptors. Most of his work is in bronze, and nearly all depict human forms. One of his recurring themes is the mother and child. There is something very appealing about the pieces . . . perhaps it is the whimsical nature of the forms themselves, something like giant crib toys or stuffed pillows, or maybe it is the smoothness and roundedness that is somehow soothing and never threatening.

To see them all, we had to walk all over the garden, which gave us plenty of time to also admire the flowers, trees, and even "wildlife" in the enclosed spaces like the Orchid House. By the end, we had as many or more photos of the garden as we did of the sculptures. The funniest thing we saw was a volunteer fall off her ladder into a lily pond!

I do hope the ABG continues to bring shows like this to the city. It was a highlight of the summer. More Moore, please!

The Verdict on Atlanta Drivers

From my point of view, Atlanta drivers are worse than Sicilians. There are several reasons: they are rude, angry, dangerous, and there are too many of them. While it is true that driving in Sicily is crazy, it makes more sense than it does here.

In Sicily, there are not six or more jam-packed lanes of giant SUVs and 18-wheeler semis all going 70-80 MPH right through the middle of the city while jockeying for position (lane to lane to lane) with total disregard for anyone else. It is more random and unpredictable than Sicily, where everyone did follow the (unwritten) rules!

Cell phones . . . it is legal to talk on your cellphone while driving (or attempting to) in Georgia. NOT a good idea. They are also texting, eating, drinking coffee, smoking, and changing channels. You get the picture?

The worst thing, though, is that the drivers here do not slow down or even pretend to see you if you are making a turn or anything in front of them. In Sicily, when other drivers saw you doing that (and they were paying attention!), they would slow down, swerve, or whatever, to allow you to make your move. I have to exit my condo complex onto a very busy four-lane street. Every time I do, I take my life in my hands and my heart rate goes up (and probably my blood pressure). A car might be a block away and, of course, he/she sees me turning onto the road, but they do not slow down or indicate in any way that they see me. They appear to be bearing down on me and willing to hit me rather than slow down! In fact, I have already been hit one time because of this. The other driver clearly saw me turning across traffic but did not even attempt to slow down, but rather plowed into my right rear fender without even slowing down! And it was my fault for "failure to yield!"

So, in spite of my Sicilian driving skills, I'm going to have to re-program myself here.

High and Dry

There has been record-breaking rainfall here in Atlanta over the past eight days. In case you were wondering how MUCH rain we got, here are some of the community totals. The one I live closest to is Chamblee, just a few miles away. All the rest are in and around Atlanta. And it's not over yet! (See residential area above and Six Flags over Georgia below)


The National Weather Service has released some rainfall totals measured at selected measuring sites for the 8-day period ending at 8 a.m. Tuesday:

Canton -- 17.14 inches
Doraville -- 13.88 inches
Chamblee -- 13.19 inches
Lafayette -- 12.73 inches
Sautee -- 11.47 inches
Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport -- 11.23 inches
Dallas -- 11.09 inches
Gainesville -- 10.27 inches
Cartersville -- 7.59
Macon -- 9.46 inches
Athens -- 8.72 inches

A friend of mine sent me this on Monday morning: "I was flooded out of my home this morning at 4 am. I had literally 5 minutes from the time the water got to the corner of my house until it was gushing up thru the floor vents. I tried to make it to my truck, but it was flooded too, the door wouldn't even open. It was totally submerged so fast, and I was up to my chest. If my (dog) hadn't been on her leash, she would have been swept away. We went back into the house and into the attic. A few minutes later my wonderful neighbor Barry showed up. The fire dept. even came and asked if I needed to leave. Barry sat in the attic with me until the water receded . . . " Computer, phone, cellphone, everything was ruined, including the vehicle. Later she found out that the rain had swept a doghouse and other large debris into the culvert, which then backed up the creek and caused the flood.

I happen to live in a high and dry area (plus I'm upstairs), so I have luckily not had any problems or damage. The schools are all closed today. (See Clarkdale Elementary above) The mothers were all at the club/gym, complaining about their kids being home. Of course, it's beautiful out and the sun is shining! Many places are still underwater, though, and many people are without homes.

Doctor, doctor!

Today I paid my first visit to a regular American civilian doctor. Well, actually, he is a Russian, but he's lived and practiced in the States for a long time, and he was my doctor in 2001-02 when I lived here. I gave him a bottle of Sicilian wine and he told me that you should drink half a bottle of wine every day to increase your life span 10-15 years. OKAY! You gotta like a doctor like that.

I prepared for my visit by writing down the current prescriptions I have from my Navy doctors in Sigonella. This last year, in particular, I felt I had really good doctors and good care. So, this doctor, Dr. Gorachov, looks at the list and says, " Okay, okay, okay, I have no problem with any of these. They are all old treatments, but if they work for you, you can stay with them."

I asked him what he meant by old. He elaborated by telling me that these were all very old drugs, rarely prescribed anymore because they have replaced by newer ones. I became slightly alarmed and explained that it was a military hospital and they probably had a very small pharmacy and selection of drugs.

"But this one," he said, "is too strong. You shouldn't take it this strong or very long. It can ruin your liver." Oh, great! But hopefully the wine will not.

Besides the chat, weigh-in, blood pressure, and lung check, I had an EKG, urine sample, and blood sample taken. I left with a fistful of prescriptions, a free sample of something, orders for two more (routine) tests, and the offer of a flu shot (I passed). My co-pay was twenty dollars. No checks, only cash or credit card. The two assistants who worked with me were from Moldova and Uzbekistan. That's why I love this place.