on Thanksgiving

After divorce, the holidays become a long series of elaborate negotiations about who will do what to whom and when. It is never a pretty process, and one that I have come to dread, even fear - that the fragile bonds of a fractured family will finally break.

So it was with great pleasure that I spent Thanksgiving this year with my oldest son, his wife and 3 daughters, up on the western side of Mt. Mansfield with ex-in-laws at their cabin in the woods. And we all had a marvelous time. Everyone contributed something, and we hiked up to the family's grave site, and said a prayer over my ex-parents-in-law.

The prayer started with a quotation from Eric Hoffer which had been sent to me on some site or other: "The hardest arithmetic we are asked to master is that which allows us to count our blessings." So we all counted, each in our own way.

One of us had lost an election that month; one was about to lose his mother-in-law; one had lost her father last summer; another of us had lost another election; I had lost a husband and friend to divorce. But each of us could feel up there on that mountain, that we had each other - regardless of blood line, marriage, divorce or whatever. They had been my family for nearly 40 years, and that was not to be lost.

So I counted my blessings, and they were all in front of me - the 5 in my immediate family, plus all 6 of my ex-in-laws. It is not an exclusive group, but it made for a very special time. I feel very grateful for that day and those people.

MassMOCA and the architecture of installations

I have loved museums since I was a child. I'd say it was mostly due to my mother who liked them, too, and would take me to them whenever we were in the vicinity of one. I like all kinds, but now, I particularly like visiting new ones, or new additions to old ones.

Last weekend, I went with a friend out to North Adams, Massachusetts, where the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art is renovating a set of old, brick manufacturing buildings as a setting for art installations. MassMOCA has been up and running for a few years, but money is not plentiful in North Adams, so only a part of the plan has been developed. But what has been developed is pretty interesting.
The buildings themselves are brick shells supported by massive wood posts and beams. The building housing the major art installations has been opened up with some nice engineering so that the spaces are quite large for a non-metropolitan structure. And the exhibits fill the spaces well.

A current special exhibit by Petra Coyne has a whole tree and stuffed birds flying around in one room, but lacks much visual challenge, though a pleasure to look at - more like elaborate stagecraft for an elegant party. The real pleasure comes from the more permanent installations on the second level of the building.

The first installation comes into view as you climb the stair. Fishline - of considerable weight I'd guess - is strung from one end of the very long room to the other, in the expanding shape of an upside-down horseshoe. A spotlight shining through the fishline to the opposite wall, creates an unexpected and visually confusing series of shadows. There is a quite real light created by the reflected light of the fishline, and then there are moving shadows on the wall. The effect is to confuse our sense of reality and space. You reach out to touch the fishline but it is a shadow; when you get inside the horsehoe shape made by the line, the reflected light changes shape as you move. It is a challenge to constructed reality as we normally perceive it. Such an installation is only be possible in this size room, and is effective precisely because of its size and the ability of the viewer to get into the shape and wander through it.

Another of the large installations begins as you wander into the next room. A red wall made of hemp rope tied in a kind of fishnet knot, hangs to one side and is bordered by two white walls. It is nice to look at, with good color and texture, but makes you question its intent. However, as you step past the far white wall, you realize that the red rope continues - smashingly - into the next room and falls out in spiralling piles onto the floor, filling the room with its curly legs. It has become a huge, red, fishnetted squid, bursting through the wall into the other room, with long tentacles spreading out in the far room. It has become a metaphor for the fearful power of sea creatures, but with some humor and challenge.

Beside the giant red squid, is a series of crunched, white, paper constructions, which in the context of the squid looks and feels like a kelp forest. There is little else to define its intent until you climb the set of stairs to the third floor. There the white paper crunches are transformed into tree trunks, twisting one way and another. MassMOCA has created an aquarium with a state park on the floor above. Only in such large, industrial spaces could such an effect be possible, and actually succeed. It was a wonderful installation.

In contrast to this uniquely effective use of space, in a smallish rectangular gallery on the first floor, was an exhibit of "Dr. Spock's" photography. In reality, Dr. Spock is Leonard Nimoy, who though living now in LA, comes from the North Adams area and is a gifted photographer.
His installation of photos of individuals' Other Selves, is a powerful and often humorous exhibit. It left the two of us smiling and thinking hard about just who our alternate selves might be.

The two uses of space - the gallery with Spock's photos, and the installations' space, - are opposing ideas of museum architecture. In the gallery space, the rectangle is used as an envelope for a flat, two dimensioned exhibit. People provide the third dimension. In the installation spaces, the architecture provides a volume inside which a 3-D art form is created. People become a part of the art, and move through and around it. Both kinds of spaces are useful, and it is a tribute to MassMOCA that it has allowed for the development of both kinds of art within its architecture.
It will be interesting to see just how Norman Foster's new wing of Boston's Museum of Fine Art allows for both 2-D and 3-D exhibitions!

Freedom?

There's a lot of talk these days about government restricting our freedoms. Against a backdrop of people without jobs, it's hard to see that government is the problem. But here's a solution.

The military is still looking for a few good people, and it has no unemployment problem. AND THE PENTAGON HAS NEVER BEEN AUDITED - EVER, so it can spend whatever it wants and know that Congress will approve.

So perhaps we should simply expand the military to include all of us. We could then:

1. all have good health care and a pension after 20 years of service;

2. rebuild our aging infrastructure with new roads, bridges, even trains and power lines;

3. keep our young people in line; and

4. continue to arm the world with our own weaponry, thus justifying the continued militarization of the country.

I am only joking a little bit. One of the most discouraging things about this year's election process, was the total lack of discussion about real issues facing all parts of the country. Of course, unemployment and foreclosure are a problem, but they are the direct results of overbuilding and the globalization of manufacturing. Rebalancing globalization with enlightened self-interest makes way more sense than dumping tea into the harbor.

And of course, that makes taxes all the more problematic. If you don't have a job, and can't afford your mortgage, it's tough to figure out how to pay your taxes, too. So the Tea Party had a field day. But so far, they've haven't even begun to deal with real issues. Continued demagogery will simply keep us on the path I've described above - the militarization of the country. But I will know that the Tea Party is serious when they start throwing beer in the harbor, instead of using the antique analogy of Tea, which no one in the Party has probably ever drunk.

In the meantime, when I want to feel free, I go sailing.

leaf peeping?

Back in Marina, California, I participated in developing a landscape plan for a new California State University - Monterey Bay. In initial discussions, we talked of remedies for the very flat landscape of dunes on the former Fort Ord, which was our campus. Since there were a number of giant eucalyptus in a couple of places on campus, I suggested we plant some more. The look of horror on everone else's face told me that I had just stepped in a major mudhole.

California has major issues with plants imported from Australia to stop erosion - ice plant, and to bring some shade - eucalyptus. When I asked what was wrong with eucalyptus - because I still think they smell really good -, I was told that they were "messy" trees.

When I asked what made them "messy," I was told that they dropped they leaves.

I was rendered speechless, while everyone else stared at me. I sputtered, and finally managed to croak that most trees in the East drop their leaves each year, and we love them. What's wrong with that? Nope, there was little comprehension of the magnitude of the gulf that separated us. Later, I came to realize that eucalyptus don't just shed leaves, they also shed bark which is quite beautiful, and drop round, golf ball sized seed pods, which really are a pain as you walk along.

I lost the battle to plant eucalyptus on the new campus. Perhaps time will allow more flexibility in the plan, but for now, the campus has gone - mostly - "native." In the meantime, back East, I find myself in another difference of opinion over trees. The whole world, I think, believes that the only thing that happens in the fall in New England is that the leaves of maples trees and oaks, birches and poplars, turn colors. Well, my favorite thing that happens in the fall in New England occurs when the pine needles drop. It is actually the needles of the white pine that fall in October and carpet the forest floor with orange; leaves fall off and turn brown. But when the needles drop, the world turns orange - a time when walking in the woods is most rewarding.

But it is also hunting season, so often we do not dare to venture out, and that's a shame. Between the politics of the season, and hunting, we are kept inside, holding our ears, unable to see the spectacular orange carpet under the pine trees.

the barn est fini!

Most of this summer, I have spent designing the new barn, watching the old barn come down piece by piece, and the new barn go up. And here it is. I am very pleased; - it is a long term dream realized.

The left hand side is obviously a garage, but big enough for a work bench at the rear, and to hold my canoe, too.

The right hand side is a studio - a place for me to make a mess and not have to clean up, a place that is heated with a very green, propane fired, efficient boiler feeding the plastic tubing underneath the concrete slab floor. It is quite toasty.

Upstairs is completely undeveloped, and everyone but me seems to have grand dreams for it. So far, no one has contributed any money though, so nothing will be done for now.

Some memorable parts of the barn, however, are inside. I could find no one who would say that they could save the old barn, but my contractor Bill Dighton was good enough to take it down piece by piece, saving what he could of posts, beams, and planking. In the end, not many of the posts and beams were worth much, though there is one that was 20 feet tall which we used in the stair well. Others were used at corners, under sinks, and for general support here and there.

The real treasure that we found was in the haymow, where the floor was just rough sawn boards that had been laid down perpendicular to each other, in two layers. These were all mostly 18-23 feet long, and had no nail holes. They had never been nailed down - virginal if you will. We used these to create the ceiling in the studio, and to line the stair well. They are gorgeous and make me very happy.

Another memorable thing are the stair treads. The old barn was in large part supported by a large white birch. Not thinking everything through very well, I had the tree taken down and sawn into boards - beautiful ones, too. But taking the tree down, and then pulling out the stump had the effect of removing one quarter of the sill of the old barn. The tree had grown into, around and through the sills of the barn, and the barn started to tilt. So it had to come down. But I still had the birch boards, and now they have been made into the stair treads of the new barn. They, too, make me quite happy.

But the most memorable part of the barn, really, is the weathervane - the subject of a prior blog. It was my father's, and now resides on my barn. Who knows where it will go next? Or where I will? Mostly though, for now, I am happy to stay right here, working in my barn, and staying warm!

the hole in the sky

Once upon a time, like 6 months ago, there was a steeple on this bell tower - with a codfish weathervane on top. It occupied a big place in the modest skyline of East Boothbay, and it was noticed by all of us here, on land or sea.
But the steeple was struck by lightning this summer, and began to burn. Luckily, the Fire Department - also of modest size - is very near, and they put the fire out before the whole tower was engulfed. But one of the 4 wood struts was completely burned through, and a resident engineer thought we should take the steeple down to fix it.

The insurance adjuster thought otherwise, - at least until Hurricane Earl approached.

At the approach of Earl, the adjuster all of a sudden gave us permission to take the steeple down. But of course, there wasn't time to do that before the hurricane got here, and we got lucky that Earl did not do us any damage.
Now, the steeple has been removed; the insurance company has agreed to pay $42,000 to rebuild and re-install the steeple, but has decided not to pay for lightning rod protection, estimated at $7700. I can't quite imagine the rationale, but it leaves our little Methodist Church with $7700 plus $1000 of the deductible to raise.

If anyone has any ideas about how our small community can raise nearly $10,000, please be in touch with Alan Lewis, 207-633-2510, in East Boothbay, Maine 04544.

taxes and statistics - help!

Right after 9/11, came 9/15, when individuals not affiliated with any institution or corporation, have to pay their income tax. I had a tea party while I wrote my checks. They were not large, unhappily for the state budgets of the world, but they were significant for me, and I wonder if they will be appreciated by the State of Maine and by the United States.

The current public dialogue about taxes drives me crazy. I believe in progressive taxation, to serve the larger needs of the community, and I do not believe we are close to a fair tax policy, either at the State level nor the federal level today. There are three things that governments can raise taxes on:
1. property - which is traditionally a local tax providing local services like education.
2. income - which is traditionally a federal tax, providing for defense and health care.
3. purchases(or sales) - traditionally a state tax for building roads, universities, etc.
Most governments have a mix and match scenario right now, but it helps to think about where we have deviated from traditional patterns when thinking about these things.

The income tax has been the most progressive, beginning with its 90% tax on high incomes in 1914. Today I believe the highest tax rate is 35%, which on an income of, say $500,000 would be around $175,000. I think that's a tad less than it ought to be and think we should not extend the Bush tax cuts on the wealthy, or those with incomes over $250,000.

The sales tax is the least progressive tax by equally taxing those of all different income levels. Often there are exemptions for things like food and medecine. But soda is so much cheaper than milk that the intention of exempting things for health reasons is a bit obscure.

The property tax is somewhere in between the two, with some people choosing to be land rich and income poor, - like farmers, - and others selling land when they need to in order to retire.
California has so skewed the property tax system that it rewards farmers with federal crop and water subsidies, but has refused so far to reform the property tax structure to account for the extraordinary increases in property values. Anyone moving into California now, pays double or more of the taxes that a neighbor who was there before 1978, pays. The farmer pays on the land values of 1978 or before. It is painfully unfair and totally inadequate for paying for the state's very generous pension and health care plans.

If a state like California refuses to provide a fairly progressive tax structure, it borrows and borrows until today happens - when the banks that lend it money, stop lending. We really don't know what happens next. Does the Army take over? acting on behalf of the federal government?
Does the National Guard defend the state? But ooooops. I forgot. Most of our National Guard troops are over in Iraq and Afghanistan, just as they were for Hurricane Katrina and for the BP oil spill.

Congress' refusal to be intelligent and straightforward about the cost of these wars, and the Bush administration's blindness to that cost, strikes me as positively treasonous. And it is what has led directly to the rise in the Tea Party movement. Thinking of the Tea Party as a metaphor for a primal scream for help by the people, I am sympathetic. But they are not very smart about their solutions. Gutting State, local, and federal services - which makes this country habitable and the future livable, does not strike me as smart.

Looking clearly at where we are spending our federal dollars, as well as how we are raising our tax dollars makes more sense. Returning our military toward a more defensive posture, and our dollars to the local services where they are much needed - for infrastructure redevelopment and education, makes more sense, too. Reevaluating and redesigning our tax structures, and returning to a goal of fairness and progressivity, makes the most sense. Let's hope that not only Congress - in whatever shape it occurs, and all our State and local governments, has the intelligence, sense, and yes - courage - to do this, and soon - before the National Guard comes home and has to defend us from the Army!

Here's to water main redevelopment and property tax reform!