Counting Strides

Thinking and Kisses

2007-06-25T12:05:00.001-07:00

...or thinking about kisses!

I had a couple of hours to kill in DC last week and I ended up going to the National Gallery of Art. Funny, I've never been there, for all I've lived in this area since 1993. Anyway, the art was amazing. I want to go back. I didn't have enough time by half to look at all the things I wanted, but I did spend some time in the Rodin exhibit. I've always been drawn to the images I've seen of his sculpture "The Thinker" but this was the first time I've seen it up close. It was wonderful.

The "blurb" said that Rodin's rough finishes were unusual for the sculpture of the period and evocative of his contemporary impressionist painters. I really got that, looking at it, and I didn't even need the blurb to tell me what I was seeing. There was realism in the bronze, but also the "impression" of something, thoughts not quite defined but hinted at. It was wonderful - but I think I said that already.

It was also the first time I've seen Rodin's famous sculpture "Le Baiser" - The Kiss. It is a small piece, maybe a little more than a foot and a half high -- and it is infinitely powerful. There in metal is passion, love, union, romance. I imagined if I touched them they would be pliable and hot as fevered skin, maybe slick with sweat.

What an incredible artist to capture in these two sculptures the essence of humanity. The Thinker: complete in and of himself, absorbed in his own mind, alone, but somehow not lonely. An ideal I am desperately searching for myself. The Kiss: union - perfect and flawed as life truly is, focus so completely on each other that all the world is shut out.

I arrived at a certain conclusion after thinking about these two sculptures. It is natural, perhaps it is even a biological imperative, that I long both for understanding of myself and for making my way into such a union, such a partnership. Struggling against these desires is like fighting the wind.

Visiting Family

2007-06-18T06:00:00.001-07:00

I've been in Missouri this weekend, visiting my Dad for Father's Day. I haven't done this since I was a teenager, visited for Father's Day, that is. I wish I had; it made him so happy.

I actually haven't visited often over the last few years - my youngest nephew just turned 17 and didn't really remember me, and I have a 2.5 year old great-nephew that I've never even met! It's been so good to see everyone!

Jessica (third-oldest of my 10 nieces and nephews) had her baby last week, so I got to welcome little Robert Matthew to the world. He's so tiny and so perfect and so snuggly. I held him for hours. It was a strange moment in some ways, this baby in my arms, and all the while remembering holding his mom the same way when she was a baby. I think that means I'm getting old.

Anyway, I'm resolving to visit more often, even if it's just to fly in for just a day. I always think my life is so busy, that I don't have time. But this is worth it.

First Post At Last!

2007-06-15T22:27:00.000-07:00

I've finally joined the club - you know, the blogging club. We'll see if I can post often enough to make it worthwhile! For some reason, this little experiment puts me in mind of the moral of a fable:

Le monde est plein des gens qui ne sont pas plus sage.
Tout bourgeois veut battir comme les grands seigneurs,
Tout petit prince a des ambassadeurs,
Et tout marquis veut avoir des pages.

I'm sure I've mucked the spelling here or there - it's been a million years since I've done anything with my French... It just seemed appropos to this "momentous" occasion! ;)