Summertime and the Living is Kitschy

29 July 2016

Summer is a good time to be relaxed and maybe even a little lazy.  Especially when the temperatures are in the high 90s F (high 30s C), and so humid the windows steam up.  It's difficult to be energetic when the climate is saying slow down!

Richard took his medications to kill his Guatemalan hitchhikers, and we visited his doctor again.  He should be over the parasite reaction by now, but isn't quite fully back to normal.  The doctor said we probably need to do more testing to see if the little guys are all gone or if something else is going on, but since we head west to Washington state on Monday, we should hold off and do the testing there.  So he's sort of on hold, hoping the little creepie crawlies are dead and not partying.  We'll get our medical person in Bellingham to talk to the doctor here, and figure out what happens next.  More meds, more tests, whatever.  

We've been doing a few things, seeing the next two generations - nieces, nephews, great or grand nieces and nephews.  Always a joy to see the little ones, who of course get bigger every year.  (Imagine that!)  It always seems as if they grow and age more rapidly than we do, right?  I still feel about 16 or 20 years old inside!  Hard to believe that we're now heading into being the older generation!!!

I spent some time with a few cousins who were out, but Richard wasn't up to going out that day.  In fact, I ended up going off with two friends to somewhere in the Brandywine Valley - I think that's sort of in southern Pennsylvania, though we went through Delaware to get there.  We visited the Brandywine River Museum of Art, which features artwork by the Wyeth family (N.C., Andrew, and the kids and an in-law or two) who lived in the area.  Had a great time and it was a beautiful day, plus the museum is built right along a river with lovely green views.  The art was amazing, plus they had a special exhibit of illustrations for children's books, always a delight!  I don't have photos, but some are available at the museum's website:  http://www.brandywine.org/museum

I also visited Lucy, who is a New Jersey landmark.  Lucy is a giant elephant, actually a building in the shape of an elephant.  Absolutely kitschy in a totally bizarre and surreal way!  I love Lucy, she's so funny and Twilight Zone at the same time!  I mean, the window under her tail?  Really?  Who thinks of things like that?  

You can buy a ticket to go inside Lucy - seriously!  And I guess come out and sit up top in her little pagoda sitting area!  Anyway, Lucy is an institution on the New Jersey, as insane as it sounds!  (Check out the sign - she may be running for President!)

Lucy, who actually is patented, was built in 1881, and has been kept up and repainted.  A celebration of her 135th birthday was held on 23 July!  There's a whole long story, which you can read at her web page:  http://www.lucytheelephant.org
  
And then we spent an afternoon or two in Atlantic City, with a visit to a casino (one visit went quite well, with both of us winning; the second visit wasn't as good, but wasn't disastrous) as well as the boardwalk.  The boardwalk is exactly that, a wide walkway built of wooden boards, so that people can walk parallel to the shore without walking through the sand dunes.  There are all kinds of shops, eateries, arcades, rides, and such along the boardwalk.  Sort of a place to see and be seen.

And kitsch.  Lucy is the Queen of Kitsch.  But the ice cream cone chairs, table, and umbrellas are running a close second!

Don't you love it?