POSTCARDS FROM WASHINGTON, D.C.
Lindsay's Adventures in the Capitol City
May 24, 2006, Postcard--Happy Birthday Lindsay/Eileen!
Photos from the BEA Conference
POSTCARDS FROM WASHINGTON, D.C. 5.18.06
Hi Everyone
We had a lovely flight on America West from Phoenix at noon today. We got lucky--there were two first class seats left and on Am. West, you can call 30 hours before your flight and if they are available, they cost $150/each vs. $600.00 each. So, we pampered ourselves and got them--lucky us!
there is so much room in there for our long legs and they are roomy so you don't feel like a can of sardines as it does and is in coach section.
Met a really nice gal named Jamie who was going to Book Expo Association Convention (BEA) too!! She's a children's book author. At 35, she's bright , warm and intelligent--and it was fun talking with her during the flight--it made the 4 hours seem like nothing...time contracted for sure :-)))
Once we got to Regan Airport, it took 30 minutes to get our luggage and about 10 minutes to get a cab to go the Mayflower Hotel. We waited another 20 minutes to get in--but it was all worth it. The room is really very nice...we ate in tonight-- Dave had eggs and I had lamb. They have good coffee here too.
We're whipped; at our age you don't travel with as much grace or reserves. It's tough getting used to the city sounds--we're about 3 blocks from the capitol. The screaming of sirens bouncing and echoing off all the buildings around here is awful for me. I'm too sensitive to noise in the first place....you hear all the traffic below. What a shame because the hotel is lovely, with beautiful appointments. I get DSL computer hook up for 9.95 a day and wow--is it fast compared to my 45 year old phone lines at home where we 'chug' along...
So, with a 3 hour difference and jet lag, I'm gonna call it a night. Tomorrow is the big day for me from noon to 12:45 I sign for Harlequin booth 3005 and my new book, Unforgiven. I wonder if there will be a nice cardboard stand up of the book cover? I've never seen a cerlox before, so that should be interesting to look at too. I think it will be a very exciting day tomorrow. Don't know what to expect.
Dave is here and he'll be manning the camcorder and digital camera and take photos of me at the booth--so we'll have some history and memory of it.
All in all, a lovely day with low stress considering we were traveling across the continent.
Warmly,Lindsay/Eileen
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POSTCARDS FROM WASHINGTON, D.C. 5.19.06
After a good night’s sleep, it was nice to wake up and have breakfast served to you! About 9 a.m. I ironed out the wrinkles in my light green wool Pendleton blazer and slacks. We took the bus/shuttle over to the Washington Convention Center. The bus was full of chatty women; very few men and one gray haired guy (Dave). Dave made the comment that he didn’t see very many men. I laughed and said they are all at the book expo--it’s a male run thing, publishing.
When we got to the convention center, the morning was about 70 F, blue sky and sunshine; just a really beautiful day, all told.
The convention center is HUGE. We walked off the bus, across the street and into this massive gray/white building that is about ten stories high.
And talk about getting lost--we sure did. It was a massive place. We finally found the ‘official’ expo map and started looking for Booth 3005, which is Harlequin’s booth. We made a lot of escalator rides up to higher floors. Luckily, we ran into a woman who worked at the place and we asked her how to get to Booth 3005. She gave us great directions.
BEA is a beehive. Here are all these booths from little, to medium to large--each one is a publisher. There are THOUSANDS of publishers. And you name, the subject, there’s a publisher for it! There were an awful lot of university/college publishers--which was surprising. Men in dark business suits were everywhere, with fewer women in their ranks. Many booths had tables/chairs with men sitting around with their files, tablets open, their black berries, cell phones, and all having business meetings, I guess.
The aisles are large and there is a restless, beehive-like activity of 25,000 people and they are all looking for one thing: FREE books. Yep, that’s it. FREE books. Wow.
Not all booths offered stacks of free books by their favored author, but many did. And they were being snapped up like hot cakes! I confess, we got caught up in the feeding frenzy, too. I found one book called m Sacred Link Jewelry: passage to Inner Beauty by the Himalayan Institute. My good friend, Yolande, creates gorgeous necklaces with gemstones and so that book caught my attention. How lovely! You can pick it up for FREE. Wow. I liked that :-)).
Well, I can see why the ‘fever’ caught everyone. No one was in the BEA without shoulder bags and many publishers were handing out free plastic ones to the unceasing, restless, book hungry crowds that moved like peanut butter up and down every aisle (and there are hundreds of aisles).
At another booth, Sounds True, they were giving away FREE CD’s of music; one I got was called Sacred Sounds. And, there was a free CD of “The Meditation Experience 2--a treasury of guided practices from the Sounds True collection. FREE! I loved it!
Dave caught the fever, too. He loves books about adventure, military and suspense. He came away with a LOT of books--HEAVY, hard copy books, not just trade paperback or paperbacks. He was smiling as he looked like a pack mule toddling up and down the aisles. He’ll have lots of reading for the next 3 months, I’m sure.
I was really wanting to get to Harlequin’s booth--and when we found it, it was up against the wall area, but with plenty of room behind it for the ceaseless activity of humans coming and going. There were two nice, wood paneled table areas in the shape of crescents, with four-legged stools behind them. On top were very nice photos of the authors who were signing at that time. And of course, crowds hungry to have their favorite author sign her most recent book and be given to them for FREE. Most of the people were either book owners of a store (chain or independent) or librarians. There were plenty of small, wooden round tables with canvas backed chairs so that people could come in and sit and chat or just rest their weary feet.
In another part of Harlequin’s booth was a room with a square table and lots of important looking men and women, files open, pens ready and charts/graphs laying around--all having a business meeting of some type.Harlequin had a lot of pretty, four-color posters of many of their most prominent authors--Debbie Macomber (whom I got to see--which was a thrill), Nora Roberts (did not see her), Heather Graham (didn’t see her,e either, Gena Showalter....and oh! Low and behold, in one corner I saw two of the Silhouette Nocturne books!! One was by Kathleen Korbel (Dangerous Temptation) that comes out in October with my book, Unforgiven. I wondered if they would have Unforgiven’s book cover in the booth but I didn’t see it. I figured that it was so late when the book was bought and the cover made, that it hadn't’ made the cut. I was a little disappointed, but looking at the bright spot of that corner with Silhouette Nocturne....well, that made up for it.
Then, as I went around the corner and the outside of the booth, there was a huge strip poster, at least 12 feet high and about 3.5 feet side--with Unforgiven on it!! Wow! I was thrilled pink! So, I asked Dave to take a photo of me next to it. Probably be the only book I ever have that will be put out in this fashion and I might as well have a fond memory of it!
We then noodled around in the booth and there’s tons of information to be had. For example, Harlequin September On-Sale 2006 publishing program. Or, Harlequin Enterprises Limited 2005-2006 Series Publishing Program and Merchandising Guide. Nocturne was not in there but I wasn’t surprised because it had started up so suddenly and out of the blue. And then another beautiful brochure was Harlequin Single Title Program for August-September-October-November-December 2006.
I was really impressed with the beauty, functionality, creative covers and great copy for all these books and authors. It made me proud. Low and behold, I found a fantastic brochure on Silhouette Nocturne! And what a looker it is. It’s about 18 inches high and ten inches wide and it’s a 3-fold out kind of brochure. It has that burgundy red color with the Silhouette Nocturne red lace with black effects at the top. In the middles is this woman with her throat bared and a white, glaring “O” down on one side of her elegant, swanlike throat. Below that it says:
Making a mark on the world of paranormal romance.October 2007
And then, you open it up. The interior is a a grape-like wash of color--looks very mystical...on the right panel is Unforgiven’s cover. There it says: The DeVotee’s: A Loyal audience. Here, they quote what industry magazines, authors, readers and mainstream media has to say about paranormal in general--it is HOT.
Then, the middle one-third of the brochure: The Spell Weavers: Renowned Authors
Here, They have my book, Unforgiven in 4-color (looks smashing!) and it says: Silhouette Nocturne launches with USA TODAY best-selling author Lindsay McKenna and best-selling author Kathleen Korbel, authors renowned for their paranormal romances.
Unforgiven, Lindsay McKenna
USA Today best-selling author Lindsay McKenna brings readers the highly sensual first book of her new Warriors for the Light trilogy. Descended from a family of shape shifters, Reno Manchahi was on a mission of revenge. But his assignment goes awry when a dark seductress becomes his destiny. Transforming himself into a true hero to fight the enemy that threatened them all, Reno had to become a Warrior for the Light... UNFORGIVEN promises a highly emotional and sexy read!
DANGEROUS TEMPTATION, Kathleen Korbel
The first book in award-winning author Kathleen Korbel’s new Daughters of Myth trilogy draws readers into the land of the Faerie. Nuala, eldest daughter of the Faerie Queen, must marry among her own to ensure the survival of her race. But her heart has long been possessed by a handsome mortal, and she will do anything to make him hers, even align herself with humankind against the terrifying power of her own people...
DANGEROUS TEMPTATION promises sensuality, longing and a romance that will haunt readers long after the last page is turned.
To keep readers coming back for more, two new exciting Nocturne titles will be released each and every month written by a combination of mainstream single title authors, established series authors and new break-out authors.
Then, the third, right hand side of the brochure says:
The Magic Formula: Getting the Word Out
To ensure that paranormal romance readers quickly fall under the spell of Silhouette Nocturne, our launch program will be supported by a multi-faceted marketing and promotional campaign planned to include:
* Aggressive in-book advertising and excerpting across series
* In-book couponing to induce consumer trial
* Extensive grassroots promotional campaign
* Targeted sampling and promotions
* eHarlequin.com buzz building and promotional campaign
* Public Relations campaign
* And much more!
As you turn the brochure inward, there is the Nocturne lace/red and black at the top, and a woman, her face toward us, her lips parted and possibly the suggestion of long canines but you can’t really tell...and a man is seen leaning forward to kiss her....but it says:
The Phenomena: Paranormal Romance
Silhouette Nocturne is certain to seduce women who love paranormal romance. Month after month it will deliver all of the elements these readers have an insatiable appetite for (just loved this pun.....appetite--vampires....blood...food....thought this was a wonderful play on words!)
anyway, back to the brochure....
* Dark, passionate talesthat stretch the boundaries of conflict, desire, life and death, weaving a tapestry of sensual trills and chills
* Best selling authors and fast-paced plots
* Favorite themes, such as vampires, werewolves, shape shifters and more
Silhouette Nocturne: The dedicated program paranormal romance readers have been waiting for.
I just loved seeing this oversized, impressive brochure. And then, there was a postcard size, 4-color with Unforgiven and Dangerous Temptation covers on it. On the other side it says Silhouette Nocturne a dark and sensual new paranormal romance line from Silhouette books, launching October 2006.
Silhouette and Harlequin have really gone out to promote this new line! I was thrilled triple pink by this time.
And then, Maria Theresa Hussey came over and showed me where to sit at the autographing table. Maureen Childs, who will have her book, ETERNALLY come out in November, signed her book beside me. A nice touch was that they put our photos in a nice frame to announce each of us to our readers. First class all the way.
I had a cerlox...it is a black plastic spiral bound book and has the cover (4-color) under good, heavy plastic that will last--front and back. It’s great and says NOT FOR SALE, Advance Uncorrected Proof, on the lower part of it. It is oversized, about 10 inches long and 7 inches wide. Looks like a text book but I thought it was pretty cool looking!
And then, the readers began to line up. Maureen and I were at each other’s elbows signing nearly nonstop. We had 45 minutes and in 20 minutes the books were GONE!!! We had with us, at another table, another of our intrepid Nocturne authors, Caridad Pineiro with her book, DEATH CALLS, and it is a December, 2006 release. I hadn’t ever met Maureen or Caridad, but what a hoot these two ladies are!! Maureen has a wonderful sense of humor and she had everyone laughing with her quick, insightful remarks. And those who loved vampires were standing 20 long in Caridad’s line for her book. It was a breathless, amazing, thrilling and exciting autographing.
I also handed out my Warriors for the Light patches that I had made and the people loved getting them with the book. The readers (bookstore owners and librarians) quickly caught on that the patches could be handed out to their readers and all thought it was a GREAT publicity idea.
We had 1000 patches and they were gone in 20 minutes! Everyone wanted to take some home to friends, to their readers of Lindsay McKenna books, and to share them with other librarians. It was such a cool publicity tool.
Tara Gavin showed up just at the end of the signing and it was wonderful to see her after 15 years. Tara and I had worked together before and she was a supportive/instructive editor to me and helped to support and launch Morgan’s Mercenaries way back in 1988. She hasn’t changed at all--except her hair is longer and she’s still the same insightful, sweet person who is always enthusiastic and you love to be around. I gave her a necklace of the Vesica Picis symbol that I bought at Chalice Wells in Glastonbury England several years ago. My friend, Linda Metzler, had created the necklace of beads and special gemstones that were favorites of Tara. While I was signing, Dave gave Tara the gold box that contained the beautiful sterling symbol and she just loved it. She especially liked the beading--so I must thank Linda for all her hard work and love she put into it. Tara promptly put it on and she sure looked beautiful with it.
I also had a gift similar to Tara’s for my editor, Patience Smith. I wanted, in some way, to thank Tara and Patience because they put in long hours on editing the book after I finished it--in record time--to meet all these seemingly impossible deadlines to get them here to BEA for bookstore owners/librarian folks. It was a true team effort and it really paid off because we had long, enthusiastic lines of people and for the three of us--our books flew out of the boxes....we all signed every last one of them. Needless to say, everyone was happy about this. It is another way to get the word out on Silhouette Nocturne.
After that, we went to lunch with Tara. Caridad happen to wander by about 40 minutes later as we were chowing down inside the building (we found a place that sold sandwiches). She’s a lawyer and does copyright/trade legal stuff in New York City. She writes vampire books on the side ‘for fun.’ Caridad is a unique person--she was born in Cuba, but her roots are from Spain. She is a fascinating individual and I really liked her a lot. I kept thinking that the authors that Tara has gotten for the first three months of Nocturne are just incredible women/power houses in their own right, and I could see that our new line was going to be an incredible success. My greatest thrill was meeting the bookstore owners, the librarians, my team writing mates for the line and seeing Tara again after 15 years from our first meeting.
By the time 3:00 p.m. rolled around, Dave and I were pooped. It had been such a high energy day. We gathered up all our book bags with our free loot and made it out of the building, found a taxi and went back to the Mayflower. I gotta tell you, a long, hot soak in a bathtub does wonders for whimpering feet and aching backs. The concrete beneath the carpeting at the BEA is brutal on legs and backs. So glad that Patience, my editor, told me to wear sensible shoes. Phew!
So, it was quite a day. I have talked with Elizabeth Bowen, one of our intrepid athenians who was doing a lot of footwork around Washington, D.C. for me when I had that awful, disturbing pre-cog (she, by the way, broke her leg while doing this work!!! She slammed into a stone column and broke her lower leg! I’m happy to report, she has the ‘boot’ off and is now almost healed from it). We’ll be having dinner somewhere with Elizabeth and her side kick, Janet, on Wednesday evening. I have yet to call Brian G. to make dinner plans with him and his wife--but that is tonight’s work. And, tomorrow morning, I have lunch with one of my fav authors, Sue Grant. Sue is going to meet us in the restaurant/cafe here at the Mayflower at 9 a.m. tomorrow for breakfast and we’ll catch up on everything! It’s always a delight to meet with Sue. I’m sure Harlequin will love to see her over at BEA and I’m sure she’ll have a dynamite signing like we did today. What powerhouse women :-)))).
What an exciting day. After breakfast, Dave and I are going to take a taxi over to the Vietnam war memorial--we want to spend part of our day giving thanks, remembering those men and women who gave their lives so we could have the precious freedom we enjoy, to say prayers to the families who have lost those loved ones...it will be a day of sober contemplation and thanks. Then, tomorrow night, we are invited to a cocktail party hosted by Harlequin at 8:00 p.m., and we’ll attend that, also.
I’m tired....aren’t you? :-)))) What a day!Hugs,
Lindsay/Eileen
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POSTCARDS FROM WASHINGTON, D.C. 5.20.06
Hi Everyone
Well, a real interesting and multifaceted day. We started off with a delightful breakfast down at the Mayflower cafe with Sue Grant, a fabulous author friend who recently came over to Harlequin from Dorchester. Many may have read her riveting 2176 series for Dorchester a few years ago. Sue is also a United airline copilot who flies 747 Jumbo jets around the world. We had a great time catching up over omelets and coffee. I gave her one of my cerlox copies of Unforgiven from yesterday's autographing at Harlequin booth at BEA. And today, Sue is going to be signing her book there as well. We made a deal to swap books--she gets mine and I get hers. Of course, I'm a total fan of Sue Grant's, so getting an ARC copy early is dessert!
After breakfast, we split up and Dave wanted to go to the war memorials. I agreed. We got into our hoofing and hiking gear, took a taxi over to the Vietnam Wall. This is Saturday, so everyone and his brother and sister was on the greens of the capitol area as well. I knew it would be crowded and I'm not a fan of crowds because I'm an introvert and I can't stand all the jabbering and noise.
And the jabbering was nonstop; whether adults or children. In a way, it was a bad day to go the Wall because there was nonstop people filing through the sacred area. What teed me off was that Americans just can't seem to get it and shut up. That may be harsh...but there was other cultures there--and they were respectful and quiet as they filed past the wall of names. I wish people would understand this is a memorial to so many men and some women who lost their lives in the Vietnam War.
I tried to set aside my own personal desire for quiet, so I could focus on my personal memories of my military career in the Navy through that time frame. But, children were yapping, parents were spaced out....no one seem to realize this was a place of sacredness--and of silence.
Dave grumbled later that people never shut up.
That about summed it up.
We saw some photos, red carnations, red roses, small crosses with red/white/blue ribbons around them, setting down at the bottom of the black granite walls. I tried to focus in on nearly 58,000 names that were there...the family who was affected directly by the death of one man or woman--and the reverberation through the rest of the outer family, friends and those who knew this individual at work. When you look at the circle of how many are affected...easily 30 to 50 people per person, you begin to understand the power of one death and how it touches so many other lives. It is then that you see the worthlessness of war. There really are no winners. Just those grieving who are left behind.
Next, we walked over to the nurse's Vietnam memorial and it was a lot quieter and felt less intruded upon by the busload hoards trailing past the wall. So few really understood the sacrifice of those who gave their lives. As I stood at the nurse's memorial, I did get a chance to remember, pray for and thank those brave women who gave their lives in service of others.
We then went to the World War II memorial that was incredibly beautiful in an architectural sense. There were two huge entry points: one from the Atlantic and the other from the Pacific theater of war. There were white pillars--50 of them, raising like Stonehenge in a circle with a beautiful round pool with gushing towers of water spurting from it. There was a wreath of metal coated green color, on each of these granite slabs, and the name of a state on each. There was another pool that had gold stars in a crescent shape, a reflecting pool and a water fall reminding us about those who fell for and gave their lives in the name of freedom. People seemed to be quieter here, more respectful than the mindless, yapping bus hoards that filed like tourists down past the black granite walls of the Vietnam Memorial.
I once again, thought of those who sacrificed during WW II, and how so many countries around the world contributed and were affected by what had happened. It truly was a world war.
Lastly, we went to the Korean Memorial and it was wonderful. It showed a squad of men in their gear, with their rifles, walking through a field. Each man was made of bronze and stood on his own. They looked as if they were looking for the enemy, alert, guns raised, the radioman with the antenna sprouting from his back pack, on the phone talking; it was as if we had caught them on film in that moment of time. The Korean Memorial was gray, gleaming smooth granite and the men were etched into it, like ghosts from the past rising out of the grayness and become dark and black and more obvious in facial detail. It was wonderful.
I felt better, I guess, because there were less people, and they seemed more quiet and respectful.
Looking back on the black wall of Vietnam, and the endless chattering herds of people, I thought: well, nothing has changed. We were not honored or respected during the Vietnam War and we still continue to be thoughtless to this day. It saddened me. But then, I also thought that at least some things did change--the men and women going to war today are respected and people are able to separate their heroic deeds and efforts on behalf from that of our government and politicians. That was the change. And it had to be enough; but it still tore at my heart as these herds of noisy people couldn't remain quiet, honor those who had fallen, and give them their due.
After that, we decided to eat and found a nice little lake with some benches in the shade. I got a turkey and swiss sandwich on a huge bread bun and Dave got some cookies and a Pepsi. I began feeding my bread to the sparrows, starlings and pretty soon, a male/female Mallard came swimming up to the edge of the pond and waddled over, wanting their share too. Then, a bold gray squirrel got into the mix, hopped up on the bench where we sat and begged directly to me to give him some bread. We had a lot of fun doing this and it somewhat alleviated the heaviness in my heart and soul that I carried from seeing how the people treated the Vietnam wall.
We spotted, of all things, a great blue heron on the other side of the lake and I so wanted to get some wonderful photos and camcorder shots of the water bird. We gave all the bread to our friends and walked around. Finding a bench around the other side, less than 20 feet from the heron, we got some great photos of the bird preening her blue-gray plumage. She was so regal and beautiful. There were several flocks of Canadian Geese around her as well. The animals lifted my spirits; as they always do.
We then decided to walk to the other end of the greens to the Smithsonian. I wanted to take lots of great digital color photos with my terrific Nikon D70 camera. I wanted to take photos the Hope Diamond that was there as well.
Again, nonstop crowds, tons of children and parents. It was Saturday after all and it was great to see the kids so excited about gemstones. We got some great photos of the "French Blue"--the Hope Diamond....what a spectacular gemstone. Wow!
We spent two hours photographing so many gorgeous, stunning gemstones from huge six-sided Aquamarine crystals to the orange Wulfenite crystals to exquisite and stunning opals that just left you going ga ga. My arm was stiff from holding it so long in one position. We walked back from the Museum of Natural History to our hotel--a long walk; but it was in the 70's and beautiful. After a long, hot bath, we were ready for the Harlequin cocktail party tonight.
We met lots of our friends at this get together; and a number of editors. It was great to see Sue Grant again, Tracy Farrell (HQN head editor), Heather Graham and her hubby, Denny, Maureen Child and so many, many more--too many to mention. It was a wonderful cocktail party, an open bar, lots of friends and chatting. I'm tired tonight!
We meet with my agent, Ethan Ellenberg, tomorrow morning at 11:30 a.m. at BEA in the agent's area. Love this guy and Dave has never met him so I want them to meet. Then, we'll go scout out the other areas of BEA and get more FREE books!! Speaking of free books, Dave found a UPS store around the corner from our hotel so we're going to send all our books home thatta way and NOT in our luggage!
Tomorrow is a new day!Warmly,
Lindsay/Eileen
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POSTCARDS FROM WASHINGTON, D.C. 5.21.06
Hi Everyone
Sunday is a day I love...always a little lazy, not so many places to go, no appointments.....sort of a free day.
Dave and I met Ethan Ellenberg, my agent, at BEA at 11 a.m. this morning. It was great to see Ethan (don’t see him that often and it’s always a pleasure to sit down with him and chat). We discussed a number of items including book strategies and I told him about the “gone in 60 seconds” on my Silhouette Nocturne signing....as well as Sue Grant’s similar quick movement of her book. He was very pleased. I felt this was a very good sign and so did he.
After saying goodbye to Ethan, we took more books that we liked back to the hotel with us. On Monday, Dave is gonna go to the UPS store around the corner and send them all home. No way will I put them in my bags and drag ‘em home.
Then, we had lunch here at the Mayflower. And oh, did I tell you? This was Monica Lewinski’s hotel? After the Bill Clinton debacle? Oh! My! I got a chuckle out of that, wondering if the Harlequin people knew about the sordid, vapid history of this hotel? Most likely, not. And I wasn’t aware of it either until a taxi driver told us the ‘dirt’ on the hotel. What a hoot!
We then took a cab over to the Washington, DC Botanical Garden which is about 10 blocks from the hotel and right next to the White House. This is Sunday and I knew there would be more people but really, I was pleasantly surprised that there weren’t as many as I thought there would be.
I’ve been to botanical gardens around the world and one thing you learn pretty quickly is that every director of a botanical garden has his or her favorite flowers. This one is no exception. Clearly, ORCHIDS are the love of the woman director. I’ve never seen so many Paphs (slipper orchids) in my life under one roof--spectacular paphs. Paphs are tough to grow in my opinion....very picky....need cooler temperatures for starters....and this place was crawling with them. The other favorite was many types of Begonias and there are some with some incredibly beautiful leaves that are composed of mauve, fuchsia pink and evergreen coloration...just spectacular to look at.
Their cactus area was poor...but then, hey, it’s Wash DC on the Eastern seaboard! Our Phoenix (Arizona) botanical garden has cacti.....and it’s an incredibly beautiful place....but anyway, at least this botanical garden had some and that was noteworthy.
The day was cloudy and in the 70’s and great for picture taking. I find digital cameras a bit problematic when taking photos of white flowers in direct sunlight--they just look like a white blur without definition. And really, cloudy days are best for digital cameras because this white/blur factor is erased by the clouds.
There was a lovely jungle section to the botanical garden and I even saw a quinine plant--one of our homeopathic remedies--but it wasn’t blooming...but just to see Cinchona was a nice surprise. While I clicked away on hundreds of flower photos, Dave was manning our sweet little Canon RZ100 camcorder. The problem is getting up and down all the time and on our knees; a little tough....but well worth our efforts.
One of my favorite plants I ran into (and recognized immediately) was Aristolochia. This is a jungle vine. We have a US species known as Birthwort and it’s also a homeopathic remedy. This plant was from that family and had the same sac-looking shape but very different. I have Aristolochia elegans (seeds from Kew Gardens/London, England) that grow in my orchidarium. I don’t have Birthwort, which grows in the Great Smoky Mountains of Appalachia. But this one is a jungle variety so I was thrilled to get photos of it--building up my Aristolochia file!
Outside, they had a lovely garden with wooden benches and rocking chairs across the street. There were Serviceberry bushes, lilies, Iris, peonies and so many others. A very nice selection of bushes/flowers on red tiled walks. All nicely taken care off.
The day before we took off to come to BEA, I had my back go out. Well, I thought I might sleep it off and it would slip back in. It has up to a point, but Elizabeth Bowen, a friend of mine who lives in DC, suggested a chiropractor in Georgetown. So, today, I made a call and hopefully I can get in Monday, if lucky. I want to be able to power around like I always do in my hiking boots and go a lot of places; but my back isn’t stable and when walking on concrete for about an hour; my back gets real tender and unstable. So, the smart thing to do is see a chiropractor and get it fixed.
Dave and I ‘move’ tomorrow. We have to be out of the Mayflower by noon and off to Capitol Hilton which is about 2 blocks from here. We have been looking at brochures to see what all we can do while here. One thing I do want to do is go to the Museum of Native Americans...and important place for me. Dave has some ideas, too....so I’m sure we’ll pack in a lot of adventures this coming week--so stay tuned.
BEA was sure a success! What a place. What an experience! It was great seeing some of my editors in person, my agent and a number of my author friends. A heck of a birthday present for me--considering May 24th is my solar return day.....only I got the gift a little early. Time to blow out the candles on BEA; but when I get home, I’ll get some photos tweaked and set up for people to see it all.
Until tomorrow....Lindsay/Eileen
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POSTCARDS FROM WASHINGTON, D.C., 5.22.06
Hi Everyone
Well, today is a slumming day. We had to change hotels from the Mayflower to the Capitol Hilton. Mayflower charges 399/night and Hilton is $279/night. Huge difference. I had selected the Hilton because it has a full day spa....and I’m a massage hound from 30 years prior.....and steam room, full gym, an area to practice your yoga...just really nice.
However, first things first. I had popped a lumbar vertebrae, L3, our late on the afternoon of the 17th--far too late to get to a chiropractor to fix it. So, I babied myself to DC in hopes of just letting it relax and I’d sleep it off. Part of my strategy worked--it went about half way in. It went in enough for me to walk the hard concrete floors of BEA but by the end of the day, my back was tender and I lived in fear of really popping it out. So, hot baths, twice a day, legs propped up with pillow under them, was my medication.
Today, Monday, I called a chiropractor whom Elizabeth Bowen, a friend of mine in DC, had suggested. He said he could see me at 10:30 am; and I said great. He said to look for the wrought iron gates. Well, the taxi dropped me off and damned if I could find the wrought iron gates. As luck would have it, there were MANY wrought iron gates. I finally went down some narrow stairs to a basement apartment (yes, it had a wrought iron gate entrance) and knocked on the door. The guy who came to it was nice, wore a baseball cap and was a regular Joe. I apologized for knocking, but told him I was from out of state and looking for this chiro’s office. Bless his heart, he said, “Let me show you!” and I stepped aside and he bounded up the concrete steps to the sidewalk and walked me over to where they were located--across the street. I felt like a real dunce. I mean, these were obvious....but I hadn’t slept well last night and didn’t drop off until about 4 am. So, there you go--sleep deprived and blind, deaf and dumb to boot, chuckle.
The chiropractor fixed me up in a jiffy for $100....best money I’d spent. And I walked a couple of blocks on the coolish morning (about 60F, blue sky and sunshine) in the Georgetown area.
One thing about DC is it is very, very expensive...egawds. For coffee for 2 in the morning, it was 15 dollars at the Hilton. Highway robbery if you ask me....At least at the Hilton a large pot of coffee (twice the size of the $15.00 variety...) is only $9.50!!! So, huge expense drop, thank goodness. Besides, there’s a Burger King just across the street and a Starbucks, so how bad is it? Chuckle.
So, when I caught a cab in Georgetown and came back--I went straight to the Hilton. I met Dave bringing in our bags from the Mayflower--talk about synchronicity! He said the room was REALLY nice; and thought it was better (and much cheaper) than the Hilton. He ended up to be right.
Once we got ensconced here, I called up the spa and for $100/hr I got a deep tissue massage. The gal who took care of me had magic in her hands and I just melted away on her table. Not only that, but she had a heat pack for your back after it got massaged, warm, moist wraps for each footie and for your hands....and your face. Wow. I really felt coddled. I was thinking: wouldn’t it be great to have this every day of the week? :-))
The gal was sooo good, that as a birthday gift to myself, I’m getting a spa special called the Peaceful Gift--and it’s an aroma therapy session, plus a massage and a 30 minute facial massage--2 hours in all...for $170 but hey, I’m worth it and Happy Birthday, Lindsay/Eileen :-)))
When I oozed back to our 9th floor hotel room after that drizzling, puddle pooling massage, Dave was looking better. He woke up this morning with a sore throat and was getting a cold. I’m not surprised....these kinds of things are very stressful and so now that BEA is gone, he ‘let down’ by getting sick. But, when we’d come to the Hilton, we’d gotten an early lunch at Twigs Restaurant here in the facility and hot tea helped him a lot.
Anyway, Dave was ready to go around the block and snoop/poop, but didn’t really want to go anywhere today but REST. I was sure in agreement on that one. Stay home and read some good books, hahaha. Actually, I have TWO manuscripts sitting here looking at me and I gotta get to work on them...
That aside, we stepped out to search our new world around the Hilton. Dave’s watch had stopped and it needed a new battery. We found a jeweler and dropped it off--he said come back in a few hours. We found Starbucks catty corner to Hilton and I got a strawberries and cream frappacino...one of my favs....and we both took turns drinking it as we moseyed around like tourists.
It’s nice out but chilly, about 69 with a good wind...but sky is blue and it’s a lovely day to be alive.
About 3 pm I was so tired I laid down to take a quick nap. Dave had taken off to the jewelers to pick up his watch with a new battery. I was dozing off when the phone rang and it was the concerciege and said that he had something for me. I couldn’t think WHAT that might be! He said, “It’s your birthday...” and I wondered how in the heck he knew that!
The flowers arrived...all pinks, blues and purples....hug basket with purple stock, blue and lavender Delphiniums, Pink Carnations and purple Aster-daisies...and it’s from our best friends, Gail Carswell and Michael Foltz....that was soooo sweet and thoughtful of them to do that for me.....so, wow...now, with a lovely basket of flowers...and Stock always smells like warm spice in the air.....this room is truly a beauty! What a great way to start off our five days of vacation here in Wash DC :-)))
The food menu at the Hilton is far broader and that was great. We decided to spend half the money and try Twigs for dinner....I had rock bass on a bed of spinach and broccoli encircled with a lovely, sweet sauce that had figs and dates in it. What an amazing marriage of tastes without overwhelming the light taste of the bass.
Dave is fighting a cold, so he was happy with Earl Gray tea with lemon and honey plus Twig’s Chicken Soup. And lots of rolls. And they had a lovely breadbasket with raisin bread, rolls, garlic/sesame crackers...very nice selection. And best of all, they had Talus, a favorite white wine of mine (I brought a bottle of Talus Chardonnay with me from Arizona, so that tells you how much I love Talus!). They had, of all things....Talus pinot gris as their white house wine....I was shocked but overjoyed. Imagine that. When things are going your way, you get the red carpet right down to the wine you most love being where ever you are in the world. That’s incredible.
After a lovely dinner with a fantastic server, Marie Jean-Louise, we went for a walk to our nearby Borders bookstore. The joke here is: Dave boxed up all the books we got FREE at BEA and shipped off UPS this morning....so Dave had NO books to read, hee hee. We had to go to Borders so he could buy a couple of books to read during the week....oh! whatta scream, ahahahahaha
I didn’t buy any books....I have two to work on right here in the room....
Well, all in all, a quiet day, but a productive day. We’re happy here at the Hilton. Gonna watch The Apprentice and see who The Donald eats up for breakfast tonight...
Warmly,Lindsay/Eileen
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POSTCARDS FROM WASHINGTON, DC. 5.23.2006
Hi Everyone:
Today is my solar return birthday...given that I'm in Washington, D.C. and not my birthplace of California, it tends to move it to an earlier day. So, I get to celebrate two birthdays :-))) this way!
I started out at 10:00 a.m. with a Peaceful Escape Package....it was comprised of an aroma journey body scrub, 30 minute therapeutic massage and a 30 minute "express facial." I got there about 20 minutes ahead and 10:00 a.m. came and went. About 5 minutes or so, I went up to the main desk in my white bathrobe and sandals to inquire what was going on--thinking someone had screwed up on times/places/appointments....and they had.
They looked for the the facial lady...but she was no where to be found. So, the masseuse, Tirika, (a beautiful tall, gazelle-like African American) gamely stepped in to take charge....but it was kind of a downer to be looking so forward to my birthday gift to myself--and have it fizzle out due to screw ups behind the desk of the Capital City Spa personnel.
I did get a wonderful, energetic brushing head to toe and then a mixture of tangerine with salt crystals to follow....scraping the skin smooth and making it glow. Then, a 30 minute massage to loosen my concrete shoulders....ahhhh.....Tirika was wonderful. She LOVED her job and you could tell it. She'd given me my deep tissue massage yesterday as a warm up because my shoulders were truly cast in concrete--and she'd worked magic. So, I wanted more of Tirika, her bright smile, her glistening cinnamon eyes and that buoyant, happy energy that swirled like a rainbow around her. You get a masseuse like that and she can create magic in your poor, tired ole body. Besides, she gave me a real compliment--she said I had the body of a 38 year old and figured I was 42....and this came up quite by accident. I felt very good about that. Tirika couldn't get over how well muscled I was in the back, shoulders and thighs. I drolly told her I ride a horse, walk 2 miles a day up and out of our canyon; not to mention, run a farm, besides. She was amazed and I felt like I was on air. What a lovely birthday gift :-0))).
And then, I found out I had to wait 30 minutes for the lady who was going to do my "express facial." Bummer. This was supposed to be a 2 hour package; nonstop. All I'd had was start-stop-start-stop....and now, another snafu. Double bummer.
When I did get in to see this woman, she looks at two of my moles on my face, very critically, eyeballing them like a surgeon does a cancer tumor.
"You want me to pull the hairs out of them for you?"You could hear the distaste in her voice that those two unwanted hair critters were there in the first place and giving me a look of, "how could you STAND having those hairs on your face?" kind of look. I airily said, "No, leave em." She probably thought that the Neanderthal woman who had come crawling out of her cave to lay down and she'd have to stare at those two errant hairs for 30 minutes....musta been hell for her
Then, she says, as she's wrapping my hair up in a towel, "There's no extraction with this facial."
"That's fine, I didn't want it anyway." I guess she didn't get it when I said leave my two hair buddies on my moles alone.
She grunted.
Then, she pulls over this round light above my head....I feel like I'm going to be grilled any moment by the Skin Police. As she runs her hand across my face, she ran into all my stubble on my chin.
"Oh, my, you have a lot of hair here...."
You could hear the horror in her carefully modulated tone.
"Menopause," I tell her. And she's way past menopause and knows it anyway so I'm just stating the obvious at this point. The fact that my skin was repugnant to her.....was obvious.
"I have time to do extraction."
"I don't want extraction." I could see her picking up her tweezers with glee going after my chin hair. First of all, I don't like pain. There's ENOUGH pain in the world without squeezing my poor hairs and my sensitive facial flesh between her fingernails and then ripping them out by their follicles. I had come for this "Peaceful Escape Package" to do just that--escape. Who wants pain in their face for 10 minutes? Not me. That's not escape; that's torture.
You could almost hear her go "humph" but it was never audible; she doesn't realize I'm clairvoyant and I can feel her as easily as she had mouthed the words, anyway.
So, she says, "You know, I studied six years to get a degree in doing this. I've been doing it for thirty-five years. I don't know why I'm still doing it."
Lovely thoughts I thought as I lay there and she takes a warm, wet cloth and sloppily wiping one side of my face and then the other.
I've had facials enough to know the drill. And she obviously didn't care or wished she was there with me or wished I was a woman who wanted to care better for her skin that I did. I've had wonderful facials (no hair extraction) by women who were artists and they danced like a ballerina on your face and you felt like you were in heaven.....
She was, to put it nicely, a bit ham-handed and I felt like I was in hell.... Her idea of massage on one's face was like squeezing lemons to make them give up their juice. It wasn't pleasant. So I lay there thinking: what have I done to deserve this? She probably was pissed off that she had to stare at those two mole hairs...not to mention feel the roughness of my chin hair (which I forgot to shave off that morning.....) To her, I was just a piece of meat passing through for 30 minutes.
I breathed a sigh of relief once she slapped on the face ointment and left me to cook for 20 minutes. When she came back, it was another swipe and wipe with a warm cloth and throwing on a moisturizer and saying, "Okay, you're done."
Done as is medium rare? Well done? As in a steak? I decided not to engage her with my sarcasm; just really wanting to get away from her unhappy energy.
Kind of down because I really wanted this day, my solar return birthday, to be truly special, I came back to the room. Dave said I glowed. That was nice. If I'd let that facial specialist do what she wanted to do, my chin would have looked like bloody craters and my two moles on the left side of my cheek would probably be oozing blood, too.
We had a very nice lunch down at the Twigs Restaurant. And then, we set off by taxi for Union Station; the train station. What a beautiful place--it's really a mall along with the trains. Why, there was even a Chico's in there and a Pendleton shop--two of my favorite places. This place jumped and a lot of people were taking the trains. They had the Amtrak Acela....a super fast train that goes between DC and NYC. I thought it might be fun to take it one day. But not today.
Nope. For today was....(can you hear the drum roll...??) DC DUCK DAY!!!
Yep, you heard right: DC Ducks.
What the heck is that?!!????
We saw an amphibious vehicle the day we were at The Wall in the war memorial area last week. We couldn't believe what we saw! ...this big ole boxy, yellow amphibious vehicle that clearly belonged to WW 2, toolin' around the Lincoln monument. Dave said he wanted to ride in one. Well, shucks, he's a Marine, after all and they're part duck anyway because they belong to the Navy and the Navy is all about WATER!
quack quack....
So, we found out DC Ducks could be bought for a ride over at Union Station. What they are is 1942 amphibians that not only float on the water and have a propeller, but they also have lots of rubber tires and can go 45 mph on any road, too! The brochure said, "Make a splash!"
and then it said:
"Our wise quacking captain will entertain you with anecdotes, well researched historical facts and the corniest jokes you've ever heard!"
and then it added: An Adventure of a Lifetime
Cool, we were up for a little adventure!!!!
and the brochure then warned: "This isn't just a tour...it's an experience and....something you won't do on any other tour.....The Ducks return to land at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport under the approach pattern. Hold your ears as incoming aircraft pass over just feet from where you're sitting....giving new meaning to sitting duck!"
wow...sounded pretty cool and action-oriented to us...so, for $32.00 a piece, we got tickets.
At 3:00 pm our Duck waddled up to the curve in front of Union Station. Captain Norm was our pilot. With a black and gray scraggly beard, wearing sunglasses, a cocky navy blue skipper's hat, bermuda shorts and sandals, he didn't look like the GI who was going to storm Omaha Beach on D-Day. However, he was an easy going chap and he counted 22 of us on board "Lucky Duck"--our DUCK---quack.....
A little about DUCKs, in case you have never heard of them before. Ducks come from DUKW, a military acronym that designed the vehicle was amphibious military personnel carriers. D stands for the year it was built: 1942. U for its amphibious nature. K for its all-wheel drive and W for its dual rear axles.
DUKW's were created following the attack on Pearl Harbor as a means to transport supplies from ships to areas that did not have port facilities. DUKW's were first used operationally during the invasion of Sicily. Nearly 90% of all supplies came in by DUKW on the vital 2nd and 3rd days of the invasion. D-Day brought a force of 2000 DUKW's o the Normandy coasts. The fleet was an essential element in the strategic surprise of the enemy which assumed the Allies needed a port to make an effective landing. DUKW's were standard 2.5 ton GM trucks in a water tight shell with an added propeller. And, Captain Norm said that it was considered one of the top 5 innovations in WW2 that helped win the war....pretty high praise for such an ugly duckling.....
Considered to be one of the most successful amphibious vehicles ever made, t here were ultimately 21,000 produced by a work force consisting mainly of women working in the war effort. After the war, the Army left many of the craft in the towns and villages where they operated, so the DUKW's can still be found in different countries around the world.
Dave and I sat right up front; these were bench row seats; one on the port/starboard sides of the amphib. Captain Norm then squired us around in DC traffic with our waddling good friend, the Duck. Amazing. He pointed out many buildings, gave us many stories and historical facts. But the most fun was when we went to the Potomac River basin and crept down into the water and the, voila! we were putting along in the river itself! That was sooooo cool. I thought we'd go in and get out--and not really get into the main part of the river. Boy, was I wrong! And, Captain Norm even invited us, once we were out to sea, to come and sit in the captain's seat and DRIVE the DUCK! Well, you just know I leaped at that chance!! Of course, there were two little girls who were screaming joyously to do the same thing--so I let them have their turns first....chuckle
And, I got to sit in the seat and actually drive the DUCK! It was a lot of fun. It has a wooden car steering wheel....and you just turn it and the DUCK will go the way you are turning the wheel. It does have rudders, by the way, too. Whatta thrill! Then, I told Dave, "Come on! Sit here and let me take your photo!"
Well, he didn't want too. I knew he was DYING to sit at the steering wheel of this DUCK and drive it but he gets so easily embarrassed. I practically dragged him up there! And I got photos of him driving the DUCK!
Then, when anyone and everyone was done (there were 6 of us out of 22 who wanted to drive the DUCK), we tooled out into the main river and chugged merrily beneath bridge after bridge. We saw the Amtrak Acela; that space age swift train, come thundering by. And then, we saw a specialized boat--the type you find in the Everglades--with the airplane engine behind it.....there was one real close to us--and it took off in a thunder of sound and rooster tail spray of water.
Captain Norm said that this specialized boat was now located near Reagan airport since the airplane had fallen decade earlier in the winter and people couldn't get to the drowning passengers. So, this boat was out doing its thing today and I got some super cool photos of it bombing along the Potomac at high speed--what show offs they were!
And then, not to be outdone, here comes the Coast Guard in their orange and white boat--and they're practicing shooting water streams at targets in the river....got some more cool shots.
And then, we saw this gorgeous, huge Osprey (fishing eagle) who lives on the river....what a beautiful bird! Even Captain Norm got excited and said the Osprey had a nest nearby.
By the time we got close to Reagan, we had airplanes taking off and thundering over head less that 500 feet above us...wow....what sound, what excitement! And literally, where we turned into a quay area, the orange lights and steel frames that guide a plane in were right there--right where we were....and Captain Norm said sometimes a plane coming in to land would be about 100 feet overhead when they were bringing the DUCK to shore....it didn't happen to us....but can you imagine the sounds? The thunder? The vibration? wow.
And then we got some great shots coming back of the capitol and the Monument; and Jefferson monument; DC is a city of stone and looks more like an ancient Greek metropolis of Athens with all the Doric columns and granite and marble. Beautiful, elegant stone buildings one and all.
When we got back to Union Station, we were sad to leave our waddling yellow DUCK. We gave Captain Norm a good tip and bid adieu. I had Dave stand in front of the DUCK and snapped his photo. This was a lot of fun!
We came back to the hotel, jazzed and excited from our adventure. It was a remarkable solar return birthday for me with a very happy ending. And on top of that, I ordered crab cakes tonight for dinner...and I love crab and lobster....must be my little Pisces Moon.....
So, tomorrow is going to be a delightful day, too. I get to meet several Athenians! At noon, we meet Brian Granant for lunch at Twigs....he's a restoration architect and I'm sure a fascinating fellow. And Brian was helping me to try and identify the structures in DC that I'd seen in my pre-cog. And then, for dinner tomorrow night, we meet Elizabeth Bowen and Janet--both of whom also helped to find possible buildings here in DC that matched up to my pre-cog. I'm truly looking forward to meeting them one and all!
So, one birthday day down, my solar return, and then my second birthday, tomorrow. Pretty cool. QUACK.....
Oh, did I tell you what Captain Norm gave each of us? For being initiated into the land of DUKW's????
It's a set of yellow plastic duck lips with a whistle in it on a blue cloth necklace you hang around your neck. And of course, when you blow on it...it sounds like a duck quacking!! hahahahaha
Warmly,Lindsay/Eileen
POSTCARDS FROM WASHINGTON, D.C. 5.24.06
Hi Everyone!
Well, today was birthday #2. What an interesting day it was. We got up and out of the hotel at 9:45 a.m. to go back to the Smithsonian/natural history. I wanted to take camcorder of the gemstone section....we'd already taken photographs digitally of it all....but today....well, I was looking forward to this.
We went to see the Hope Diamond first--and what a stunner....got some gorgeous photos of it. Wow.
Then, went into the main gem area and what a difference! No people hardly at all...it was quiet and murmuring...
For about 1 hour, we had quiet and it was amazing with hardly any people compared to the weekend....this was heaven
Then, around 10:30 am the school kids, by the bus load, started coming in. All that wild, unfettered energy, the shouts, the loud voices, the loss of quiet and into chaos....lucky for me, I was done by 11 am, so we went down to the Smithsonian store to get some gifts for some special people. By 11:30 am we were home to the hotel.
We met Brian Granant, one of our athenians, at Twigs Restaurant and had a lovely, long lunch. I'm always admiring of those who are on athena...getting to meet them in person is always a pleasure and an honor. Brian works in construction and he's learning to become a homeopath and I find that admirable. We talked about many, many things...just as we do on athena; a lovely experience. I signed the book Brian had that I had written: Homeopathy and Epidemics. We discussed the need of having a homeopath--because in an epidemic, you really do need to talk with your homeopath....there are so many things that can go wrong...or questions that need to be asked...that cannot be answered in a book. Having a real person you can pick up the phone and ask is so necessary--especially in an epidemic situation where the fear factor is high.
Dave has had an ongoing 7 day cold and today, he had fever off and on. He slept the rest of the afternoon and I worked on my book manuscripts that needed to be edited. This is an HQN due June 15th. So, it was not time wasted at all.
Then, we met Elizabeth Bowen and Janet Cam--two other ladies who helped me find the buildings in Washington, DC that have to do with my pre-cog. What a delightful dinner!! Elizabeth is an amazing woman who has done many things (all positive) for our country...she's a real catalyst in the finest of ways and it was a real honor to sit with her. Janet Cam owned a restaurant in DC and boy, does she know her wines!!! It was an amazing thing to see her find a wonderful red wine that even I liked! She is so knowledgeable.
We had an amazing three hour dinner and time just flew by as if it wasn't there. Athenians, you are the MOST amazing and wonderful and intelligent people I have ever known! These two ladies, plus Brian at lunch....wow...I stand humbled by who you are, what you know, what you do for this world and remain, in your hearts as beautiful spiritual beings. I felt like I was handed a most wonderful birthday gift!
And then, about 10:30 pm I went up to our room and there, on my desk, was a bottle of champagne and a lovely note from Yolande Grill, wishing me happy birthday.....Yolande knows my weakness for champagne....and it was a great way to end a lovely day
Did I tell you that Dave, despite feeling awful, did for my birthday? This intrepid hero of mine got up out of bed after gulping down 2 aspirin and walked me, hand-in-hand, to the Godiva store where I got to get 2 dozen coconut truffles (my most favorite truffles in the world) and bought them for me.
Now, I ask you: is this guy to die for or what? Feeling awful. Running a fever, he insists on taking me to the Godiva store so I could get my truffles.
33 years.....he's a gift in and of himself. So, what a wonderful birthday...with all the great wishes from so many--thank you. You've made me an incredible day...wowWarmly,
Lindsay/Eileen
POSTCARDS FROM WASHINGTON DC 5.25.06
Hi Everyone
Today proved to be a day of incredible surprises. Dave had a good night's sleep and woke up feeling ready to do some sight seeing on a limited basis. He had no fever, so that was the good news.
I really wanted to go the National Museum of the American Indian...it is the newest one and had just opened up....and I felt it was long past time that my people, the Indians, be honored and respected for the fact they really were--and are--the First Americans. I grew up knowing prejudice about red skin; that being Indian wasn't cool. Of course, I'm so white you couldn't tell I had any Indian blood in me...but my heart and soul were. I grew up in a Native American environment and my Eastern Cherokee metis father taught me what he knew....the verbal lineage and knowledge passed down from the great-great grandmother who was on the Trail of Tears. We knew two things about her: that she was from the Wolf Clan and she came from a family of medicine people. She would never tell her real name to anyone for fear that the US Army would take her away from the white man she had married, Elias Gent. Our family has one photo of her and she's short, dark skinned, flashing black eyes and thick, braided hair wearing a calico dress with a white apron.
So, going to this museum was more than just sight seeing...it was coming home to pay homage to all Native Americans in my mind.
The building is beautiful....it curves and flows; there are no corners to it because some nations believe it is in corners where evil spirits can hide. The effect of the this corn gold colored flagstone is so beautiful compared to the white-gray granite of the buildings that surround it. Not only that, at the entrance, in the gray and black granite is a circle with 4 quarters in it...to denote the 4 directions: north, south, east and west...and it is the medicine wheel; the ongoing circle and cycle of life.
There are more than 40 rocks and boulders, called Grandfather rocks--the elders of the lovely landscape around the corn yellow building. There are more than 33,000 indigenous plants of 150 species. There are 25 native tree species, including red maple, staghorn sumac and white oak. In the lake and marsh area, rich with white and yellow water lilies on the surface, there is wild rice, marsh marigolds, cardinal flowers and silky willows that you'd find in a wetlands environment.
In the meadow area, you will see buttercups, fall panic grass, black eyed susans and sunflowers, corn, beans, squash and tobacco will be grown in the cropland area. All major foods of the Indians. It is truly a botanical paradise showing the major different areas where Native Americans live.
The landscape around this corn maize colored building, had a design team guided by ethnobotanist Donna House (Navajo/Oneida). The cardinal direction marker stones come from Maryland (east), Canada (north), Hawaii (west) and Chile (south), and the 40 Grandfather rocks are a reminder of the longevity of Native Americans' relationship to the natural world.
The building was designed by Douglas Cardinal (Blackfoot) and a team of Native architects and consultants--including John-Paul Ones (Cherokee/Choctaw) and artist/designer, Ramona Sakiestewa (Hopi). The Mall Museum is draped in Kasota stone. The building is aligned to the cardinal directions and to the center-point of the Capitol dome (2 blocks away and as you come out the main doors--there is the white dome right in front of you...), and is filled with symbols and forms that reflect the Native universe, including representations of nature, astronomy, and objects from the collection.
Congress established in 1989 to build the museum. The collection is distinguished by more than 800,000 works of aesthetic, cultural, historical and spiritual significance. They span more than 10,000 years of Native heritage in the US (including Hawaii), Canada and Latin America.
As you walk around the building, it weaves like a snake with all curves. There is a beautiful waterfall at one end with water flowing over the boulders who are known as the Grandfather rocks. There is a pool of water that goes around nearly one-third of the building that leads up to these three tiers of dramatic water falls. It is beautiful, calming and reminds me of our links to Nature once again that so many people have left behind and been disconnected from for too long.
I loved the energy as soon as we got in the building. I'll be a feng shui professional would approve; the place curved, the energy was light and nurturing and very female feeling. What was dramatic was in the rotunda as you looked up, there was a beehive like circles of stone moving upward to the top in ever smaller circles--to an opening at the top to allow light to spill through. It is a very dramatic entrance.
As you go in there is a copper wall that looks like the weaving of birch bark in a circle. That is called the Potomac atrium and it has lots of comfortable seating inside this wall that surrounds about 75% of the area. You can sit and watch any ceremony that comes along. The elevators are at the far wall and swiftly move you up to the 4th floor where you can go see a movie called Who We Are. It is a 13 minute film that celebrates the vitality and diversity of Native Life in the Lelawi Theater.
We didn't go there...but went up to the 4th floor. We kinda got lost and went to Our Universes. It was a semi-circular wall of photos of many of the great Native American chiefs along with an introduction on some tv-like monitor in between them. As I stood there, I just start crying; it was completely spontaneous and I felt grief coming up and out of my soul as I stood there listening to this man tell of the awful tragedy and suffering of the Native people at the hands of white man. I felt like I was standing in the Holocaust museum, but was not. However, many people know that 6 million Jews were exterminated by the German Nazis. I wonder how many of you know that 6 million Indians were exterminated by the white man? Tribes were given blankets infected by small pox to wipe out entire villages is just one of many examples. I stood there, everything blurring, hot tears running down my face. I couldn't stop crying; it was as if I had memory of that murder of children, women and men; to feel the utter inhumanity of Man against a group of people whose only "fault" was having red skin, living out in harmony with Mother Earth and dressing differently, and believing differently--than European white males. I was so surprised by my reaction....it was completely unexpected....I was happy to be going to this museum this morning, and had no thoughts about any of the above. But it hit me like a sledge hammer and I allowed that grief, that pain, that understanding of the suffering of my family, my great-great grandmother, to move through me. Dave took me off to one side, just kept his arm around me and let me cry with tissue after tissue to catch all the tears.
After about fifteen minutes, that wave passed me. I felt a bit better, but the feelings were stirred up in me. I began to take photos with my Nikon D70 plus the Canon RZ100 camcorder. There are four exhibitions that are permanent:
*Our Universes which present the diverse beliefs of the many nations.
*Our Peoples which centers on Native history.
*Our lives, which focuses on contemporary Native life.
*Return to a Native Place highlights the Native peoples of the Chesapeake region.
On the third level, there is a resource center appointed with the latest computers, an archives, earphones and wonderful desk/chair area. This makes researching a real pleasure. There were many diverse Indian groups represented...Eastern Coast, the Quechua of Peru, the Eskimo, the British Columbia area that have the Haida, the Yakima, the Salish and many others. Beautiful displays of clothing, ceremonial tools such as masks, rattles, pipes, and beaded objects was just incredible. Each area highlighted an individual nation of Indians and it was wonderful to see their specific use of clothing, colors, what they used for weaving, what they did to survive (such as whale hunting), the foods they utilized, etc. What I liked is that they showed on a map where the people live.
On some of the major exhibits there are interactive computers you can touch....for example, a horse head/neck beaded costume on display, you can tap the computer and up it comes, you press on that costume and then the detailed information of what nation, the time it was created, and what it was used for, pops up. Then, if you want to see the DETAILS of this incredible piece of work, there is a magnifying circle you can press your index finger on and move to where ever you want on the costume to truly look at the exquisite details of it. Just wonderful. And on many of these exhibits, they have steel drawers beneath the display windows...and you can press on each drawer on the computer to show what is in it, piece by piece, along with all the above information. This is a great way to get more of an exhibit looked at in detail.
One of my favorites were the grizzly bear claw necklaces....you have any idea how LONG a grizzly bear claw is? Try 5 inches each....and there were about 5 necklaces of them that were worn either by chiefs, leaders or medicine people for ceremonial purposes. Just looking at them you could feel the power and authority radiating off of them. Wow.
I especially love the Plains Indian beading and I was not disappointed. There were several window displays devoted to them and they were so beautiful....from a horse's martingale, to purses and a pair of tennis shoes with shiny red beads (created in 2004) which reminded me of Dorothy from Over The Rainbows, red shoes!! It was a great little exhibit...these shiny old fashion basketball tennis shoes (before all the fancy Nike types). I took a photo of it because it was so cute and full of hope.
One thing that people will notice is that the pipes that are on display--you will notice the pipe is NOT hooked up to the stem. Why? Because a pipe is only to be put together for ceremony....so they did this right....as they have done everything else in this magical building.
I loved other areas where modern day Native Americans were shown--all ages, both genders, and it was a testament to them, for all of us. There were individual comments by them and you begin to realize they are no different than any other human being--which I'm sure is the purpose of this exhibit.....to make people who hold stereotypes of Indians....to dissolve them. This exhibit sure does that.
Down in the rotunda area where you first come in, there is a gorgeous red cedar and copper circle by a Coast Salish woman, Susan Point (1952). It is huge. And it is called the Beaver and the Mink. I just love the art and expression through symbols that Native Americans use. I'm sure to many others, it is gorgeous art, but I see much deeper than that...to the colors chosen, to the story that is entwined in the art that was created....it speaks so simply and eloquently of our verbal traditions to tell STORIES.....for in telling them, we pass on to each new generation. It's like knowing a secret, or maybe a secret code that can't be translated any other way. I sat at my father's knee from the time I could remember, and he would tell us a story every night. In those stories we learned truth, honesty, right action, our morals and our values, and our responsibility to our parents, our elderly, and to our village. Seeing this beautiful motif in a circle made me proud and brought back a rush of warm memories from my earlier childhood.
About noon, we got hungry. There is a cafe in the museum and my, what a lovely surprise! The Mitsitam Cafe serves food inspired by Native dishes from the five regions of the western hemisphere. For instance, you have a choice of Eastern, Plains, South American areas where you can get your food. I was delighted to get squash with raisin and pinion nuts, a chicken mole negro in a tortilla and best of all, red potato slices with rutabagas! I love rutabagas. I was raised on them, turnips and parsnips, among other Native foods. At the Plains area, you could get a buffalo burger (Dave did.....) or slices of Buffalo flank steak with all the trimmings.
There was beans/rice, a very solid and familiar South American dish, turkey in the Eastern Coast section, with cranberries, fish from the West Coast, and so on. What I just loved was the use of Native ingredients like fiddlenecks (ferns...very young ones that are so tender and succulent), watercress found in almost any river or creek, and the use of indigenous food like corn on the cob. I wanted one of all the Native dishes, but obviously, couldn't do that. So, I took lots of pictures of the food and it's all delicious. They didn't serve cut up heart, raw, like they do shortly after a Lakota Yuwipi ceremony (it is passed around in a bowl for all recipients to partake of). That's probably a bit much....chuckle.I just loved my Native American food...this was a great and wonderful surprise.....and sure brought back the many foods I grew up on....fiddlenecks, rutabagas, corn, squash, beans and rice. Wow. Talk about returning to your childhood :-).
The gift shop was fun...from low end prices to very high end. They had red and black Santa Clara pottery for $3500.00! You could buy a wand of sacred sage for a couple of dollars, however. They had wonderful Pendleton blankets which I dearly love (I have their Shaman blanket). And many, many books on each Nation. There's a kids section where there's flutes, CD's, and all kinds of very inexpensive gifts that kids love to buy. Everyone was whistling on the flutes....high noise...but happy kids.
I did buy myself one book....a gift to myself....and it's one that is so powerful. It is called A Cherokee Feast of Days: daily meditation by Joyce Sequichie Hifler. It has stories for the 365 days a year. I often am lonely for my people, my culture and this little book just seemed to fill a hole in my spirit and so I bought it. When I showed the book to Dave, he asked me if I'd looked up May 24th, my birthday. And I said, no. So, I turned to it. I'd like to share it with you because it struck irony and synchronicity of what occurred to me when I walked into the big house of my people this morning:
"A thick layer of doubt like fog across the hilltops, can shut out the light. Without light, we are depleted of energy and vitality -- and eventually hope. An elderly Cherokee woman said, 'It is true that the Cherokee suffered when their houses and gardens and very way of life was taken from t hem. We loved the land and trees and treated them as family. It was no the Great Holy Spirit that caused it. It was the asgana (wickedness) of the world.' It seems no good time exists when we can despair. The Cherokees still dance--not pagan dances as the world once supposed--but to the Great Spirit in gratitude, the way David danced for the Lord. And it is high time we shout and clap our hands right in the face of trouble."
"You have said to me...that I could send out a voice four times...and you could hear me. Today, I send a voice for a people in despair."Black Elk/Lakota holy man
I thought: how profound....this says what I felt today...the memory of the Trail of Tears, of my relative being taken from her land, forced to march...lucky for her she had gumption and guts and escaped near the Kentucky border on their way to Oklahoma as the Army pushed them away from their homeland. She'd ran, escaped, and made a new life for herself. But she never got to go home.
About 15 years ago, I got to go back to Cherokee, North Carolina; back to the land of my people; it felt beautiful and heart wrenching to have come full circle, though three generations, back to where my heart and soul breathe and live even now. And so, the daily meditation on May 24th said it all. It was a poignant, bittersweet experience and going to this new museum/home for all Native Americans for me today; grief mixed with joy, hope mixed with knowing how my people on both continents, have suffered for so long. Surely, this maize colored building will symbolize a rebirthing of the Native Americans for it is something they can be proud of. And in this museum becoming a reality, it also means people from around the world will begin to know us for who we really are....not the stereotypes they grew up with.I urge all of you to come to this museum and see who we are...without the stereotypes....it is an awesome blossoming of truth rising out of the ashes of hundreds of years of repression. And most of all, it shows that really are ONE. How we look at the world, live in this world is unique to us, but we all have a heart and we all bleed red blood...and that is what makes all of us the same.
It has been a good day filled with raw, but poignant memories, blessings infused with the warmth of hope. The despair has started to lift. Aho.Warmly,
Lindsay/Eileen (Ai Gvhid Waya/Walks With Wolves)
Back To TopPOSTCARDS FROM WASHINGTON, DC 5.26.07
Hi Everyone
Well, last day of our vacation here at the capitol. Dave is just about ‘over’ his cold...he was perky and looked ‘normal’ this morning, so that’s good. Also, was concerned about him flying on a plane with stuffed up sinuses....had that happen to me in New Zealand and never want to repeat it--put me on my back in Auckland for 7 days on strong antibiotics and great homeopathy treatment through Barbara Ward to get me on a plane for LA. But, for the most part, Dave is over his sniffles and he should be fine for the flight tomorrow out of Reagan Airport at 10:25 am. We will land Saturday around noon at Phoenix, Arizona, on dry home desert soil once more.
Our day was fun and unexpected. I love aquariums and I wanted to see the one at the capitol. I had read warnings that for being in the capitol it was a miserable aquarium. Undaunted, we left at 9 am this morning by taxi and found the place. I’ve been to Scripps Institute in La Jolla, California...one of the finest aquariums in the country and I’ve got to say, Washington DC should be ashamed of themselves. This ‘aquarium’ if you could call it that, is a pitiful excuse and certainly does not show our quality where they are concerned. The first hour it was quiet...then the hoards of children from schools were poured into the basement area with the tanks and their shrieky little voices echoed off the walls with such power that Dave left, went upstairs and stayed outside.
Me? Well, I kept filming. There were some beautiful fish in there; well kept, but it was such a small place with so few specimens. Just a shame, really, compared to what it could be. But the fish were well cared for, the tanks in excellent condition and they looked happy. There was an alligator exhibit at the front with two five foot long leathery looking gators in there. Pretty nice display, too. Another one was the Nautilus...they had 3 of them in a tank and I’ve got to say, they were beautiful, too. Their finest exhibit (my opinion) was the deadly, poisonous Lion Fish....who looks like cream and burnt sienna vertical stripes all over it with crepe paper like fins that are so gossamer they remind you of fairy wings in motion. I got some great photos of these specimens. There were also some Leopard Sharks....about 5 feet long; and they were impressive, too. I finally got driven out by the resounding noise myself and we left.
We walked up to the Museum of History and went through the First Ladies exhibit, and then to the war exhibit. There was some nice uniforms, dresses and other things. I noticed at this museum people and children were a lot quieter and well behaved...especially in the war exhibit...they were showing a bit of restraint and respect....finally.
By noon, we were hungry but Dave suggested we walk over to the Indian Museum for lunch down in their fabulous court and I readily agreed. I got an Indian Taco which starts with a plate-size Indian fry bread, buffalo-chili slathered on top of it, then lots of shredded cheddar cheese, lettuce, onions and jalapenos. I took the jalapenos off, but I sure love fry bread! Dave got two chicken mole negro from the Meso America part of the cafe, some yellow rice and pinto beans that proved to have habanero chilies in them.....and he couldn’t eat the beans!
I was so happy to be back in the Native American building; the energy is so light, buoyant and freeing. We did go see the 13 minute introductory movie (and I highly recommend this as your first stop when you go there). You come in and sit in a ‘theater in the round’ and there are ‘screens’ made of what looks like hand-woven linen. Beneath it is a big rock. When the movie comes on, you see things on the rock, on the linen screen and up above on the rounded, concave ceiling above you. It makes you feel one with everything and it was a brilliantly designed concept that showed instead of told people, how it felt to be one with all. So cool. I sat there crying--again--just couldn’t stop as the drums and the signing started. It triggers something so deep in my genetic memory...that is haunting, beautiful, grieving and joyous....so many conflicting emotions all at once. I was crying so much by the time it was over, Dave had to guide me out because all I could do is put kleenex in my eyes.
There were other areas we hadn’t seen and one of my goals was to find the Eastern Cherokee exhibit. We found it on the 3rd floor! It was about a great mound/hill found on Cherokee land--and the legend is that all Cherokee came from within the earth, out of the top of this mound and into this world as we know, now. Also, listened to some other information from another Cherokee who was saying that they found artifacts that go back beyond 10,000 years, which proves Indians have been around a lot longer than archeologists originally thought. We know we’ve been on Turtle Island for a hundred thousand years....we just wait for archeology to catch up with what has been verbally handed down from generation to generation within our nation.
I then went down to the museum store, to the expensive part because there were some beaded creations down there that I wanted to photograph for my friend, Linda Metzler, who does very fine beading. These works of art were flowers and butterflies....and for one that was, perhaps three inches wide and two inches in width, cost $350! I kept telling Linda that her fine beading abilities were such that she was undercharging...and boy, was she! Also, another friend, Yolande Grill, also does beading, knitting and creating powerful/beautiful gemstone necklaces/bracelets, doesn’t realize what she should be charging either. So, I wanted to take photos with price tags to show my two shamanic facilitators what the real world is charging for their hard work.
We also found a section outside the yellow corn maize colored building where sacred tobacco had been planted. It was wonderful to see so much of it and I’m sure it will be used in sacred ceremonies later, after it is gathered in late summer. There are several ponds around the building and they both have lovely white water lilies as well as the splatterdock or yellow lilies; and it’s great to see so much water in alliance with this building.
When we got back to the hotel, we had too much to put in our bags, so Dave walked to a UPS place about 3 blocks away and got a box. He brought it back and about the time he was going to leave, a thunder being came up, lightning zigzagging across the sky and monsoon-like rain following shortly. So, we decided to eat first and then go afterward because the UPS store closed at 6:30 pm and we had time.
After eating and the rain stopped, we went down to UPS with our box. As we walked out in the air, it was muggy and humid...and oh boy, reminded me instantly why I left Ohio....I don’t do well in humidity and need the dry air instead...hence, living in Arizona. But it is warm and muggy here and I’m more than ready to go home. We were lucky to get this humid air for only one day of our visit--I consider ourselves lucky!
So, that is the end of our adventure in Washington, D.C. BEA was new and fascinating and incredible. Getting to see my ‘bud’, Sue Grant, getting to autograph with Maureen Child and Caridad Pinero, were a great high, too. All our books “gone in 60 seconds” was a huge surprise and we were thrilled by it. Dave and I loved meeting our athenians: Brian, Elizabeth and Janet. And the other highlight was the American Indian Museum....I felt like my people had come full circle...been driven down to the Dark Night of the Soul, and now, with this building being built by Native Americans, and showing the world who/what we are vs. the stereotypes that abound, it made me feel hope of the best kind. Washington, DC has been a trip of small and great surprises, forging warm friendships, opening old wounds and yet giving them air so they can finally heal. Wow. Thanks for taking the journey at my side. Aho.Warmly,
Lindsay/Eileen (Ai Gvhid Waya/Walks With Wolves)
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