Getting refined in Richmond

The Illuminate Light Show at the Meadow Event Park in Doswell, Virginia

And the furlough goes on. It looks like it I won't be returning to (paid) work until Monday at the earliest (which, of course, is New Year's Eve), but  all the major news outlets are reporting that the government shutdown is likely to continue into next year. If it goes on for too long, there's always manual labor. In any event, I'd already arranged to take leave yesterday (Thursday), but being furloughed wiped out the independent study I was going to do today.

My wife is a big fan of Papa Murphy's, a take-and-bake pizza chain based out of Washington state. Here in the other Washington, however, franchises are few and far between, much to Shu-E's disappointment. So when she found that there's an outlet near Richmond, VA area, as well as a seasonal light show in the same area, she suggested a family road trip into southern Virginia. The plan was to see some of the sights of Virginia's capital city, pick up a pizza (or two) afterward, and then stop off the see the lights before the drive home. Unfortunately, traffic on I-95 heading south was unexpectedly heavy and very slow-moving all the way from Washington to at least Fredericksburg. After pulling off the freeway for a bite to eat at Arby's, a decision was made (by me) to take a slightly longer, but infinitely more scenic (not to mention much-less crowded) detour through the countryside to Richmond. The Virginian capital is known for its monuments and historic districts, but by the time we showed up (around 1430), there wasn't time to do much more than visit one spot. And at the suggestion of my wife, that spot turned out to be one of the better museums I've visited, the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts:

Entry to see the permanent collection is free, and what a collection it is! The VMFA has something for everyone - American, modern, European, Asian, African, ancient, Art Deco, Art Nouveau etc. We began our tour with the McGlothin Galleries, which focus on American art. One of the best-known paintings in the collection is Progress (The Advance of Civilization). Completed by Asher Brown Durand in 1853,  its depiction of Native Americans on the left with the beginnings of the Industrial Revolution on the right shows the sacrifices that we were made in the "advance of civilization":

Catfish Row (1947) by Jacob Lawrence was one of the results of the artist's travels to African-American communities in places like Memphis, Vicksburg and New Orleans:

This Japanophile appreciated a couple of works in particular in the galleries. First, there was The Temple Court of Fudo Sama in Meguro, Tokyo (1891), by Robert Frederick Blum. A friend of mine used to live close to the depicted temple:

Then there was Miss Kaji Waji (1909), by Robert Henri. The portrait's subject was the daughter of Katsu Kaishū 勝海舟:

Shu-E isn't a big fan of modern art, unlike her husband. Wall Drawing #541 (1987) by Sol LeWitt:

One of the highlights in the VMFA is without a doubt its collection of five Fabergé eggs. This stunning specimen, the Imperial Tsarevich Easter Egg, was presented by Tsar Nicholas II to his wife, Empress Alexandra Feodorovna, in 1912. The "surprise" inside was a diamond-encrusted platinum miniature portrait, which you can see to the left of the egg:

In the Marble Hall stands Septimius Severis. Most of it dates from the 3rd century, though the head and body belong to different statues that were joined together in the 1630's, with the arms, legs and other elements being added around that time. Apparently this was standard Baroque restoration practice:

Willem van Heythuysen (2006) by Kehinde Wiley is one of the artist's realistic portrayals of African-American men in Old Master settings. This one humorously references a 1625 painting of a Dutch merchant by Frans Hals:

I took a particular interest in the African gallery when I came across the following:

Life and Miracles of Saint Gäbrä Mänfräs Qeddus together with a Homily and Miracles of Saint Michael (17th century, artist unknown):

Triptych Icon (circa 1670-1720) depicts Mary and Jesus flanked by archangels and surrounded by images of the Crucifixion and Resurrection, apostles and Sts. George and Theodore:

A silver processional cross, from the 17th-18th century. The Ethiopian empire in the 4th century was one of the first in the world to adopt Christianity as a state religion:

Masks from the Congo region:

A late-15th century depiction of St. Denis. Legend has it that he carried his severed head to his burial place after his execution in Paris in 280:

The coffin and mummy of Tjeby (2195-2040 BCE):

The mummy was placed on its left so it could look out through the Eye of Horus painted on the side of the coffin:

The East Asian gallery had some excellent examples of Japanese Buddhist art, like this Kamakura period 鎌倉時代 Kannon 観音 statue, made of wood, with traces of lacquer and gold leaf:

This 13th-century (Kamakura period) statue of Zōjōten 増長天 (the Guardian of the South) originally held a weapon in its right hand:

A magnificent Kamakura period trio - Kannon (13th century) in the middle, flanked by two 14th-century Boddhisattvas, Monju 文殊 (on the lion) and Fugen 普賢 (atop the elephant):

A pair of 14th-century guardian lions, known as komainu 狛犬 in Japanese:

I was pleased to find that I've visited almost all of the places depicted by Hasui Kawase 川瀬巴水:

Tsuruoka Hachiman Shrine (1931):

Snow at Zōjōji Temple (1929):

Nigatsudo Hall, Nara (1934):

Konpira Shrine, Sanuki (1948):

The Chinese section also included Buddhist statuary, but I was more impressed with this 7th-century earthenware with white glaze Bactrian camel, dating from the Tang dynasty 唐朝:

The ceramics were also impressive, like these beautiful Qing dynasty 清朝 vase and cups:

An 18th-century lacquer container (wood with mother of pearl inlay) with a floral design, from the Korean Joseon dynasty:

The South Asian gallery...:

...featuring a stunning 19th-century garden pavilion from the Indian state of Rajasthan:

The gallery is also home to some outstanding Tibetan mandala paintings...:

...and this magnificent figurine:

The final galleries we visited contained various works of Arts Deco and Nouveau. I could picture myself relaxing at home with these 1926 furniture pieces designed by French painter Félix Del Marle:

Punch Bowl with Three Ladles, made in 1900 by the Tiffany Glass and Decorating Company:

It was almost 1730 when we were done with the museum. On the way back to the car we passed a reminder that Richmond was the capital of the Confederacy. I only saw one Confederate flag flying in front of someone's house on the drive to the city, but signs for the Jefferson Davis Highway were unfortunate reminders that we were in the South:

Following our pizza pickup at Papa Murphy's in nearby Mechanicsville, we drove to Doswell to see the illumination. Coming after Christmas and on a Thursday evening, there thankfully weren't too many cars in the queue. The lights were synced to music which was simulcast on a local FM radio station:

I'll end this post with a few short videos from the light show. My camera's battery gave out while driving around (as you can hear me observe in the second video), so the last three are courtesy of my wife's phone. Enjoy:

Joyous Holidays to Ye All*

*How William Shakespeare might wish everyone "Happy Holidays". However, the few Christmas-related quotes from the Bard sound anything but joyous (Easter being the main Christian festival in Elizabethan England) - even "Twelfth Night" has little to do with the holiday. See below...

If there is one lesson I've learned during this holiday season, it's that I'm not essential. Thanks to the federal government shutdown, I've been furloughed until funding for the State Department is restored. I was overseas during previous shutdowns and still reported to work, as the duties carried out by Consular officers are considered vital, and Consular Affairs is basically self-funded through fees received from visa applications, passport renewals, notaries and other services. Being a language student during the latest closure is a different matter, however, meaning there is no reason to for me to report for work. Not that there is much to do at the moment, anyway - there's a weeklong break in classes, and students were given the opportunity to take paid leave, do independent study at home or (as in my case) a combination of both. Christmas Day is already a federal holiday, and this year the president issued an executive order giving federal employees a day off this Christmas Eve as well - that is, until the money run out at midnight last Friday. So now I'm on an unpaid break until fiscal sanity is restored in Washington. On the bright side, while a long period of budget acrimony might wreak havoc on the family finances, I'll have a good excuse for when I fail my Amharic exam next summer - "everything was going well until my studies were forcibly interrupted around Christmas!"

"So this is Christmas, and what have you done? Another year over, a new one just begun". So John Lennon famously sang. As you can see below, my daughter appeared pretty content with this year's haul of goodies, especially the Switch that was at the top of her wish list:

I did pretty well also, having received a much-needed case for my iPhone, along with a pair of wireless headphones. Even my wife, who tends to exhibit Scrooge-like symptoms around this time of year, seemed pleased with her Macys gift card.

For Christmas dinner, thanks to a minor comedy of errors sequence, we ended up having Taiwanese food at the Jumbo Jumbo Cafe in Rockville, a city in Maryland known as "Little Taipei" thanks to its large Taiwanese expat population:

Munching on sausage fried rice and Taiwanese fried chicken on the 25th was fine as we had enjoyed a much better feast the previous evening at the Arlington home of some friends of ours, who graciously invited us to dine with them on Christmas Eve:

"At Christmas I no more desire a rose
Than wish a snow in May's new-fangled mirth"
Love's Labour's Lost (Act 1, Scene 1)

So wroteth (?) the Bard of Avon back in the mid-1590's, but it's likely he would be more enthusiastic about the end of the year holiday season were he to be around today. In any event, Amber and I visited the Folger Shakespeare Library, an independent research library on Capitol Hill (and thus not subjected to any government shutdowns, unlike the National Christmas Tree), and home to the largest collection of Shakespeare's printed works in the world. Regular readers of this blog may remember that we stayed a night in Stratford-upon-Avon in July of last year, so a trip to the library seemed like an apt though belated coda:

The current exhibition at the library is "Churchill's Shakespeare", focusing on the relationship between the Bard and Britain's wartime prime minister:

Churchill typed many of his greatest speeches, but my daughter struggled putting her thoughts on paper thanks to the limitations of 20th-century technology:

A photograph of Churchill's mother posing as Olivia from Twelfth Night, taken when she attended a Shakespearean Ball in 1911:

Shakespearean imagery played a role in British propaganda efforts during the Second World War:

Churchill, of course, consciously evoked Shakespeare when giving his famous wartime speeches. These are his typewritten notes for his "This was their finest hour" speech which he gave in the House of Commons on June 18, 1940:

And here is yours truly being inspired by Sir Winston giving said speech:

A commemorative plate issued at the time of Churchill's death in 1965:

In addition to being a library, the Folger is also a performance space. While we were visiting, a concert of English seasonal music was being staged in the theater. At least we could watch some of it on the closed-circuit TV outside:

We weren't able to go inside the Reading Room, but the curtains had been opened by a tour guide, so we did get a look:

While the Elizabethan Garden was closed due to renovation (which meant the exterior of the building was covered in scaffolding), it was a still an interesting visit, helped in great part by the lack of an entry charge, and a pleasant way to spend an afternoon after a morning of last-minute Christmas shopping.

Speaking of the run-up to Christmas, having rented a vehicle for the holiday period, on Christmas Eve I drove out into the Virginia countryside for the purpose of reconnecting with nature. Virtually all of my hikes in this area have been loops, but one trip in my AMC's Best Day Hikes Near Washington, D.C. guide requires a car shuttle between two points - Bull Run Regional Park in Centreville and Hemlock Overlook Regional Park in Clifton. Seeing as I only occasionally have one car, the plan on Monday was to start the hike at Bull Run, walk for exactly two hours (as the total length of the hike given in the book is four hours), and then return to the car, leaving the rest of the hike to be completed beginning at the other end for another time. The waving bear (there for a seasonal night light show) which greeted me as I set off on foot at Bull Run was a promising omen...:

...but the closed-off boardwalk was another matter. Seeing as the only way to continue was to wade through muddy water, I returned to the car and drove a half-hour through some pretty countryside to the end point (and now new start point) of the hike at Hemlock Overlook:

The first part of the hike was an easy walk along Bull Run. The temperature was on the chilly side (45°F/7°C), but at least it was sunny:

The remains of the first hydroelectric plant in Virginia, built in 1925:

A bend in the river:

A tricky set of stone pillars, the only way to cross Pope's Head Creek:

A railroad bridge of the Norfolk Southern Railroad, also used by Amtrak and Virginia Railway Express trains:

Beneath the trestle was a rather touching memorial:

Looking up as I passed under the bridge, it wasn't the two pairs of shoes that caught my eye. Rather, it was the rustiness of the trestle that had me wondering how much longer it could bear the weight of the passing trains:

Eventually the trail left the riverside and made its way up and down the hills:

At the two-hour point into the hike, I turned around and retraced by steps back to the car. On the way back I passed a toy of some kind that somebody had left on a log by the path:

All in all, it was a pleasant if somewhat muddy walk through the woods (there had been a brief but heavy downpour the previous evening). The only sounds of civilization were the planes flying overhead as the Bull Run-Occoquan Trail is close to Dulles Airport:

Back at the ruins of the power plant. This is Cody, who apparently is cooped up at home much of the time, for he was racing at top speed along the trail, so excited to be outside (and much to the consternation of his owner, whose exasperated calling after of his dog reminded me of Fenton, except that there were no deer involved):

And so another Christmas is almost in the books as I get ready to post this entry. Here's hoping yours was merry!

A few other moments in the run-up to Christmas:

Amber started playing the flute this year at school. She had her first band concert earlier this month, and even sat in with the intermediate band for a few numbers

A post-concert meal at Sweet Rice

On the last day of class before the break, we went for lunch at Meaza, where I had my first Ethiopian beer. It won't be my last...

Enjoying the cocoa and admiring the owner's collectables at Lil City Creamery

Just as with Halloween, Christmas light displays are serious business in this part of the country

Enjoying crispy chicken on a bed of white rice at Pho 88

A bit of public art on the streets of Falls Church