i noticed at our accommodations in kansas that the jonquils had started to bloom and once back in central texas (after the freakish hail/rain storm) that the wildflowers are out in abundance primarily the blue bonnets but other sprigs are starting to show up amongst the blue. which means its time for my yard to get more than its fair share of tlc.
getting there and getting everything unpacked and installed went better than expected. We met with Portico that evening, got settled into the Sperry Home (the former residence of Dr. Sperry a leader of restoration ecology) it was filled to the brim with the research and lives of he and his wife. This left the evening to unwind, and look over my preliminary specs for the space and of course let the nerves keep a small steady fire burning.
The next morning we got to work, first unpacking shelves and measuring walls, the lovely assistant Ross showed up and I put him to work. Once the spacing was determined it was leveling shelves and unpacking work. it was great working with Ross- a history major who is delving into the world of performance art.
getting the work secured to the shelves
Working up till lunch, we grabbed a bite at their campus food court (i’d like to point out some universal student behavior here: Portico had left her class to take care of our lunch needs and found herself running into one of her students from the class, not realizing that yes the Professor sees all ((insert robert deniro meet the fockers ‘i’m looking at you’ gesture here))
We got back to find Ross had all but gotten things taken care of in regards to lighting and tags. so a few quick readjustments and back to the house for a change of clothes, something more suitable a lecture and reception.
Then it was time- all the prep, all the scanning of images, saving tiffs as a “jpeg copy, calling the slide librarian for another lifeline and practicing of what i was going to say. I managed quite well and the questions from the audience were really quite well and thought out. which was a relief, many things can go wrong, but having no feedback what so ever is one of the worst. (i was also happy to know that the titles were not lost on this group, they realized they had meaning and were from something and with my explanation it took effect and was a success)
I
reception porter hall pittsburg state university pittsburg kansas
after the reception was dinner, some great conversation and then we took advantage of the extra daylight and checked out monument clay company and saw all of their old kilns. (these are the ones were jun kaneko fired his dango forms) no visit to a new place is complete without one checking out the ceramics available and two having donuts from the local donut shop on your way out of town, which completes the whole thing,