Simple Girl

If you are from The South, especially near New Orleans, there's a good chance you've eaten a King Cake.  King Cakes are traditionally eaten during Mardi Gras, the period between Epiphany and Lent.  The cake is a brioche-style cake similar to a giant cinnamon roll with a delicious, sweet glaze. To understand the significance of the King Cake, you need to backtrack.  To Christmas.  That's right.  Just when you thought you finally got your last ornament tucked away.  It's back!  If December 25th is the First Day of Christmas (thing Partridge in a Pear Tree) then January 6th is the 12th Day of Christmas.  On the Christian Church calendar, this day is also known as Epiphany, or King's Day.  King's Day is the day when the Christian Church celebrates the Wise Mens' (or the Three Kings') journey to see baby Jesus.   The King Cake tradition in the United States is believed to have begun with French settlers around  the year 1870...

The topic of pets is a frequent one at our house these days.  It seems that one large, fluffy dog is just not enough.  The girls have taken to watching Animal Planet, checking out books from the library and searching the internet for facts, information and adorably cute photos of pets.   In November, during a particularly weak moment, we finally gave in to one longing, begging, ten-year-old-birthday supplication for a pet hamster .  Surely, this would cease the obsession with all things cute and cuddly!  It did not. So, in lieu of becoming the caretaker of more animals, (we do not live on a farm, or a ranch, or even an acre for that matter!) we decided to give the kids an opportunity to visit them. Thus began our thousand mile journey to Key West. If you've never been to Key West, getting there is not so easy.  First of all, you have to drive to Florida.  When you reach the Florida border, you suddenly realize that you are no where near Key West...

The great thing about being on vacation is that you can be driving through the middle of nowhere, like through the Everglades in Florida - a place where there is nothing but a two-lane road and swamps and alligators and not even a McDonald's - and out of nowhere, and I mean nowhere , there is a sanctuary filled with art.  As a parent, you can decide that even though the kids think that this is just a mindless beach vacation, you will take this moment to engage their imagination and expand their repertoire of creativity by stopping and viewing the timeless photographs of  Clyde Butcher , Photographer of the Everglades. Like Ansel Adams, Clyde Butcher uses his art form of photography as "inspiration for others to work together to save nature's places of spiritual sanctuary for future generations." "Like the work of Ansel Adams, Clyde Butcher's remarkable photographs give us an access to nature we rarely see or experience.  They not only reveal the intim...

Monolith, the Face of Half Dome by Ansel Adams The final of three parts on the Booth Western Art Museum , I felt that Ansel Adams simply deserved his own post.  After all, it was he that truly inspired our long trek to Cartersville .  I don't know if I could have been convinced otherwise to make the long journey to see Western Art, although, in hind sight, the museum, itself, was worth the trip. We viewed a total of 130 Ansel Adams photographs in this exhibit.  In a way, they were all familiar to me, having long been a fan of his work.  Adams once said that twelve significant photographs in any one year is a good crop.  A good reminder, I thought, to be patient.  And a good reminder.... to edit! And then there was the music.  A grand piano played classical music, setting the stage for nature's marvels. When Adams was twelve, he taught himself to play the piano and read music.  Soon, his intense pursuit of music became his substitute for ...

The Booth Western Art Museum is located approximately in the middle of nowhere.   Cartersville, Georgia , to be exact.  Perhaps it was my low expectations (not a big Western fan) that amplified my delight at this new, modern, Smithsonian-quality museum.  The building itself was modern and white, much like Atlanta's High Museum.  Inside, the atrium soared with light - unlike the dingy, dark paneled walls of my imagination. Our informative tour guide walked us through the many rooms - a free tour that I would recommend if you plan a visit. Arielle, the artist, took pictures of everything. The tour took us through American history from early Western settlers,  The Civil War, Western Films and the American Presidents.  Look at this amazing life-size painting of all the 20th century presidents.  Each president was carefully studied and portrayed with specific mannerisms.  Can you name them all?  Beyond the wall was The Presidents' room whi...

This afternoon, I decided to make use of our annual museum membership and took the kids downtown to The High Museum.  It was the last weekend of the temporary exhibit, "The Allure of the Automobile."  With many activities revolving around the three girls, I'm always thrilled when I can find artful adventures that will appeal to the boy, too! As it turned out, we didn't have to enter the museum to find art - we only had to look UP!   These cumulus clouds were a masterpiece in themselves! Here, we combined car and cloud!   Inside the museum, we were treated to a display of 18 of the world's rarest and most brilliantly conceived cars from the 1930's to mid-1960's, including masterpieces by Bugatti, Duesenberg, Jaguar, Mercedes-Benz, Porsche, Ferrari and Tucker !  I made a mental note to myself to rent, "Tucker", a great family film about the auto maker! Back in our car, I had actually planned ahead and brought a cooler with snacks.  Thi...