I enjoy a destination now; my companion wants to move in

Posted on October 16, 2013 by stevebuttry

An evening visit to Pontoosuc Lake north of Pittsfield, Mass.

The title of this blog reflects the fact that my companion and I experience travel much differently. We tend to like the same places. While I prefer canyons and she favors beaches, we both love both of them. And we reveled together in France, Switzerland and Italy earlier this year. Where we differ in travel is in our response to the places we love. I want to soak it in, recognizing that we may never be back. My companion wants to move.

Every time we have visited Tofino (our favorite place), she talks of buying a beach home there, ignoring the fact that I would have no work there and no major airport within five hours. On last year’s trip to Monterey and this year’s trip to Marin County, Calif., she was speculating on the cost of homes there (high) and saying we should move. I was saying, “Look at that ocean! Enjoy it right now!”

Pittsfield’s museums made for some fun walks with Duffy.

I should have known we’d have the same divergent views on last week’s trip to the Berkshires. We brought Duffy, her schnauzer, along, which curbed the sightseeing a bit. But just walking him around the lovely town square and neighborhoods of Pittsfield, Mass., was enough to make her start looking at real estate listings.

We visited at a lovely time, with many of the Berkshires’ trees still full of leaves in vivid shades of red, yellow and orange. So, when I wrapped up Friday with still an hour or so of daylight, I thought my companion would enjoy a drive in the countryside.

We headed out north of town to drive some country roads. A turn down a side road took us past lots of colorful trees as well as shimmering Pontoosuc Lake. The leaves and lake riveted my attention, but my companion’s eye was caught by a for-sale sign.

My companion and Duffy on the square in Pittsfield.

We’re not moving any time soon. We just refinanced our condo in the Virginia suburbs of Washington. But selling it for enough to cover the loan would be difficult (we bought in 2007, shortly before the real estate market tanked). Also, my job requires frequent air travel and we live 10 minutes from Dulles International Airport, with direct flights to dozens, if not hundreds, of destinations. Virtually every place my companion fantasizes about moving is an hour or more from an airport, often an airport with flights only to a few hubs.

None of this deters my companion from her new-home fantasies.

A for-sale sign in front of a home on the lake caught her eye. Since we were on a dead-end road, we had to drive past. This time we stopped to pick up a flier. A few minutes later, we stopped at a lakeside park. I was enjoying the sun’s final rays shimmering across the lake (that’s it at the top of this post and in the photo below). My companion was drawn to the condos behind us and the every-evening views they would offer.

Another evening view of Lake Pontoosuc

The next morning, before we could leave town, we had to drive back past the lake again. This time an open-house sign in front of the home she had spied the night before prompted a stop. We wandered through. I stepped out on the deck to enjoy yet another lake view (that’s it below). My companion had to check out the rooms. We got out of there without signing anything. I think my various points about the airport, the mortgage and so on continue to carry the day. For now.

I guess our writing interests shape our sightseeing interests. I’m a journalist, interested in reporting what’s happening now or in enjoying what I’m doing now. My companion is a novelist, enjoying the moments in part by imagining what could be.

The view from the deck of the home we didn’t buy.

I tried out my fastball grip on some of the outdoor art in Pittsfield.

New sights and smells in familiar places

Posted on October 1, 2013 by stevebuttry

I love visiting new places. I’ve blogged this year about first visits to France, Switzerland, Italy and Royal Gorge. In each case, anticipation and discovery are part of the joy of the trip.

Shenandoah, Iowa, and Kansas City are not new places for me. In my vagabond life, no place is more familiar than these communities. I know what to anticipate and I’ve discovered most that either destination offers.

I lived six-plus years in Kansas City and seven-plus with Shenandoah as home base (though I was away for college for most of four of the Shen years). And it seems that I’ve spent more time visiting Shenandoah and the Kansas City area than I spent living either place.

My sons and I became ardent Kansas City Chiefs fans while we lived in Kansas City and they became lifelong Royals fans (my loyalty to the Yankees was unshaken, but the Royals remain a fond second-favorite), so I’ve returned many times to Kansas City for ballgames. Mom moved to a retirement community in Lee’s Summit, Mo., three years after I left KC, so I’ve been back more times than I can count visiting Mom at three different homes as her care needs have grown. I’ve been to the Kansas City area as well working on news stories and speaking at conferences and for a job interview.

I know the quickest ways out of the ballparks to beat the traffic. I have a favorite barbecue joint that we nearly always visit. Whatever Mom needs (this time it was a watch battery), I generally know where to find it nearby. Continue reading →

Another spectacular canyon: Royal Gorge

Posted on September 9, 2013 by stevebuttry

Royal Gorge was spectacular: the cliffs, the bridge, the river, the train and the sun. Amazing!

Nothing brings me to awe like a canyon. Whether I’m looking down into the abyss or gazing up at cliffs, I marvel at the vastness, at the colors, the sculptures carved by wind, water, frost and upheaval.

This week we took the Royal Gorge Route Railroad through another amazing canyon.

I fell in love with canyons as a boy growing up in Utah, where Dad was stationed from 1960-65. We would vacation frequently at Zion Canyon National Park and visited Bryce Canyon and the Grand Canyon once each. I returned with my traveling companion in 2006 to the Grand Canyon and in 2007 to Bryce and Zion. Then in 2011 we visited Canyonlands, which I hadn’t visited in my youth. That year we also rafted on white water through the New River Gorge in West Virginia.

This week we took in Royal Gorge. Whether hiking on the canyon floor, hiking along the canyon rim, riding a train or a raft through a canyon or riding horseback along the canyon rim, I am overwhelmed by the majesty of the cliffs, the mountains, the river.

Photos don’t nearly capture it all. But I try. Here are some photos of Royal Gorge, followed by some favorites from canyons past. Continue reading →

Scenes from our California trip, August 2013

Posted on September 2, 2013 by stevebuttry

Our California trip started in the south, were we enjoyed a weekend at Newport Beach and nearby Corona Del Mar.

I spent most of our 15-day California trip working, visiting 10 Digital First newsrooms and participating in a weekend conference. But I still found some time to enjoy the Golden State, first in the south and then in the north.

While we enjoyed the scenic cliffs of Southern California, stick man had a rougher time.

My companion showed such delight at a ground squirrel eating from people’s hands that a man gave her some peanuts to feed the squirrel. Yeah, a sign nearby said not to do that.

We moved to Long Beach for a week of work at Digital First newsrooms in the Los Angeles area. Our hotel was near the retirement home of the Queen Mary. We had dinner on board one night, and enjoyed the full moon on our walk to the ship.

The Queen Mary’s companion as a docked museum is a Russian submarine, the B-427 Scorpion.

Our weekend in Anaheim included an evening at Disneyland. You can read my companion’s account of our visit to the Happiest Place on Earth.

We moved to San Rafael, north of the Golden Gate Bridge, for the second week. My morning walks took me around a lovely pond that attracted ducks, geese, herons and other waterfowl.

We enjoyed a lovely walk along Richardson Bay, looking across San Francisco Bay at the city skyline.

We dined outdoors Friday evening at Sam’s Anchor Cafe, looking out on the bay.

Imagination Park in San Anselmo pays tribute to Yoda and Harrison Ford, two of the most famous creations of local movie producer George Lucas.

The drive to Point Reyes takes you through several ranches. We came through at milking time.

We visited Point Reyes in the fog and heard a ranger explain why it's often foggy.

We visited Point Reyes in the fog, hearing the foghorn every minute and listening to a ranger explain why it’s often foggy.

Our foggy visit to Point Reyes was beautiful. But it gave us appreciation for how fortunate we were in 2007 to see Point Reyes on a spectacularly clear day.

The spectacular coastal views from Point Reyes that we enjoyed six years ago were shrouded in fog on this visit.

On our drive back from Drake Beach, where Sir Francis Drake landed the Golden Hind, we stopped several minutes to watch this elk, which seemed to be posing for us.

On our drive back from Drakes Beach, where Sir Francis Drake landed the Golden Hind, we stopped several minutes to watch this elk, which seemed to be posing for us.

European churches are glorious, but whom do they glorify?

Posted on April 23, 2013 by stevebuttry

The Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore in Florence, known locally as the Duomo.

Something bothers me when viewing the magnificent churches of Europe.

I have great respect for the artistic and scientific talents of the architects and builders. I admire the painstaking work of the masters who created the paintings, statues, columns, sarcophaguses, murals, mosaics, cornices, tapestries and frescoes that seem to decorate every available space. The reverence of these ancient people is touching and I respect the expressions of faith that these churches and their art represent.

But it also feels at times too much.

Duomo di Siena

As my companion and I walked away from the glorious Duomo in Siena, Italy, we passed a group of English-speaking teen-agers getting their first glimpse as they rounded the corner. “How many, like, insanely beautiful churches can there be in one country?” a youth asked rhetorically of his peers.

Indeed, beautiful and plentiful. But on some level insane.

As a visitor to Italy centuries after the Renaissance artists, I am thankful for their contribution to art and beauty. That they elevated humanity is, to me, beyond question.

My father enjoyed painting. While his favorite subjects were sunsets and other landscapes that celebrated the beauty of creation, a few had religious themes. Some of his works hang (or did at one time) in the churches where he served as pastor or perhaps in some he visited. I grew up appreciating the talent and inspiration of the artist.

I’m grateful for the Medicis and other wealthy people who fostered an appreciation of art here. While I’m proud of Dad’s artwork, I recognize the difference between a hobby artist and a master. To become a master, one must work full-time for years. That requires support of wealthy people or wealthy institutions such as churches, either to buy the work or to sponsor it.

Cathédrale Saint-Jean-Baptiste in Lyon, France

As I noted in an earlier post from this trip, I was in awe of the vision and execution that created the David. Sunday we saw the Pietà in St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican and marveled again at the beauty and the talent that created it.

Michelangelo’s genius did not grow from nothing. He and Leonardo da Vinci were the greatest artists of a culture that also produced masters such as Botticelli and Donatello (both of whose works we’ve seen on this trip) and lesser masters whose names I’ve already forgotten but who produced magnificent works we viewed in the museums, cathedrals and basilicas we’ve toured. Their work grew from the generosity of the Medicis and other patrons of the arts and from a culture that honored and elevated art.

It’s the cavernous cathedrals that strike me as too much. While I know they were built as tributes to God, I wonder how much they really are statements about the money and might of man. Wouldn’t the savior so often depicted in these statues and paintings have preferred that the church spend more of its wealth following his commandments, such as feeding and clothing the poor, and less building such grand palaces of worship?

I don’t wonder that in a condemning way. I know I don’t contribute enough to helping those less fortunate. And I’m certain the inspiration provided by religious art and architecture helps change lives and drives – directly or not – many of the countless acts of generosity by the faithful.

But as I admire the artistic gifts of the masters, I wonder if the popes and bishops who built these grand cathedrals weren’t glorifying themselves at least as much as the master they served.

St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican

The Colosseum: definitely a Major League stadium

Posted on April 22, 2013 by stevebuttry

My Roman nose and I visited the Colosseum today.

The Colosseum

This one counts as a Major League stadium.

I’ve spent the past half-century working my way through Major League Baseball’s parks. I made it to my 27th big-league park last year (I still have nine to go, though, because I’ve been to two home parks of the Yankees and Nationals and four parks that I’ve been to have since been replaced).

Minor league parks don’t count (though I do count them; I’ve been to four). Neither do football stadiums (four pro, four college) or basketball arenas (one pro, seven college).

Corridors and pens underneath the Colosseum floor show where performing animals and people were held.

But Rome’s Colosseum counts. Even though they never played baseball, a stadium that’s still standing nearly two millennia after it was built is Major League.

On a day that started with a visit to the Sistine Chapel, the Colosseum was the highlight for me. No disrespect to Michelangelo; the chapel was marvelous, but I liked his David and Pietà better. And the chapel was crowded, nearly packed with people craning their necks, with guards noisily shushing people.

The Colosseum, less crowded thanks to a light rain, was an amazing and pleasant place to stroll through. It brought a mix of reactions. I wondered if any of the ballparks I’ve been to would still be standing in the 41st Century (I think four have already been torn down). I wondered if the symbols of American might and excess would someday be tourist attractions in a charming but insignificant country. I wondered if I’d have found the brutal sports of Roman times entertaining if I had grown up in that culture. I noted how similar the design was to many stadiums I’ve visited (though as we climbed the many stairs, I appreciated the development of circular ramps). I wondered if you could get a good dog and a beer while watching the gladiators battle.

I might have lingered longer to explore the arches (at least two were right outside the Colosseum) and other nearby Roman ruins. But pizza, bruschette and beer beckoned me from across town.

The Arch of Constantine

Rome has too many ancient structures and ruins to explore them all.

I am most fluent in helplessness

Posted on April 21, 2013 by stevebuttry

Few experiences are as humbling for me as traveling in countries where English is not the native language.

Maybe that’s part of why I like travel. We all need to be humbled now and then.

I excelled in German when I was in ninth grade. But we moved to a different school district, where they dropped German from the curriculum during World War I “to be patriotic.” And a quarter century after World War II, they still weren’t teaching it. Continue reading →

Magical Siena

Posted on April 20, 2013 by stevebuttry

Il Campo in Siena

Correction: My traveling companion was indulging me and posted this for me after I’d written it on the train in another program. It didn’t occur to either of us that it would then bear his byline. This is Mimi Johnson writing, no matter what WordPress says.

My companion and I reached Siena in the midafternoon, hungry, tired and perhaps a little bit cranky. He’d asked me before we left the states, “Why Siena?” I’d told him I’d just heard it was a beautiful Tuscan city, smaller, without as many tourists as Florence. I thought it was worth a brief visit, a chance to kick back a little and not push the sightseeing quite so hard.

Siena is magical at night.

Our B&B was in an ancient, rustic building, the color of, well, sienna. It was just off Il Campo, the lovely center square of the city. After a little snack of bruschetta and a little rest at a sidewalk table, we felt better, ready to wander the narrow, steep streets. We spent some time at the Duomo, lighting candles for each of our families at a side altar. And we stopped by the Basilica of St. Domenico, because I couldn’t resist the chance to see St. Catherine’s mummified head looking down from the altar.

I’d read in several places that Siena is at its best at night, and while we were still in France, an acquaintance who’d been there confirmed, “It’s magical.” I wasn’t disappointed. After dark we sat on the cobblestones of the square, looking up at the artfully lit campanile, a half-moon lurking nearby in the starry night. When I looked over at my companion I could clearly see the young man he used to be, when he wooed and won me. Romantic. Magical.

Last night, I slept in a building that was built 800 years ago. As I lay in bed, my companion sound asleep beside me, I looked up at the dark wood beams of the dim ceiling far above me, and wondered about all the couples that had shared this room before us. The idea of 800 years of living kept me awake. (Or perhaps it was the espresso I’d had after dinner.) The drunken singing from a group below drifted up from the street, a faint, merry murmur through the ancient, thick walls.

The entrance to the Palazzo Masi bed and breakfast in an 800-year-old Siena building.

Reflections on the David (but no photos)

Posted on April 18, 2013 by stevebuttry

“No photo! No photo!”

The guards around the David in the Accademia Gallery in Florence dissuade you quickly if you should raise a camera or cell phone in the presence of Michelangelo‘s marble statue.

We visited the Accademia Wednesday and the Uffizi Thursday, viewing hundreds of paintings and statues by masters from centuries ago. Beautiful as they were, each was flawed. Baby Jesus often had the face of an adolescent or at least a boy old enough to run and play. Some masters tried to cram a few too many symbols into a picture. Proportions were occasionally out of whack.

But the David was perfect. Larger than life, he commands your attention from the next gallery. The unfinished Michelangelo statues in that gallery are interesting, definitely worth a look after you’ve seen the David. But you can’t pause to look at them once Goliath’s slayer catches your eye. You just move through the hall, watching David as you move closer.

He certainly is as magnificent a piece of art as I have ever seen. How Michelangelo envisioned this massive figure from a hunk of marble, then brought him out of it, I simply cannot imagine.

My companion and I walked around him slowly, reading plaques and gazing at the flawless marble. Every vein and sinew was perfect. “Masterpiece” seems so inadequate to describe it. We browsed the rest of the gallery and found our way back. After him, everything else was just mildly interesting.

Really, they could let you snap away to your heart’s content. Photos do not — could not — do the David justice. The replica standing outside in a piazza a few blocks away doesn’t do it justice. There tourists snap photos like crazy.

But not at the real thing. Guards see to that. The David must be seen in person.

Romance in wood

Posted on April 16, 2013 by stevebuttry

Wood couple with a rose, kissing.

Couple with good balance, kissing.

Romance is a stereotype of the countries we are visiting: France, Switzerland and Italy.

My traveling companion and I were expecting our fair share of middle-aged romance – over a French or Italian meal, or perhaps enjoying a glass of wine by a Swiss lake, or – well, maybe enough said about that.

But I don’t think we were expecting to find romance carved in wood on the streets of a Swiss town.

But in the middle of Luzern we found a display of wooden sculpture, most of them couples kissing – notably thinner couples than my traveling companion and me and certainly more flexible. One or both of us would surely topple if we kissed bending over so far.

Perhaps our inability to embrace with such balance enhanced our enjoyment of the sculpture display on the cobblestone streets of a Luzern intersection.

Romance fills the square

I lingered among the statues shooting pictures as my companion shopped for shoes. I thought it might be fun to ask someone to shoot a photo of us kissing – vertically – among the sculptures. But we’re vain enough and round enough that we each prefer photos of the other or just of the places we visit.

I also needed someone to stand between the large wooden hands, to provide some perspective. But we’ve been traveling together long enough that I knew better than to interrupt shoe shopping.

Then a young couple strolled into the sculptures, enjoying them as a young, romantic couple should. I was too slow with my camera to catch a picture of him shooting a picture of her kissing a sculpture of a man.

But then he posed her between the hands and I had my romantic shot in the sculpture display.

2 Roads Diverged

1 journey, 2 views

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