80th Birthday Celebration

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The trailer I rented in Goose Creek, South Carolina was just 10 minutes from my sister’s daughter’s home. This 80th Birthday Celebration was planned months ago. All the Thorspecken siblings arrived at the same time. I immediately sat on the living room couch and started sketching. I didn’t know how long I might have before my sister arrived. My hope was to block in the composition and then add people as they sat down.

A scout was sent upstairs to look out a window down the street to watch for my sister’s car so everyone could hide before she walked in. My sister was fashionably late which meant I was finished blocking in the room before she arrived. I decided to stop sketching and join everyone in the kitchen. My sketch and art bag were hidden with a fluffy couch pillow.

I had decided to draw the center table set up in the living room. It turns out no one ever sat at that table. In my sketch, my sister is visible straight ahead of me. You can identify her with the pony tail. All the Thorspeckens were seated in the dining room.

When the food arrived, I sat outside and almost choked to death on a hunk of sausage, but I survived. After I recovered and finished the pasta on my plate I went back inside. The sausage I left alone. I got to sit in on a good hour of family conversation before the football game was turned on in the living room.

In the living room I got to site with my sister for a while and we talked about family history. She had a good lead on a Thorspecken who had an import export business in NYC back in the 1840 or so. He is buried in Greenwood Cemetery and I want to look him up. I might be going up to New York City in a week or so with Pam and I could gather research sites I should visit. One problem I want to pursue in person is to visit all the Catholic Churches near where my Irish relatives lived in NYC about 1870. My hope is to find a baptism for my great great grandfather. My hope is to fin the records if I pay for the time spent researching.

 

Goose Creek South Carolina

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I took a road trip to Goose Creek, South Carolina for my sister Shirley’s 80th birthday celebration. I drove on a day when I did not have an online class. I did the drive straight through in about 7 hours. I probably could have done the drive in 6 hours, but Google maps changed the route and sent me up I-95 for one more exit. I believe several roads were washed out so that might have been the reason. I may never know. After diving north for an extra 30 miles, I was directed to a side road and took that all the way back. That road did have some issue since it narrowed down to one lane and I had to wait for 15 minutes or so for the traffic to drive by before I could proceed.

I am staying in a Coleman Camper. It is pretty cozy. I found it via AirB&B. It is set up to accommodate two adults and two kids, but I am using it on my own. It is set up with WiFi but in opening this post to write, I noticed the internet is super slow. I need to teach a virtual course this afternoon via Zoom and I am hoping the connection speed does not put a kink in that plan.

My brother Don and his wife are going to stop by before class. He wants to drive south to Charleston for sight seeing. I am not sure if I have time for that before class. We will see.

 

COVID Dystopia: Shot 6

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Shot 6 of COVID Dystopia is of a surreal view of a sports bar. I went to South Carolina to help my sister celebrate her 80th birthday. My other brothers and sister wanted to meet a t a sports bar before we went to the celebration. The sports bear we were supposed to meet at was super crowded, although I noticed there was plenty of outdoor seating which would have been my preference. We met instead at a small restaurant across the parking lot of the strip mall.

My brother claimed I looked like Darth Vader as I approached the entry in my long winter trench coat and N-95 mask. If I could find an n-95 mask that looked like Darth Vader’s mask I would wear it. Family seem to think I am crazy for taking precautions while I think everyone else is crazy for pretending that the pandemic has ended. This second indoor dining spot was empty except my family crowed around one table. The space had no HEPA filtration system to keep costumers safe. I ordered a coke and took a few sips by slipping up my mask. I know this wasn’t ideal but the risk benefit had to be measured. Most people have abandoned all COVID precautions and I am just learning what layered risks I am willing to take.

The previous day I taught a virtual art class from a Starbucks because the trailer I was staying in had horrible WiFi. Over two hours I sipped an iced coffee while teaching the class. Starbucks was crowded when the class started but emptied out by the time the class ended. I was seated near the entry door which kept blowing open which I liked. I was a cold breeze but at least fresh air was circulating.

Seeing this shot as a still, I am noticing that some of the breath and spatter seems out of place. I will check the scene again and check the breath layer of placement and scale. I might separate each breath into its own layer so each can be scaled from a center which would be at the person’s mouth.

South Carolina

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We took an extended weekend road trip to South Carolina to visit one of my sisters who lives there. As soon as my virtual 3pm class ended on Friday, we were out the door and into the already packed car. I brought along my laptop and iPad since I would be teaching from the Air B&B in South Carolina. Pan drove straight through and we were settled in before midnight. Torrential rain and fog made the last leg of the trip an adventure.

The Air B&B unfortunately was downwind of a paper mill which gave off an acrid stench. Indoors the small was less overwhelming. The place was pet friendly, so Donkey and Sprout were along for the ride. The living room had the largest TV I have ever seen on top pf a home made crate made from two by fours and plywood. We never once turned it on.

The next day Pam and out house guest explored Charleston, South Carolina while I taught virtually all day. For most students this was their last class, so they finished up paintings and drawing that had been in the works for some time. With the animation student I executed a walk which is a more complex assignment and I was pleased that he caught every nuance of what I was explaining through my sketches.

After my classes were over, I was picked up and we went to downtown Charleston for some ice cream and a ghost tour. The ice cream parlor was packed and we were the only people wearing masks. The streets as well were jam packed with people from wedding parties and pub crawls. As the evening wore on, belligerent drunks became the norm. I was almost attacked as a “Biden lover” for daring to wear a mask.

The painting above was done on our last day in Charleston. Before we left, we went on a Geo-cache outing. Geo-caches are tiny canisters hidden at geo-coordinates. Apparently inside are little trinkets and a note pad. I helped search for the first one at a busy interaction but we never found it. After that I decided to settle in under a tree and just sketch the park entrance to a development. It was getting hot and sketching seemed preferable to the search.

Time was limited so I sketched quickly. They found about three Geo-caches while I worked on this. Charleston is a gorgeous city to sketch with all it’s historic architecture but we were in and out for this quick weekend trip. My sister has sketches I had done on a previous Charleston trip hug in her living room. They were decent sketches and they made me yearn to do more. It is probably better to sketch in the fall and or winter when it isn’t over 90 degrees every day.

My visit with my sister was amazing. We discussed family history and she has so much research which verifies and expands on the research I have been doing. I am certain we only scratched the surface, but we are in contact all the time via Facebook and messenger. The important thing is we can now view my research on line so she can see info I might have that she hasn’t seen yet. I was going to contact a church in NYC to try and locate some baptism and marriage records for a family. The churches web site said that it cost $50 for them to try and find a record. I knew there would be records found so I was considering the option. It turns out my sister had done all this research years ago, she had a folder full of the exact records I was hoping to find. I counted 23 records. Multiply that by $50 each, and she had $1,150 worth of records which they gave away back in the day. Figuring out the branches with thousands of names became a bit overwhelming, but now we can narrow conversations down to one question at a time.

Days Apart

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A Douglas County, Colorado couple in their 70s died within days of each other from COVID-19.

An Oklahoma couple married 45 years, died days apart. They texted each other “I love you” before going into coma.

In Jacksonville, Florida a mother and daughter died 19 days apart from COVID-19.

A Wisconsin couple married for six decades died from COVID-19 just 2 days apart.

A California couple married 35 years died from COVID-19, 11 days apart.

The wife and husband behind Seattle’s Kona Kitchen died from COVID-19 just days apart.

A South Carolina couple married for 66 years died days apart from COVID-19.

A Louisiana woman lost both of her parents days apart due to COVID-19.

An Atlanta, Georgia couple married for 49 years died days apart from COVID-19.

Three members of a Freehold Township, New Jersey family died days apart after contracting COVID-19.

Just as the United States is rolling out COVID-19 vaccines, the numbers have become gloomier than ever: Over 3,000 Americans died in a single day, more than on D-Day or 9/11. One million new cases in the span of five days. More than 106,000 people in the hospital. The U.S. recorded 3,124 deaths Wednesday, December 9, 2020 the highest one-day total yet, according to Johns Hopkins University. Up until last week, the peak was 2,603 deaths on April 15, when New York City was the epicenter of the nation’s outbreak.

 

The Yorktown

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The Yorktown aircraft carrier is harbored in Charleston, South Carolina. It is one of the ships that can be explore at Patriots Point Naval and Maritime Museum (40 Patriots Point Rd, Mt Pleasant, SC 29464). One thing that is difficult to convey in just one sketch is just how huge this ship is. The upper deck must have been several football fields in length.

Patriots Point Development Authority was established in the 1970s to
develop the naval and maritime museum on Charleston Harbor with the
World War II aircraft carrier, USS Yorktown as its centerpiece. It’s
also home to a fleet of National Historic
Landmark ships, the Cold War Memorial and the only Vietnam Experience
Exhibit in the U.S., the Congressional Medal of Honor Society, and the
agency’s official Medal of Honor Museum. Patriots Point strives to preserve the living history of our nation’s
bravest men and women while telling their stories in honorable,
educational and engaging ways.

We explored the inner bowls of the ship winding up metal staircases and narrow passageways.  It felt liberating to get out on the huge open each, so I  took some time to settle in and sketch.

Every section of the ship has been converted into a museum to showcase the history of the Yorktown and ships like her. Initially to have been named Bonhomme Richard, it was renamed Yorktown while under construction to commemorate USS Yorktown (CV-5), lost at the Battle of Midway in June 1942. Yorktown (CV-10) was commissioned in April 1943, and participated in several campaigns in the Pacific Theater of Operations, earning 11 battle stars and the Presidential Unit Citation.

Decommissioned shortly after the end of the war, it was modernized and
recommissioned in February 1953 as an attack carrier, and served
with distinction during the Korean War. It was later modernized with a
canted deck and eventually became an antisubmarine carrier and
served for many years in the Pacific, including duty in the Vietnam War, in which it earned five battle stars. Late in its career, it served as a recovery ship for the Apollo 8 space mission, and was used in the movie Tora! Tora! Tora! which recreated the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.

Solar Eclipse

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Getting to witness a complete solar eclipse is rare. When I found out a solar eclipse was coming, I researched where the path of totality was as it passed across the country. The narrow band crossed over Charleston, South Carolina. I have a sister who lives in Charleston so I gave her a call. Then I researched the best places to witness the eclipse and I found out about Joe Riley Stadium the home of the River Dogs. The stadium opened early before the game so that fans could watch the eclipse.

Pam and I found solar glasses well over a month before. We drove up to South Carolina with John Naughton and his nephew. The road trip itself was fun with a few short stops along the way, including an amazing restaurant in Savannah Georgia. My sister agreed to join us on game day to watch the eclipse. It felt good to share such a rare event with family.

I expected huge crowds approaching the stadium but parking and getting in proved effortless. Once seated, we got a few hot dogs and waited. Announcers kept track of the eclipse progress sharing video on the jumbo-tron screen. A drone hovered over the field watching the crowd and the players lounged on top of their dugout to watch as well. Hundreds of people watched the sky with their solar glasses. Some kids had built their own solar pinhole devices which projected the eclipse on a white card for viewing. The last time I witnessed a solar eclipse I was maybe 10 years old and made a similar pinhole viewer. A group of students also launched a weather balloon high above the field. Rumors circulated that Actor Bill Murray was in the crowd. A face painter was busy painting solar eclipse themes faces.

It took quite some time for the sun to completely block out the sun. When it did the stadium grew quiet. Even the birds stopped chirping. It was a reflective moment. This crowd seemed small compared to the grand scale of the universe. Gaps between leaves in the trees acted as pin hole viewers projecting crescent shaped images all over the pavement. Just as the day had grown pitch black, it slowly illuminated again. Once the sun was out, the game got under way and went on right until sunset. The sunset was glorious and golden behind the bleachers.

Boone Hall Plantation and Gardens

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On a road trip with John Naughton to South Carolina, we were all looking for something to do on a Sunday. We decided to visit Boone Hall Plantation and Gardens (1235 Long Point Rd, Mt Pleasant, SC 29464). The historic “Avenue of Oaks” leads up to to the house with southern live oaks on either side, originally planted in 1743. In front of the plantation was a butterfly garden. One butterfly rested on Pam’s back for like an hour. While
everyone else toured the inside of the plantation, I sketched outside.
It was a gorgeous day and I sat on a bench under the shade of a large
live oak.

In the
early 18th century, cotton plantations were enormously profitable, and
this stunningly beautiful estate was a giant of Charleston’s low country
cotton farming. Boone Hall is one of the oldest plantations. Instead of
cotton, they now produce peaches, strawberries, tomatoes and pumpkins.
During certain seasons guests are allowed to pick their own food. Boone
Hall has been
featured in several movies. 

The plantation includes a large Colonial Revival
plantation house (completed in 1936) that replaced the lost original
house on the site, a number of slave cabins running parallel with the oak alley which date back to 1790-1810. It was common for owners to display
their slave cabins in the front of the property as a sign of wealth.
Built of brick, the one-story structures are 12 feet by 30 feet with
gabled roofs, have either plank or dirt floors and a simple fireplace
with a brick hearth and no mantle at the rear of each house. The cabins
were in use well into the 20th century, as they were occupied by sharecroppers through the 1940s. Today they display information on slave life. They looked very uncomfortable to live in with dirt floors.

There was an outdoor presentation on the Gullah culture. The Gullah are African Americans who live in the Low Country region of the U.S. states of Georgia and South Carolina, in both the coastal plain and the Sea Islands. They developed a creole language, the Gullah language, and a culture rich in African influences that makes them distinctive among African Americans.We learned about the culture through stories and song.