School Vacation, Day One: Dali-ing in Art

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Today was the first day of February school vacation. Upon waking this morning, I wondered, “How do I fill the next five days with tons of amusement on a budget?” I realized I had no clue, but I better think of something fast as I sensed someone would be in my face, asking me what we were doing today, two minutes after I entered the kitchen to pour my coffee.

As I suspected, I made it into the kitchen, grabbed my coffee, but before I could pour that first cup of eggnog coffee, I heard a little voice from the family room ask, “What are we doing today?” First, I needed a cup of coffee running through my veins to remember who the little voice in the family room belonged to, and, second, I had to now remember why I was even in the kitchen.

Oh, yeah, coffee. I finished pouring my eggnog coffee, dumped a teaspoon of sugar in my mug, and then added a dribble of half and half. I still couldn’t remember who the voice belonged to, so I knew I needed to stall. I said to the voice in the family room, “Um, I don’t know. I’ll have to go upstairs and think about it. See you in a bit!” The little voice said, “K.”

Once up at my desk, I began to drink my coffee. Sip. Sip. Oh, that was Isabelle. Sip. Sip. Sip. What are we going to do today? Sip. Sip. Oh, crud. “Look for Nate’s lost wallet” yelled up at me in pink neon highlighter from the “Note to Self” pad on my desk. Sip. Sip. Sip. Sip. Nathan has his license test this Thursday* and still hasn’t found his wallet, which went missing in his room three days ago. Sip. Sip. Sip. Sip. Hmmm.

*Yes, this is one for…

I yelled downstairs to Iz (formerly known as the “little voice”), “Hey, Iz!”
She yelled, “What?”
I yelled, “Do you want to help me clean Nathan’s room? I’ll pay you $1!”
She yelled back, “Sure,” and then I heard stomp-stomp-stomp as she departed the family room and thud-thud-thud as she ran up the stairs.

She met me in Nathan’s room. The place was a disaster area. Root beer cans littered his bureau. Game CDs were all over his bed. Dungeon and Dragons books were piled up on the floor next to his bed. I really don’t get on Nathan’s case about his room too much. I weighed it carefully in my head over the years. Good kid…messy room…good kid…messy room. Good kid always wins.

I said to Iz, “We are looking for Nathan’s wallet, okay?”
Iz asked, “If I find it, do I get to keep it?”
I said, “No! But, I’m sure your brother will be very grateful if you found it.”
She said, as if being told broccoli was for lunch, “Oh.”

Nathan claimed he left his wallet on his bedside table. Over the weekend, he had “looked” for his wallet. I know that this “looking” involved moving the bedside table out and looking behind it and looking under his bed. That was the extent of his search.

And, I knew then that all of his CSI and Law & Order viewing with me had not had any effect on him, because that was a seriously lame search which ended up with him saying, “Well, maybe the kitten found it on the floor and batted it around, so I don’t know where it could be now.” Yeah, always blame the kitten!

I began to pick up and put away things. Iz happened upon Nate’s metallic pens; she gave them to him for his birthday. He hadn’t let her borrow them yet, and she was very peeved about it.

Already knowing she wouldn’t be much help, I said, “Why don’t you go get a pad, and then you can draw some pictures with Nathan’s pens. She said, “Okay!” In a minute, she was back with her pad and happily drawing on Nathan’s bed while I continued to sort through the rubble.

After 20 minutes, I moved a cardboard box and found a pair of Nathan’s pajama bottoms on the floor. They were inside out revealing a pair of boxer shorts that were also inside out. Remember, anything on the floor is dirty until proven clean. I picked up the pants and on a whim, I felt the pockets. I felt something hard in one pocket and pulled it out.

Yes, it was Nathan’s wallet. I immediately photographed it, and I sent it to Nathan, who was traveling to visit a college (UMaine-Orono) with Quinn. Nathan texted me back and asked, “Where did you find it?” I texted back its location. He texted, “Thanks.”

At that point, after surveying the remaining rubble in Nathan’s room and finding his wallet, which was a huge relief, I thought, “This can wait until tomorrow. I thought that there must be something fun that Iz and I can do." I could continue to organize photos on my laptop, which I had been trying to do for the last month; however, a photo that I came across recently gave me another idea.

In April of 2008, I went to Philadelphia, a city that I love, to see Colin Hay at the World Café Live. Whenever I go to Philly, I always have to go to the Philadelphia Art Museum. It is one of my favorite places in the world. Well, it’s one of my favorite places in my world as I know the world thus far.

My favorite thing there is this statue. I love to sit there and just look at it, never mind those stairs and the Corinthian columns. When I sit there, sometimes I feel like I could melt into the floor and that would be a fitting end for me.

Anyway, I took this picture while sitting there at the museum, because it struck me. No, it’s not a modern sculpture. But, at that time, I thought maybe it should be.



It’s just a stack of chairs. But, isn’t it cool? Doesn’t it make you think that art, well, art is everywhere. And, today, I wanted Iz to feel that.

So, after “cleaning” Nathan’s room and thinking about this picture, I said to Iz, “Let’s make some art.”
She said, “What do you mean?”
I said, “Well, I’ll show you some famous art, and then we’ll try to do it.”
She had a think and said, “Fine. I’m in.”
(If something should ever happen to me, do you all promise to tell Nathan and Iz how much I loved them, even after I’m gone? Please do.)

Girl with a Red Hat, Vermeer Van Delft (1668)



The Kiss, Gustav Klint (1907-1908)



Boston Terrier Pop Art Collage, Artist Unknown
Pembroke Welsh Corgi Pop Art Collage, Iz and Jean (2010)



Pop Art Kiss, Artist Unknown
Pop Art Kiss, Iz (2010)



Campbell’s Soup I, Andy Warhol (1968)
In abstentia: Nathan’s Room (2010)



American Gothic, Grant Wood (1930)



The Scream, Edvard Munch (1893)
The Scream Because Girl Scout Cookies are Here (2010)



There are four more days of vacation to go. Iz and I stayed in our pajamas for most of the day and had a wonderful time. And, today, it was good to feel like I was almost seven years old again. ♥