Back from the Land of 10,000 Lakes

My grandma's family home.  Photo: Elizabeth Urbach

We arrived back in California on Saturday afternoon, and went right into Memorial Day, with a block party in my sister's neighborhood, then laundry and re-stocking the fridge today, and I'm still not totally back on California time!  We'll see how that works when I go back to work tomorrow ...

Kitzville School, where my grandma attended.
Photo: Elizabeth Urbach

While I was gone we had a heat wave here in California, and we must have brought some California weather to Minnesota because, apart from a chilly rainy day the first day we were there, it was sunny and really warm the entire time.  Beautiful weather for my grandmother's funeral, which was nice.  Got to take a drive around town with my great uncle seeing a bunch of historic places, which I do remember doing the last time or two we were there when my grandma was alive, but it was different this time.  Before, we were always tagging along on her visit, we were only there to accompany her and make sure she was o.k., and although we were seeing family, we only ever saw them on these types of occasions; she was the one who had a relationship with them, and we were kind of the proverbial "third wheel" in the equation.

Another Titanic event to attend!

View of the Rose Garden from June 2004.

Although the majority of Titanic commemorative events happened last month, on or around the actual anniversary of the sinking, there are still a few here and there, providing more opportunities for wearing the costumes that everyone worked so diligently to complete.  The next one on the calendar for the San Jose area is the South Bay Ladies' Tea Guild's Titanic Survivor's Reunion Picnic.  Here are the details:

Titanic Survivors’ Reunion Tea: Imagine yourself as someone who might have been a passenger on the Titanic, and survived the tragic sinking.  We'll get together for a picnic to celebrate our survival and remember those who were lost.  Gentlemen and older children welcome!
Date: Saturday, May 12, 2012.
Location: San Jose Municipal Rose Garden (near the Rosicrucian Museum)
Cost: $25 per person
Suggested Costume: day or dressy afternoon dress, 1900 through 1915, all classes.

Working on a Titanic costume project.

ca. 1911 day dress

Well, as everyone around here knows, this Sunday marks the 100th year since the tragic sinking of the Titanic, and I'm planning to attend some of the memorial events in the Bay Area.  While the Titanic dinner sounds fabulous, it's way out of my budget, and I didn't have anything to wear to the Titanic Ball last weekend.  A few friends from my costume guild are meeting for tea at a local tea room, and going to see the 3-D version of James Cameron's "Titanic" immediately afterwards.  I don't plan to join them for the movie, because 3-D movies always give me headaches, but I'll be there for tea!  That means a costume from 1912 ...

my vintage "pneumonia blouse"

I made a ca. 1911 shirtwaist and skirt for the California Woman's Suffrage Centennial last fall, so if I don't get anything else made, I can wear that.  I also have a 1912-ish blue lingerie gown that a friend made and passed on to me when she could no longer wear it, and it's just barely big enough (if I pull my corset laces tight!), but I need to put the hem up so I don't trip.  I've also been working on a ca. 1910-ish linen skirt and jacket, and I have a vintage ca. 1912 lingerie blouse that would be perfect with them.  However, the skirt is in the Edwardian high-waist style and I discovered that I don't have the right materials to make the fitted under-waistband that will keep the skirt waist at its proper position.  I haven't even cut the jacket out yet, and the vintage blouse is damaged and needs restoration, including the removal of rust stains.

Then, on top of that, I need the accessories, in particular the hat and hairstyle.  I have white stockings and T-strap pumps that will do, as well as vintage (1950s) elbow-length gloves and a modern handbag that sort of looks Edwardian, but I just have no imagination when it comes to trimming hats.  My hair, while it's very long, is also thin and fine, and won't hold a curl or wave even if I coat my hair with products and sleep in curlers, and it disappears to nothing when I pin it up.  So much for a full, luxurious, Gibson Girl marcel-wave hairstyle!  

September 11: memorial events in the Bay Area

from AntiqueClipArt.com

Everyone over the age of 15 remembers the horrific events of September 11, 2001.  The United States was affected in a way we have not been since the bombing of Pearl Harbor, but the attack that happened 10 years ago came from an enemy we were not actively at war with, and for religious, more than political, reasons.  There are many lessons that we are still learning from the events of September 11th, and while the 10-year anniversary marks a time period that has seen some advances in security, there is still a long way to go in the cause of safety and freedom.

Many people blame all religions for the war, but the real culprit is selfishness, the devaluing of human life, and the desire for power at all cost, which can be expressed through atheism as well as organized (or dis-organized) religion.  Many people also blame God for the tragedy, but if you or I went out and robbed a bank today, would we have the right to blame it on God and weasel out of taking responsibility for our own actions?  God has given everyone the same choice; it's the ultimate "equal opportunity."

from http://clipart.edigg.com

Every minute of every day, we all face the same choice again and again: to know what is good and to do it, or to have it our own way.  We are in the middle of a world where the overwhelming majority choose their own way instead of the right way, and this is the anniversary of one dramatic, wide-reaching consequence, which has sucked innocent people into its whirlpool of torment.  God allows us our own way, but He also allows the natural consequences to occur because He is fair.  He is not sitting up on a cloud with a thunderbolt in His hand, just waiting to punish people.