I was choked up and teary-eyed by so much in the Woody exhibits. It's hard for me to explain how much he means to me.
There are certain historical figures that I call "my great heroes," because I can't find a better expression. These are people who I feel close to in a spiritual way. That word, spiritual, often implies religion and some kind of belief in an immortality, but, as wmtc readers know, I am an atheist and completely irreligious. For me the word means feeling part of something larger than oneself -- of feeling, finding, needing a deep purpose and meaning in one's life.
So when I say someone is my great hero, it isn't merely that I admire them, although obviously I do. It's that I actually feel they are part of me, that their life helps me and guides me. One of those people is Joni Mitchell. And one of them is Woody Guthrie.
Allan and I toured the exhibits together today, and were often laughing or shaking our heads in awe together. I sensed that Allan had the same reaction in the Dylan Center that I had in the Woody Center: being so moved that it is nearly overwhelming. And while I don't think of Bob Dylan in the very personal way that I think of Joni or Woody, I have been listening to his music deeply for 50 years, and have always been in awe of his outsized talents.
A more practical and (maybe) less emotional review tomorrow.
13 comments:
Once again, despite marking your emails as Not Spam, gmail has been sticking them in Spam. At least now I go check to find them.
I would never have thought of visiting Tulsa. A childhood best friend lived there for a number of years when her husband was teaching at the university there, and she had nothing nice to say about it. But after reading this post, I may reconsider. (I also have never been to KC or St Louis...) Woody Guthrie was special for me also---not to the same depth as you, but I clearly recall reading Bound for Glory and being deeply moved by it.
I assume you've seen the Bob Dylan movie and am wondering what you thought of the portrayal of Guthrie and Dylan and their relationship.
We have seen many Dylan movies, but assuming you're talking about A Complete Unknown, no, we have not seen it. Allan hates fictionalized biopics. We'll probably see it at some point, but aren't too keen. We loved both the Scorsese Dylan movies, though -- the documentary, and the crazy mostly-fiction fake documentary.
I find most cities are fun to visit for a day or two. On our baseball trips, we had great times in Detroit, Cleveland, Pittsburgh -- not hot tourist destinations, but we hit specific sites and really loved them. Tulsa is definitely worth visiting for Woody fans and Dylan fans, and doing a few other things while you're here. Living here is a completely different equation. Way back when, we had a similar conversation about Buffalo. :)
Amy, I forgot to mention: my "there are new posts on wmtc" emails are also going to spam! I've been clicking on "not spam" but I find the posts there every day.
If/when you do watch A Complete Unknown, I'll be interested in your thoughts.
Your memory is incredible! I don't remember discussing Buffalo. I don't think we have much interest in visiting most American cities like Tulsa or Detroit. I love visiting European cities, but I'd have to have a specific reason to go to most US cities---like a friend or relative lives there or a particular site intrigues us. On the other hand, I did love seeing Seattle and Chicago. And Toronto and Vancouver (though not US cities so that made them more intriguing). So maybe we should be more open-minded!
How bizarre. I have marked them as Not Spam, I've been sure to add the wmtc email address as a contact, and yet they are still going to Spam. I think I will now create a filter and see if that works. But what's really odd is that although your new post emails go to Spam, the email notifications of your responses to my comments go right to my Inbox.
Amy, I'm getting the same thing. I think Gmail is having issues. I don't bother trying to fix it, I just check spam regularly. Let me know if you come up with a workaround.
Re visiting US cities, we've always had a specific reason for being in those towns, usually baseball. We would never have planned a trip to any of those cities if not for baseball. Then I will plan one other fun or interesting thing to do when we're there, two at most, then on to the next city.
We've experienced so many different things that way. Some really special and memorable things, like Fallingwater (game in Pittsburgh) or the Diego Rivera murals (Detroit), some just there, like the Rock & Roll HoF. Then we're off to the next city. It's a good way to see different parts of the country, too. But I love road trips, and IIRC, you do not. I also really don't mind air travel at all. It's all part of the fun for me.
We drive over three days between MA and FL and then back again three months later. I do NOT enjoy that, but it's all about getting to our destination (with two cats in the car), not about sightseeing. I have tried to convince Harvey to rent an RV, take the cats, and go see more of what's in between the coasts, but since I wouldn't drive it and he isn't interested in driving a larger vehicle, it's a no go. Taking our own car might appeal to him somewhat more, but to do the trip I have in mind would take several weeks, maybe a month, and I won't leave the cats behind for that long.
I love RV travel (no surprise there) and fantasize about having a giant bus-sized motorhome to drive around sightseeting North America. *sigh* We have had two RV vacation rentals -- one in Alaska and one in Northern Ontario, with Diego. They are not at all difficult to drive.
You might consider a compromise where you sightsee along the way, but not try to see everything -- maybe for two weeks, and see how you like it. If you had an RV, could you bring the cats?
Yes, we would bring the cats! And avoid hotels. But as Harvey gets older, it's even less likely this will appeal to him. I am not even sure we will want to drive to Florida next winter, which will mean flying with the cats and shipping our car.
I get that. Allan is also less enthused about travel as we get older. Fortunately he still lets me drag him along, then he ends up really enjoying himself. How long that will last... who can say. :)
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