Icy art

As The Times sometimes travel writer, I receive all kinds of interesting press releases from around the world.

One that arrived in my box this morning from Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley was especially intriguing.

It touts Canadian artist Gordon Halloran’s ground-breaking artwork "Museum of Modern Ice: "Paintings Below Zero."

Halloran, the release says, first developed his idea of painting on ice in the early ’90s. "I’ve always loved the way ice freezes, moves and forms," the artist said.

The paintings in Chicago’s Millennium Park are installed on an ice wall measuring 95-feet by 12 feet.

One side, visible from Michigan Avenue, echoes the city’s skyline.

The other is full of color, complexity and variety.

"... suggesting the living, natural world: mysterious and sensuous — is meant to be interactive and seen in close proximity. Its surface lit at night becomes an ornament against the winter sky. Halloran’s enormous ice wall evokes ‘a glacial wall in its final stages of movement towards collapse into the ocean,’" says the press release.

We must regret, but if you in the Chicago area and have a chance check it out, share your experience with us.

For more info: www.choosechicago.com/ice.

I'll be home for Christmas

Husband Paul L. Schuetze’s white lighted angles are flying from the trunks of the oak trees that march like soldiers down our driveway on the Old Mooringsport Road, that I affectionately refer to in this blog as "The Road."

The angels and the other displays are his installation and I must say are spectacular. (Traditionally, he puts it all out, the day after Thanksgiving.)

They welcome me with flair all of December as I turn in that driveway usually well after sunset. (He has a nativity scene on the lawn, Santa and his reindeer taking off from the roof and cascading lights dripping from the roof line.)

Even when I am feeling droopy after a long day at my desk, the angels remind me what the season is all about. They cheer me and give me a warm feeling.

Paul and I took a ride last night around the North Highland neighborhood where I walk every morning.
Many homeowners in that area have brightened the streets with lighted displays.

The resident at the northwest corner of Old Mooringsport and Poleman Road sets the pace, with galloping reindeer, a snow globe, a chorus of angels and lights all over his house. (We always look forward to his elaborate displays that light up The Road.)

Here, there and yonder down that street are an assortment of outdoor scenes, including one right across the street, that touts a manger scene and a cross and a banner proclaiming, "Peace on earth."

At one home, there is a blow-up tiger, grinch and a Santa peeking out a door.

One home, has sections "roped off" with multicolored lights and bears singing Christmas carols.
Interesting note: this year, several houses used all blue lights, rather than multi or white.

At Dodd and Cornell, a corner lawn is alive with lights. With a nativity scene, angles trumpeting. Three trees on a corner feature off and one, blue, red and green lights, but all over the lawn, are traditionally-lighted trees.

And, so it goes on The Road ... and beyond.

I hope your home is lit with lights, yes, but also with love, warmth and many family traditions.

Happy Holidays!

Christmas time in the city

I love John and Katie Koellen’s Earthereal Restaurant & Bakery for its delicious vegetarian dishes, with the home-made soup and gazpacho among the very short list of my favorite things in this world. (Everything is prepared fresh from scratch here, so the salads are crisp and fresh, the soup good and hot, the specials unusual ... like the black eye pea soup I sampled on my last trip.)

It is so warm in there and cozy and such a retreat on a busy street and in a busy world. I like that it is local. And that you see such a diverse group of diners.

But always, it is fun to stop by during the holidays as I did one day last week.

It is filled with the most whimsical and quaint gingerbread houses that Katie creates and people can’t resist buying and taking home.

They look wonderfully hme-made as though my mom or your mom made them. I guess that I am saying they don't have a "don't-touch-me-perfect" stance.
I love to see them.

And, the heart healthy cookies, bread and breakfast confections all packaged up in the most creative way for gift giving.

Regular customers receive a present as they depart out the back or front door. This year, it is a ruler made from recycled polystyrene. "The polystyrene in this ruler equals the weight of 3.6 foam coffee cups. Please help us recycle!" it said.

But what we relish was the bookmark tucked into the envelope. On ivory paper with black print, it says: "Hope is the thing with feathers that perches in the soul. And sings the tune without the words, and never stops at all." Emily Dickinson.

Words to help us live by. It goes up on my desk!

... We also like artist Susan Branch’s e-mail advice:

"The Best Gifts are tied with Heartstrings:"

"The gift of Enthusiasm: "When you go out shopping, wear something festive for the season — a pin or a bright scarf or hat. Smile at everyone, spread sunshine, do you part — be an elf!

"The Gift of Fun: ... Come in cold & frosty to something hot from the stove.

"The Gift of Yourself: Your time can be a most precious gift — a phone call or letter — cook a lovely dinner, set a pretty table, & invite good friends.

"The Gift of Faith: Before you go to bed on Dec. 31, join hands, say a prayer & make a wish for the coming year."

Happy holidays to all of you, too!

If you have any special holiday memories to share, please send them my way.

Flowery talk

Photos by Maggie Martin/The Times

Beautiful flowers, great food and an eclectic crowd of friends and family who just have a joyous time. (Guests also have responsibilities!)

Those are the ingredients for a successful party any time, anywhere.

And, Stafford and Marianne Comegys' holiday celebration is always the perfect combination.

They host it in their Line Avenue home, the outside glittering with lights, the inside warm with conversation, food by Cotton Boll and Bella Fresca and flowers by Prentis Brown. And, always, Alex Harris and Alex Jr., serving the drinks.

The Comegys are such congenial hosts, and on Saturday, guests ... several just back from fabulous trips around the world ... visited in the dining room, down the halls and in the formal living room, where harpist was adding soft music to the mix.

As always, Brown's creative arrangements ... different each year ... turn the home into a garden. This years edition were a little more contemporary and stunning.

So I am sharing photos of the flowers on the buffet table in the formal dining room.

To see more, including beribboned presents of flowers, go to http://www.shreveporttimes.com/ and click on the photo galleries.

... The John Knight Christmas Party for First Presbyterian Church of Shreveport members was bittersweet this year.

For as long as we can remember in our 38 years of marriage , husband Paul L. Schuetze, and I have attended the pot luck gathering at the South Highlands home of the late John Knight and his wife, Annette. It is a wonderful Christmas memory for us.

John died in the fall after a short bout, with an aggressive bout with cancer.

While he was dying, John remembered the party and how very special it is to all of us. He asked Annette to host it one last time.

She and their daughter, Julia Knight, did. In memory of John.

So we gathered there on Sunday, bringing lasagna, salads, and desserts.

We visited. We sipped wine and cold drinks.

We ate.

And, following a long time tradition, we sang Christmas carols, ending with "Silent Night," as we have always done.

We departed with special memories. (Paul remembered that one holiday season, we picked up Paul's parents who flew in from Washington, D.C., skimming over from the airport to the party.

And, sad, too, because, really another tradition has come to an end.

Thanks, Annette and Julia ... and John. Thanks for memories that can never be bought. They can only be given to us.

The envelope, please

There was sustained applause ... and then singing of "Jesus Loves Me" ... Sunday when the ballots were counted and beloved interim minister Bob Shelton announced that the congregation at First Presbyterian Church of Shreveport had accepted the call for a new minister.

Search committee chairman, attorney Frank Dodson, initially revealed his name.

The envelope, please: the Rev. Pen Peery, now associate pastor of the Second Presbyterian Church, Richmond, Va.

And the shocker: Pen is 30 years old. For someone old enough to be at least his grandmother, that sounds awfully young to me.

But not to be alarmed. Although one Presbyterian seminary official said as much when he told Dodson that the age might be a stretch for the congregation of First Pres, he did go on to highly recommend that the committee consider him.

Theodore J. Wardlaw, president of Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminar called Pen "absolutely one of the finest young pastors in the Presbyterian Church in the USA, with a maturity that belies his youth."

"He ... will bring new energy and inspiration to your congregation, to Shreveport, and the greater church which we all seek to serve," promised Wardlaw.

Pen and wife Lindsey have one son, Wells, one-year-old.

The two met as undergraduates at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, where Pen graduated with a bachelor's degree in political science!

Among Pen's comments on the church and how it worships Jesus Christ: "It is exceedingly important to remember to whom we belong and to whom the church belongs — not to a particular ideology, or issue, or manifestation of fear — but to Jesus Christ, who claims us through the power of the cross."

Pen’s first official day at First Pres is the first Sunday of Lent — Feb. 10.

Welcome, Pen, to First Pres and to Shreveport.

We look forward to hearing you preach and to seeing you out and about.

See ya!

Well, guys, I am off for a few days...until Monday.

Off to clean my house and get ready for the holidays.

... to decorate my Christmas tree with ornaments collected from my childhood through today.

... to put out on the gate the welcome sign that Dr. Harry Pinkofsky and his wife/my friend, Barbara Ruane, who died last year, gave me so many holidays ago.

...to find a spot for the wonderful folk art nativity scene on pink burlap that my mother, the late Sabra B. Martin, stitched up and that brings back so many special memories of her. She had very little money, but always made the season special for me, my dad, the late Robert C. Martin Jr. and my sister, the late Deborah J. Martin Cole

... and to place the many nativity scenes. I don't know how I wound up with so many, but they include: The very special family one that mother pulled together for us via layaway... the more unusual one a Revel artist who stayed in our home sold to Paul and me ... The very small, but exquisite one I bought from a local artist. Each has a traditional spot in our country home.

... and to arrange a wonderful Victorian Christmas book that my grandmother gave me. And that is the centerpiece on a Texas primitive in the entry.

... and to marvel over all the Santas husband Paul L. Schuetze has bought for me at Arkansas craft fairs.

Goodness, is Christmas made of many memories or what.

See you on this blog Monday.

Or at one of the many holiday parties that fill the social calendar from Wednesday through Sunday.

Surely, I will see you at some of them.

"Souful Santa" opens at museum

Maggie Martin/The Times

Dr. Daryl Mitchell’s "Soulful Santa" collection began 14 years ago.

It all started when son Scott, now 19, came in and saw him with a pair of black papier mache Santa Clauses.

Scott was very upset.

"He said, "Santa Claus is not black. He is white,’" recalled Mitchell.

"He was very upset," added Mitchell.

Even as his father tried to explain to him that Santa was a symbol, that he can be any color, Scott said, "No. No. No."

So, Mitchell went about righting the misconception.

Today he has 500 pieces in his collection of ornaments, figurines, wall hangings, animated objects, Christmas trees and stocking hangers. (Where in the world does he store all this?)

An exhibit of the collection opened Thursday at Southern Univeristy Museum-Metro Center, 610 Texas St., with a reception presided over by museum chief Carolyn Coatney. It will be up through Dec. 21.

"This is the third time we have shown the collection," said Coatney. "We have more patrons when it is up than at any other time."

It is spectacular. And spectacularly displayed.

These Santas will delight people of all ages. They dance, swim, fish, ride, rock, snooze, snow ski and water ski. There is even a telephone Santa that Mitchell is particularly proud of.

A giant blow-up Santa greets you at the museum entrance.

With Mitchell at the opening was son Scott who started it all, son Jordan and wife Yvonne. (They are, in the photo above: Scott, Jordan Yvonne and Daryl Mitchell.)

As part of the program, Mitchell read a poem dealing with whether or not there is a black Santa.

In it, the author "talks" to Santa, and finds that Santa is everywhere and makes himself available in all colors and sizes. He even visits homes without a chimney. He can fit himself in keyholes.

Why, after all, he is Santa to all of us.

To see more "Soulful Santa" opening photos go to http://www.shreveporttimes.com/ and check out the "Black Santa Claus Collection Opening."