The Idiots not only travel slowly, they are slow in reporting on their adventures. They arrived at their Arizona winter home a couple of weeks ago, but they still want to share some photos and stories from their journey south. So… hoping that late is better than never…
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Finding Beauty in the absurd…
As Idiot He types, He’s looking out at a favorite garden visitor – an Anna’s Hummingbird. They are such beauties – “flying gems” of iridescent magenta, green, and yellow. But anyone who has spent time with hummingbirds knows that these small beautiful birds have another side. They are fierce! They stand their ground and it’s not unusual to see them drive away birds many times their size… which puts the Idiots in mind of another beautiful, fierce Anna.
Idiots Walk in Beauty is intended as a reflection on Beauty in its many forms and many definitions. The Idiots are dedicating this journal to a mentor who expanded their horizons and helped them see beauty in unexpected places. Anna Zilboorg is an inspirational teacher, a mentor, and a friend. Fifty years ago she introduced them to the uniquely-Russian sensibility that finds humor in the darkest and most absurd circumstances. War and Peace is a VERY funny book! More recently, Anna provided them a window into the beauty of creation through knitting – check out Anna’s books on Amazon, including “Knitting for Anarchists.”
The Idiots rarely get to see her, but she is never far from their thoughts – especially as they wander the world in their perapatetic search of beauty in all its forms.
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Finding Beauty through inaction…
Idiot He used to plan their trips. Really plan. Some might say over-plan. On one legendary five week trip in the early 80’s – pre-internet, pre-cell phone – the Idiot family of four traveled over 5000 miles and the itinerary included reservations for every night… mileage to be covered each day… major “must-do” activities and minor “may-do” activities, each with allotted time slots. It was exhausting. The Idiot family needed a vacation after that “vacation.”
As their Idiot Travel philosophy developed, they learned that many of the best experiences and best stories came from the spaces between the itinerary listings. They began to build in more and more “down time” to allow life to make its way into their travels. This progressed to ever-longer blank spaces in their itineraries. Last year, one whole week simply read “Kodachrome Basin State Park: camping reservations made: no phone or internet.”
Idiots Walk in Beauty took this “slow travel” concept to a new level. The itinerary read:
Leave Minnesota when ready
Head west and south
Spend some time in south-central Utah
Get to Green Valley, Arizona eventually.
It took them three weeks
The Idiots arrived in Escalante, Utah thinking they would stay two or three days. They liked it there. They stayed 10 days.
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Finding Beauty in community pride…
The Idiots stumbled on the information that the tiny, remote town of Escalante, Utah hosts a plein air art festival in late September each year. Plein air painting is done in the outdoors, usually quite quickly. Expressionism grew out of the plein air painting of the 19th century. The play of light and weather across the complex landscapes of Utah canyon country provides infinite opportunities for artistic expression.
The town is proud of how this little festival has grown over 14 years. There is beauty in that sense of community. This year more than 100 artists participated in the competition. Over 200 works of art were entered in the competition. Everyone – from infants and school children to gray hairs – turned out to judge the art and enjoy the festivities. Walking, biking, and driving around the area, it was common to see artists working in all sorts of media capturing the local beauty.
The Idiots planned minimal participation. Idiot She signed up for one workshop to expand her watercolor skills. But then they found there would be an introduction to alcohol inks a couple days later and Idiot He was interested… so they stayed a couple more days. And then the competition entries were to be displayed and honors awarded the next weekend… and artists would be selling their works... and there would be food and music… and there were numerous demonstrations… and somehow 10 days just slid by.
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Seeking beauty in artistic expression
One morning the Idiots met a small group at the town park and joined a car caravan. Leaving the pavement on a dirt track called Smoky Mountain Road, they had no hint of a destination. After some time, the Beast joined a row of cars lined up on the verge and Peggy Trigg set up her easel and equipment for her demonstration “Bring the Landscape to Life.” Over a period of two hours she demonstrated how an artist with vision and skill can translate the beauty of a wide spot on a country road into a joyful expression of human spirit.
At the end of the two hours, Peggy said she would do some final touches back at the studio… and that since she wasn’t sure the demo painting would work out, she brought a couple more pictures to show us. Idiot He thought to himself “Sure… plein air… painting fast… but now we’ll see what the artists really do… weeks in the studio…”
He asked Peggy how long she’d worked on the two paintings in her hands. “Well,” she said, “ I did this one yesterday and this one the day before!”
