I am not a big fan of golf and specifically Golf Courses. Golf courses are basically a mono-culture of grass maintained with a lot of chemicals and water. They are a very artificial environment that only looks natural – especially in California which is naturally a dry landscape. There are times, though, – late evening, say – when they can be magical.
I am blown away that today Barrack Obama and Michele Obama, or as it said on the official program – The President & First Lady Michelle Obama – had a State Dinner. It brings tears to my eyes.
Years ago I heard a speech given by Pat Schroeder, then the US Representative from Colorado’s First District. In the speech, she talked about taking some sort of government trip to India aboard an Air Force plane. The Air Force, sort as a RF according to Schroeder, sent along a ground crew composed of women and racial minorities. Schroeder talked about how the diversified and hard working (no George Bushes at Yale there) crew impressed the Indians.
The Indians saw the diversity as a strength that only the United States had. It was what, in their eyes (and mine), made this a great country. And now, years later, the Obama Administration’s first State Dinner is to honor India and it was a showcase of diversity. Starting at the top!
And, Wow!, did the Obama look like they were having fun.
Dr. Manmohan Singh, the Prime Minister of India and his wife Ms. Gursharan Kaur were there, of course; along with expected guests such as Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Deepak Chopra and his wife Rita Chopra, and Secretary of the Department of Energy Steven Chu and his wife.
Steven Spielberg should be expected, I guess, but Alfre Woodard (I’ve been in love with Alfre ever since Passion Fish) with a black guy named Blair Underwood is a surprise, and I had to Google Jhumpa Lahiri and Alberto Vourvoulias to find out she is an American Indian author and he, her husband, is the editor of the nation’s oldest Spanish language newspaper. Of course, Colin Powell and his wife, Alma Powell were there. And Katie Couric and Obama’s sister, Dr. Maya Soetoro-Ng with her husband, and Mrs. Marian Robinson. Think about that, a white woman who probably helped Obama get elected just by doing her job; a half Indonesian woman teacher; and a black woman from Chicago’s south-side. These were people who were invisible when I was growing up.
Maybe the important things aren’t the bogged down Healthcare Bill, or Afghanistan, but the fact that Obama is changing what it means to be an American. No wonder the birthers are going nuts.
OK…rains. California is one of those unusual places (there are others – the Succulent Karoo – isn't that a great name – in South Africa , the Mediterranean Sahara, parts of the Chilean coast to name some I know ) that have winter rains. That means winter is the growing season and summer is the dormant season. Winter is when the hills are green and summer is when they are straw brown or, as we like to say, golden. Having lived here my whole life, it seems normal, but I have been assured that it isn't.
Anyway, we had a huge (5") rain a couple of weeks ago and a light rain yesterday, so, in the grasslands around the Bay Area, all the natives are starting to come back to life. The first thing to show is the grass that is starting to peak through last year's dead grass.
I love the summers in California but late in the fall, when and if the rains come, the hills have a vibrancy and lushness – it is a time of coming back to life.
(I am sure that the following applies to men as well as women; but that is not where my attention naturally focuses, so I will keep this post about the women.)
Where ever I have been, there are striking, spectacular women. And in every case I can think of, the women knew it. It is not that these women are more beautiful – they aren't – but they are more attractive. In some strange way, they are more attractive because they are willing to be more attractive. Willing to be seen. Willing to strut.
In some places, like Rome, all the women seem to fall into that category, in other places, like China, most don't.
It is not what they wear, it is how they wear it. I remember watching a beautiful Norteamericana, in Guatemala, try on a huipil that was worn by a striking, young Guatemalan woman. The Norteamericana looked ridiculous but I know why she wanted to try on the huipil – it looked so great on the Guatemalan.
But knowing all of this did not prepare me for the photo essay by Hans Silvester of the Surma and Mursi people in Ethiopia. Using mud, leaves, seed pods, and other natural adornments, the women look like they should be on a catwalk.
The slide show, below, shows both men and women (or, boys and girls) and it is hard to always tell which is which. The show starts slow but by image 14, or so, I was hooked. As Joe Bob used to say "Check it out."Tribus de L'OMO / Hans Silvester