Migratory Birds Fly North - and So do I
Copyright Vladimir Kagan May 27, 2014
DAFFODIL DAYS ON NANTUCKET
After a long cloistered winter - housebound and often without access to the outside world for weeks on end, Nantucketers get itchy. By the end of April, they are in need of some diversion. The Chamber of Commerce came up with a solution: the daffodils are in full bloom, it is a rite of spring, let’s celebrate! They decreed that on the last weekend of the month, rain or shine, year after year, was to be a holiday and they called it “Daffodil Days”. In truth, there is no sign of spring except for the “daffies”… the trees are bare and it can often be downright chilly. In the twenty years that I’ve participated, it snowed once and had been marred by rain on several occasions. And so it came to pass, that this year it rained. But the daffodils flourished and the people came dressed as daffodils and wore yellow in commemoration of the yellow tuber.
my granddaughter Mallory and Chris Eitel my "Wing Man" looking into my Model T
Special events are created to celebrate the weekend. A classic car parade, followed by feasting on the backs of the car called a “tailgate picnic”. These elaborate tailgate picnics are judged by judges… not for their tastiness but for their cleverness in celebration of the daffodil. If you follow in the judge’s footsteps, you might be able to sneak a dip into other peoples’ picnic and steal a morsel or two….
P.S. There was no picnic this year - rained out!
my little buggy - no time to decorate - but faithfully in the parade every year for 20 years
There is also a flower show organized by the garden club ladies. This is a particular nice event on a rainy day as it is held indoors. Restaurants are open and everyone is happy to see and be seen so early in the season.
"Daffies" at the flower show
paper daffodils made by the elimentary school children
This annual rite of spring, however, is short lived; after the cars and tourists have gone, Nantucket recoils into its winter slumber for another two months.
my pond and trees are barren except for a few miniature daffies breaking through the ground
+++++++++
NEW YORK’S SECOND CITY SYNDROME
New York has become a “Second City” not because of its outrageous new mayor, but because it is doing its darnedest to become the art capital of the world. Admittedly Christies and Sotheby’s sell a lot of art and buyers from around the world flock there each spring for a feeding frenzy.
New York’s art dealers have smartened-up and also want a piece of this action: Why not an Art Basel New York? Miami has successfully kidnapped the genre, why not New York? Along with dozens of art events, tent shows, recycled vacant real estate, New York is vying for its rightful place in the art world.
For the design world, we have had ICFF (International Contemporary Furnishing Fair) for 21 years. But like the Milan Salone Di Mobile, what happens off-site is often more important than the events inside of the Javits Center. Collective2 Design Fair, is in its second year and is the brainchild of Steven Lerner, a New York based architect and interior designer, turn design impresario. He has temporarily transformed the cavernous ground floor of the once magnificent, but now obsolete Moynihan Post Office building and turned it into a hip design showcase. Not to long ago it was where all the mail was sorted by hand. The building has a grander future: it is to be converted into the NEW Pennsylvania Railroad Station.
from scrolls to screens to chicken coops - it was a darn good show
Opening night at Collective2 was so crowded you couldn’t see the exhibit. (New Yorkers are see and be seen people). This event is a great alternative to Design Miami for those not wanting to deal with the crowds and nightmarish struggle for hotels, places to eat and taxis…. Art Basil Miami was still better than its New York counterpart, but that won’t be for long… Basel in Switzerland still trumps them all, but if you love New York, you’ll love the new art scene.
Follow my migratory flight path across the ocean to Italy and Switzerland in my next post!