17.Seattle 10th to 16th April

An impressive number of personalities visited Seattle last weekend.
First and foremost, myself and Judith. At our reception at the airport Sam and Josie greeted us with a short speech. 'Welcome', they said, 'your plane was early'.
After we exchanged hugs and kisses (which none of the other VIPs got), and evaded the reporters and photographers (which none of the other VIPs did), we were driven past the crowds to the Roskin's official residence.
The Dalai Lama and Archbishop Desmond Tutu were also in town.

We saw Miriam and Aaron several times. A bright, lively and well-behaved boy. He thanked us both immediately when he received his 'Thomas' engine. Possibly Miriam had prepared him? I'm not sure, and I forgot to ask... Miriam gave us a delicious meal and showed us her re-modeled garage that will become Aaron's play-room.

For the first time I heard that several people were reading my blog. So I'm not 'a voice calling in the wilderness' - which is a Christian distortion of the OT verse! Nobody has ever sent me an email comment...

We attended an excellent illustrated talk on Bernini by Rebecca Albiani at the Frye Art Museum. During questions she confirmed, that the identity of Bernini's model for St Theresa in the 'ecstasy' sculpture is not known. It is relevant to my talk on medical aspects of art.

Sam took me to 3 of professor Bridgman's classes on Tucidides at the University. Very interesting - he mentioned the six days war as an example of a just war in response to a real threat. I'll probably get Michael Walzer's book on just and unjust wars.

Sam also took me to a lecture in his Forestry course. Our visit had caused him to decide to miss a weekend field trip, which was apparently very successful. We had urged him to go - Josie would have coped.
The slide talk was on the aftermath of the Mount St Helen's eruption. Surprisingly, plants and animals survived and regenerated - the ash is, of course, very fertile. I learnt two irrelevant facts: that 'snags' are dead tree trunks that have remained erect - not just lesions in nylon stockings; and that decapitating a conifer permanently stops its upward growth.
But the lecture consisted of qualitative observations, with beautiful slides. We were given no quantitative data, and I'm not sure of the practical conclusions: although such events are rare, can one influence the recovery of a damaged area? And when wood is precious, can these 'snags' be utilized?

Another highlight was a visit to the exhibition 'Roman art from the Louvre' at the Seattle Art Museum. Not only was the material superb, but the explanations were excellent, both the audio set and the labels - far superior to the quality at the British Museum and the Wellcome. From the early emperors to citizens, and slaves, from architecture to military life, leisure and religion - I learnt a lot. But then it's just over 50 years since we visited the Louvre - it's on our list.
They display one Fayoum-style mummy portrait. Curiously, they say it is painted in tempera, whereas I understood that they were painted in encaustic wax - and the vivid colours would seem to support this. There are no email addresses in the catalogue, and I presume that they are right.

We visited Charles and Jonis Davis and some of their family in their newly and brilliantly remodeled house. A very enjoyable evening.

Sam took us to the Wednesday morning weekly get-together at the nearby cafe. A pleasant and interesting bunch of men - they do not exclude women but presumably somebody has to do the housework. Tom Luce was there - his wife was just about to have surgery to the base of her thumb.
My hearing aids amplify all - so the conversation was not entirely easy. I'd have to think carefully whether to go again.

In any case, the long flights and considerable jet-lag are a very considerable deterrent to going again all the way to Seattle. My earlier return home was a redeeming feature. The last 4 days have more or less restored me to UK time, so that I can start to prepare my next [and last] slide talk - that was the main reason for my return.
Missing the Seder [Passover ceremony] was an added bonus. For years, I have refused to recite the intolerant vindictive prayer, asking God to 'pour his wrath on those who do not recognize him'. I have gradual become more agnostic, and I skipped the ceremony completely last year. It was held in one of the rooms at the hotel in Petra, organized by the few Jewish participants in the ancient water conference. Judith enjoyed it.

The Seder commemorates a fiction, that is based on Biblical history which was only invented and added during the Jewish exile in Babylon. The Egyptians did not keep slaves - apart from prisoners of war. And at the time of the Exodus, Sinai and Canaan were under firm Egyptian control - with a string of military forts along the Israelites' alleged route. So the Israelites could not have 'escaped'. Not even a tiny fraction of 600,000 men, plus families, could have survived 40 years of wandering in the wilderness, etc, etc.
It follows, that the events at mount Sinai are also fictitious, and there is really no prohibition against adultery, or the other commandments. Politicians who lie, and steal, and send their citizens to die in [illegal] wars, and fornicate - they know all this already.

Sam's and Josie's hospitality was faultless. I had a most pleasant 6 days there, and my current freedom is another bonus, especially playing the radio at full volume.

But all good things have to come to an end - except sausages, which come to 2 ends.