#ThursdayDoors: Young lady with wiener dog

August 11, 2016August 11, 2016JT Twissel 25 Comments

Somehow I think this soon-to-be posh stationary store is targeting a shorter clientele than the tall young lady with the wiener dog, don’t you? When I first moved to this area, Walnut Creek was a sleepy mid-sized town built over farmland previously used for. . . yup, you got it. Growing nuts. Hey, it’s California – what did you expect? Now it’s almost a city.

Last month I posted pictures of an outdoor stage being readied for a show. Well, guess what? My friend and I walked over one Sunday and saw the matinee.

Moments before the show.

On a sizzling day in bright sunshine, you have to stretch your imagination because the climatic scene takes place late at night. The show, Murder on the Nile by Agatha Christie, is a whodunit set entirely on the deck on a cruise ship (the audience is actually sitting in the Nile). Between scenes we were asked by the director to pretend it was lights out as they played Egyptian music and moved props around the stage.

They handled the issue of intermission by having the character who’d just been shot leap to his feet and yell “Intermission!”

According to the director’s note, the play was almost blacklisted in London. The reason: the cast included a maid and the Ministry of Labour objected. It’s hard to imagine an Agatha Christie play being offensive to anyone, isn’t it?

Check out other ThursdayDoors over at Norm Frampton’s place.

ThursdayDoors: Antler Art

July 21, 2016July 21, 2016JT Twissel 25 Comments

We ran into this gate on one of our many road trips from California to Utah. It’s decorated with sun-bleached antlers formerly belonging to deer and elk. Antler art is huge in the West and especially in eastern Nevada. I believe these gates lead to a camping ground because in the distance we could see Wheeler Peak, the highest mountain in Great Basin, a national park which runs along the Nevada and Utah border.

We had just passed Major’s Place, one of the last places to get a beer before heading into the Mormon stronghold of Utah.

This is the town of Major’s Place – just one building which is of course a bar.

As you can see the antler theme prevails here as well. It’s easy to miss Major’s Place as you speed along the highway, however if you do happen to spot it and stop, beyond the doors you’ll find more antler art, antler furniture and antler lamps. In that part of the world you just can’t overdecorate with antlers.

This guy got to keep his antlers probably because he looks like a dude you wouldn’t want to mess with.

I stole the bottom two images from Stay on Route 6, a website devoted to exploring the longest contiguous transcontinental route in the USA. Highway 6 is also known as the “Grand Army of the Republic Army” because it passes through many historic sites dating from the Revolutionary War. We didn’t go into Major’s Station as it was closed and it’s beyond foolhardy to trespass in eastern Nevada. You could end up in the ground and not in the slammer. Those folks love their guns

From Antler Art

Check out other doors over at Norm Frampton’s Thursday Doors shindig.

ThursdayDoors: Matchless Orinda

July 7, 2016July 7, 2016JT Twissel 42 Comments

These are the doors to the Orinda Theatre, the symbol of my small town.

Over the years, the citizens of the town have fought many battles to protect this fine example of “streamlined moderne” architecture. As a movie theatre it’s never been particularly profitable and so in order to keep it going the town has begun holding many different events in the large auditorium including a short lived film festival and a talent contest for kids called the “Orinda Idol.”

The murals inside the main auditorium depict the Four Elements of Man, a popular motif of the time (1941). I can’t show you the inside for two reasons – it’s too dark to get good pictures and I’ve been advised not to trespass by Norm Frampton, the creator of the #ThursdayDoor event (he won’t bail me out if I get caught) but here’s a description of what you would see:

As you enter the spacious auditorium, Anthony Heinsbergen’s lavish murals of The Four Elements of Man greet you. They are an eclectic combination of references to classical mythology and modern technology. Fruits and flowers represent Earth, an Aqua God depicts Water, wings and a stylistic airplane portray Air and workers forging steel symbolize Water. The hand painted murals stretch from floor to ceiling. In recognition of Heinsbergen’s contribution to American mural design, the Smithsonian curated a special traveling exhibition, “Movie Palace Moderne” in 1972-1974 highlighting 43 examples of his monumental achievement which included 3 of the original water color drawings of the murals. Said to be some of Heinsberger’s favorites, the originals are still in the office Sweeping curves of wood and iron rail work, warm neon tucked behind oval coves, nudes floating among stars and a red and gold butterfly with the body of a boy complete the embellishments. This was the rich architecture of fantasy that is missing in today’s theatres. From the Lamorinda Film and Entertainment Foundation website.

A familiar site in Orinda – fog rolling in from the bay.

Fun fact: Orinda, which was originally part of four different Spanish land grants, was named after the poem Matchless Orinda by a 17th century poetess named Katherine Philips. Philips wrote primarily about the platonic love women have for each other -because they lack the equipment to consummate their love sexually.

What’s your town famous or infamous for?

#ThursdayDoors: Set Design

June 23, 2016June 23, 2016JT Twissel 13 Comments

These doors are magic in the making. One night soon the Starlight Players will emerge on stage to perform to small but loyal audiences. If you peak through the “windows” you’ll see another door.

Door to the dressing room?

Prop room?

I’m guessing the above pic shows the prop room. I was trespassing as all good ThursdayDoors folk must at some point or another. The Players are in the process of getting ready for their first performances of the summer. On the day we visited no one was working on the set but this is a community theatre group, most of whom probably have day jobs. For obvious reasons they don’t perform in the winter!

View from the stage, the stone stairs on which the audience sits.

I dabbled a bit in theatre in high school but I’m shy and can’t act so I primarily either helped with set design or props and watched the magic from behind the curtains. There’s a lot of flurry backstage during a performance. A lot of excitement. It’s addictive like so many things, for instance, blogging. I tell myself I must stop. The day is beautiful and there are things to see and do. But here I sit.

The Marquee

Check out other ThursdayDoors, the brainchild of Norm Frampton.

#ThursdayDoors: Brave

April 7, 2016JT Twissel 15 Comments

Sadly, I have no interesting doors for Norm Frampton’s ThursdayDoors challenge. Obviously I just don’t get out enough!

This open door leads to a small art gallery which also serves as a studio. The artist sits at her easel all day long as people walk past on their way to near-by restaurants. If the weather is nice, she leans her paintings against the plate glass window in front. She is good, really good. If I had the money, I’d buy as many as I could. To paint out in public where people can wander by and remark is one of the bravest things an artist can do.

You probably won’t catch me doing that anytime soon. However, today I’m honored to be featured on Colleen M. Story’s Wellness and Writing blog. Please check it out if you have the time. Colleen is a gifted writer whose focus is on helping writers stay mentally and physically healthy. I’m hoping she’ll drop by the Twissel blog and give us some tips and maybe talk about her book Loreena’s Gift (sci-fi, fantasy) which is coming out on April 12! Here’s the beginning of the synopsis: Loreena Picket is a blind young woman who lives with her uncle, a reverend at a small-town church. Loreena has a strange gift, which she’s not really sure is a gift at all.

On another note: I’ve decided that my blog is pretty blah so, one of the bravest writers I know, Duke Miller and I are experimenting with new ideas on a blog we call Tin Hats. If you’re a fan of Duke’s, there are a few powerful often controversial posts there. I may even get brave and let loose my subversive side! Here’s a video that explains the theme of Tin Hats pretty well:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rr7Bl7VBj4Y

#ThursdayDoors: My Rap Sheet

February 11, 2016February 12, 2016JT Twissel 34 Comments

Warning! ThursdayDooring leads to subversive and deviant crimes such as trespassing. You could wind up in the slammer with a long rap sheet.

Jan: “But, but Officer. You don’t understand. It’s an addiction. I really, really have to get a picture of a door and since all the public doors in town are so boring, well…”

Officer Gumbo: “Ma’am. We keep getting complaints from your neighbors. We have no alternative other than to take you in for a 24F infraction. Just be happy they didn’t accuse you of being a Peeping Jan. That’s a sex crime!”

In my neighborhood, houses tend to be set back from the street, thus their gates are the doors to their kingdom.

These people really don’t want to be bothered by door-to-door salespeople!

“I wonder why we don’t get any Trick or Treaters!”

Thankfully I avoided arrest this time.

Check out other trespassers at Norm Frampton’s ThursdayDoors Event.

ThursdayDoors: The Basilica

February 4, 2016February 4, 2016JT Twissel 43 Comments

Going back in time again, this time to a wedding in an abandoned factory in Hudson New York. The Basilica – once a forge and foundry for steel railways, then briefly a glue factory – now spends its semi-retirement as an events venue.

Founded in 1662, the town of Hudson thrived as a whaling and then manufacturing town for well over a hundred years until the late 19th century. Once the manufacturers disappeared the town slipped into “the unlikely setting for a world of prostitution, gambling, murder, and government corruption—with more than a touch of the Keystone Kops thrown in.” This according to Bruce Edwards Hall, the author of Diamond Street, The Story of the Little Town with the Big Red Light District.

Apparently he wasn’t exaggerating because in 1951 then Governor Dewey had to send in troops to run the varmints out of town or lock them up. Old West shenanigans in an otherwise quaint dairyland – gotta love it!

The inside of the factory the day before the wedding (trees had just been delivered)

The inside during the wedding – quite magical isn’t it? During the reception a thunderstorm rumbled and flashed overhead and the roof leaked!

In the mid-eighties the town began to revive, thanks to an unlikely group of modern day pioneers. Antiques dealers. They were followed by artists and nouveau cuisine restaurant owners. Today many urban couples have summer homes either in Hudson or the surrounding area which they rent via Airbnb. But we stayed outside of town on an organic farm. I’ve always been a sucker for cows, chickens and pigs.

What’s the most unusual destination wedding you’ve been to?

This post was inspired by Norm Frampton’s #ThursdayDoors event. Check out other doors here.

#ThursdayDoors: Wismar Germany

January 21, 2016July 21, 2021JT Twissel 35 Comments

This week I’m going back in time to 1995, the year we went to Wismar, Germany.

The dotted red line between Schwerin and Wismar marks the autobahn Germany was building to connect the coastal towns to Berlin.

From the end of WWII until 1989, Wismar was behind the Iron Curtain, making travel there almost impossible. Even six years after the Berlin Wall had fallen, the rustic two lane road from Lubeck to Wismar catered more to donkey carts and tractors than cars and thus resulted in a frustrating three hour drive. Before the war, the towns along the southern Baltic were popular vacation destinations and the thought is evidently to revive them. However, in 1995 Germany still had a long way to go.

Aside from the lack of easy access, many of the coastal towns were heavily bombed by the Allies in 1945. Instead of rebuilding them, the Soviets simply moved the residents to cheaply-built, concrete-block apartments outside the city walls leaving their centers to sit in ruins for decades. When we were there construction cranes hung over the town as buildings that could not be renovated were destroyed.

Our bed and breakfast was one of the more modern buildings.

Another challenge for Germany, the locals seemed to think making money off tourism was a tawdry business indeed. Certainly anyone caught speaking English on the streets was given the evil eye.

The town center – note the Hanseatic design of the building facades.

Sorry for the poor quality of the pictures. We didn’t have the best camera and it rained the whole time we were there.

I believe this is St. Nicholas Cathedral but, because it was under repair, we couldn’t get near.

In case you’re wondering why we made a difficult journey to an obscure town on the Baltic, well, here goes: In 1663 (or around that time) a Swedish general conquered this important trade route and until 1717 it remained under Swedish rule. In return the general attained the noble title “Conqueror of Wismar.” According to a bit of family lore spawned by a Mormon missionary’s trip to the Swedish History Museum, my husband is one of his descendants. Didn’t know I was married to royalty, did you?

Check out other doors at Norm Frampton’s fun (and often challenging) #ThursdayDoors event.

#ThursdayDoors: Ely Nevada

December 17, 2015December 17, 2015JT Twissel 26 Comments

This door leads to the Nevada Northern Museum and Historic Train Ride in Ely, a town of about 5,000 people in eastern Nevada. Ely got its start as a Stagecoach and Pony Express stop. Then copper was discovered nearby in the early 1900s and times were good. But, as with any mining boom, eventually it went bust and the town had to turn to other sources of revenue, the Old Ghost Train run by the Nevada Northern being one of them.

The engine of the Ghost Train going out for a test drive.

This train runs during the summer and on certain holidays, such as Halloween and Christmas. The round trip to the Ruth mine covers about 14 miles and takes about 90 minutes (that’s not bad considering it’s the oldest still-running steam engine in America). We were there when no runs were planned but happily they were testing the engine.

Back doors to the platform.

The Old Ghost Train is most famous for Halloween runs, when employees dress in Victorian garb and tell ghoulish tales from Nevada’s colorful past, however there are other themed rides, for example:

The Polar Express (with a real live Santa, caroling, etc.)
Rocking Rolling Geology
Wild Wild West (of course).

Shack across from the train station. Not sure what it was used for.

Ely is famous for many other things:

The birthplace of Richard Nixon’s wife Pat
The eastern end of Route 50, the Loneliest Highway in the World (and it is lonely!)
The setting for the climatic scene in the movie, The Rat Race.

And it’s famous for one more thing as well. Let me think. What could that be? Ah yes, it’s the setting for that wacky mystery Flipka! (okay, maybe not famous yet but a gal can always dream.)

Another great thing to do in Ely! Cocktails and Cannons! Oh boy!

But before you get all excited about hopping on the Ghost Train or racing people in a bathtub, keep in mind Ely is a six hour drive from Reno and a four hour drive from Las Vegas. There are plenty of hotels nowadays but my favorite is the original Hotel Nevada and Gambling Hall. They have a huge sign in front that reads “We love Bikers.” To a hotel staff used to catering to the Hells Angels, Joel and me in our Prius were like visitors from another planet!

This post was inspired by Norm Frampton’s wonderful #ThursdayDoors prompt. Check out other doors and their histories!