on page A8 of my local paper today is a little article about the sale of the painting, "Le bassin aux nymph Deas" or "Water Lily Pond" by the impressionist master Claude Monet.
the painting was sold yesterday in London at Christie's for $80,451,178. the painting was signed in 1919 by the artist. i read the article after returning from the first concert in the Wild Wednesday's series at the Torrance Cultural Arts Center. after the concert, i walked to the Pine Wind Garden which is the Japanese garden connected to the cultural center and took the above photo (and a few more). of course, you can have my water lily photo for free. just send a self-addressed stamped envelope to . . .
the other coincidence involved Wayne sitting at my table in front of the stage. Wayne is the soon-to-be 90 year old world traveller, music fan, retired professor that i met at the Palos Verdes Street Festival a few weeks ago. i arrived at the concert about 15 minutes early. . . the #8 Torrance bus was right on time and dropped me of a few minutes from the cultural center. i choose a empty table close to one of the speakers but also at a good angle to take some photos and video. two well dressed older woman sat down across from me just as i was sitting down. and then about 5 minutes later, i see Wayne walking towards us. he doesn't see me (or recognize me) but knows one of the women. apparently he went to school with her. she is 87 years old. i found all this out after the concert when i finally told Wayne who i was. we only met the one time but we have been exchanging emails and photos. he had a wonderful trip to China back in April and has been sending photos from that trip. he offered to give me a ride (yes, all three of these senior citizens still drive... and i do not even have a car) home but i wanted to get a little exercise by walking to Target. it was then that i remembered the Japanese garden. and i was glad i did as i had never been there at the right time to see the water lilies in bloom. coincidence... ぐぜん、ね。
