But first:

One of the things that I want to do this year is to see as many of the various museum exhibits in Washington that I can. To help me do this, I decided to keep a calendar of closing dates, so I would have a one stop easy reference place.

Here it is January 7, and I am already giving myself a failing grade. Last Sunday, January 5, the first exhibit that I have not seen closed. It was at the Renwick Gallery and had been viewable since last May. Titled “Subversive, Skilled, Sublime: Fiber Art by Women”, I think it was clearly worth seeing. Because we had something else to do at 2 p.m., I would have had to go in the morning, but because of the snow, I decided that last minute grocery shopping was more important.

Interestingly, the Renwick has a lot about this exhibit on its website under “past” exhibitions. I suggest you look at it.

These are three that I liked. There are many more.

Now, next Sunday, a number of other exhibits are closing. There is another fabric exhibit, this one at the National Museum of Women in the Arts, there is the Gordon Parks photography exhibit at the National Gallery, and an exhibit on the Mongols at the Sackler Museum of Asian Art. The concern of course is that the snow and the cold will keep me away. We will see.

The reason I couldn’t go the Renwick Sunday afternoon is that we went, with Hannah and our grandchildren to see Jack and the Beanstalk, a British panto put on by the British Players. Our other daughter, Michelle, has been involved with the British Players for years, and has performed in a number of pantos, and both directed and produced others. She was the co-producer of this one.

It was well done, and the kids loved it, even though our four year old grandson couldn’t keep from adding to the script. Like, when the Princess appeared and some character said that “royalty” has come, he yelled out “Where’s the king?”. And when the dairy farmer complained that she had recently been left a widow, he said “Why doesn’t she get another husband?”

Here is Arthur Rackham’s version.

Finally, I titled this post “Snow Day and Edward Snowden” because, while I spent yesterday doing a number of chores, over the course of the day I watched (yes, I watched the certification of the Electoral College, but….who cares about that?) Oliver Stone’s 2016 film Snowden for the first time. I thought it a terrific film. I enjoyed every minute of it. I have no idea how accurate it was. My assumption is that it was basically accurate as to what Snowden learned and did, but that the scenes and dialogue itself were all fictionalized and, in the hands of Oliver Stone, fictionalized nicely. Of course (well, maybe not “of course”), the film was 100% a hagiography. It made Snowden out to be not only the world’s most patriotic fellow, but one of extreme moral and intellectual strength, loyal to his country (if not to every thing his government was doing) and to his girl friend (now his wife), and – to boot – just filled with charm. Yes, there is more than one side to every story, and this film praises one side of it and ignores the arguments for any other. But I forgive Oliver Stone for this (typically I wouldn’t) because I thought the film so good.

Yesterday was a major snow day. We were shoveled out, but there is an inch or so of new snow, so more needs to be done. Our clearers yesterday were three adult men who shoveled the walkway, the front and side sidewalks, the cars, and the driveway. Did a great job. The cost? “We don’t have a set price. Whatever you think it’s worth.” Go figure.