Vermeer

The Amsterdam Airport Schiphol is the thumb on the handful of international airports that are true crossroads of the world. Opened in 1916, originally as a military airbase, it has transformed and grown into the third busiest airport in the world with 72 million passengers arriving and departing here in 2019. Those numbers decreased significantly over the past 2 years due to Covid. Thankfully most of the masks are gone and flyers are once again frequenting the friendly skies and this busy terminal.

In addition to being a great destination, Amsterdam is a hub connecting to all points on the compass. Connections. The reason we all travel. To connect with family and friends. To connect for business. To connect to destinations and discover new places and new people. And ultimately to connect with ourselves.

This particular trip to Amsterdam was to connect with the past. Specifically with Johannes Vermeer, the seventeenth century painter, and the opportunity to view the largest collection of his work ever on display. The exhibit is at the Rijksmuseum where 28 of Vermeer’s masterpieces occupy spaces on walls where they are studied and marveled with curiosity, awe and wonder. Seven of the paintings are on display in Holland for the first time.

Vermeer spent all of his life in the city of Delft, located 41 miles from Amsterdam. The majority of his paintings provide a detailed study of ordinary life in the mid 1600s by meticulous applying oil on canvas. Their pigments and varnish transformed into window light, solid colors, pinpoint detail, usually of a woman, performing one action. A 400 year-old meditation of every day Dutch life.

His best works are on display including The Geographer, Woman Writing with A Maid, Woman with Scales, and Girl Reading a Letter at the Window. And perhaps his most famous work, The Girl with a Pearl Earring, is also on display, but only until March 30th.

My partner in this artistic journey read about the exhibit late last year. We booked tickets the day they went on sale, and reserved spots for two consecutive days. A once-in-a-lifetime opportunity is worth doing twice.

Reservations were made online, the only decision to make is which 15 minute entry window you wish to choose. Crowd control at its finest. Once inside, your ticket is scanned, a wristband is attached and you are free to spend as much time in the exhibit and the rest of the Rijksmuseum as you wish.

It is in front of Vermeer’s work where connections are made. An appreciation with others, quietly studying the technique, the details, the motivation and inspiration of each piece. And your own individual connection to the paintings. Certainly some more than others attract you to composition, the use of light and shadow - where we find inspiration or solace, and marvel something created from this old Dutch master still resonates and connects with us in these high tech times.

The Rijksmuseum is spacious, hospitable, a short drive from the airport and centrally located near hotels, cafes, and a shopping district free of the coffee house bound tourists.

The museum’s website states the Vermeer exhibit is now sold out. However, more tickets may come available on March 6th, as an effort is underway to allow more people to experience the Vermeer’s life work. More information can be found here: https://www.rijksmuseum.nl/en/whats-on/exhibitions/vermeer.

John Steinbeck wrote, “People don’t take trips, trips take people.” The Vermeer exhibit will take you to the past and connect you to the present with a Dutch painter’s trip down memory lane.

Back To The Future

St. Louis Lambert International Airport, Missouri, United States

4:30am, August 1956… Just arrived at my departure gate having entered a time machine the moment I walked into the St. Louis airport this morning. About a month ago Delta decided a 6:40 am departure was not early enough and moved my flight up about the same time roosters go to sleep. The airport was designed by Minoru Yamasaki, “ his first real commission in front of the eyes of a thousand people,” wrote one critic. I think he must have also inspired Hanna Barbera when they created The Flintstones which first appeared on TV in 1960. An airport older than dirt, with low ceilings, poor lighting, little ventilation, and a security check in located down an escalator in the bowels of the building, where sleep deprived passengers get hand checked by the local cave dwelling TSA agents.

The last time I was in St.Louis Albert Pujols was playing first base and hitting dingers for the Cardinals. That was so long ago it seems Stan Musial was on the lineup card. Pujols is still on the 2022 roster. He leaves his walker in the on deck circle, and when he connects he hobbles around the bases like an audition for the movie Misery.

Another Cardinal, Curt Flood sued Major League Baseball when Cardinals traded him to the Philadelphia Phillies. The St. Louis airport might suck but it beats playing in front of Philly fans. That is as true today as it was in 1970.

Flood sued baseball commissioner Bowie Kuhn (all the personality a sports executive could stuff into a polyester suit and a bow tie tightened just enough to limit his air supply, resulting in his complexion being deemed “perfect” by the American Mortician Association).

The case went to the Supreme Court. Flood wanted to be declared a free agent and not be bought or sold like a piece of property or a slave to the baseball owners. Kuhn argued a thing called “ the reserve clause” gave baseball owners just that right.

In 1972, the Supreme Court, declaring “ stare decisis” ( literally “to stand by things decided”) voted 5-3 in favor of Kuhn and baseball. Justice Lewis Powell recused himself, citing a conflict of interest as he owned stock in Anheuser- Busch, the owners of the Cardinals.

Flood and the players association continued to fight and eventually prevailed. Free Agency is now a part of every baseball contract.

Which brings us to the year 2022, and the perpetual time machine and rounding of the bases without scoring any runs we find ourselves in.

A modern Supreme Court justice who loves beer so much he bragged about during his congressional nomination hearings.

A modern Supreme Court determined to return the country to Flood’s playing days. Their own 2022 citing of “stare decisis” - the turning back the clock on a woman’s right to choose what she can do with her body; and equally as frightening, the implementation of state legislation written by right-wing caveMEN, with a Neanderthal understanding of modern medicine, the complications associated with many pregnancies, and justified by religious dogma written by people who did not comprehend where the sun went at night.

The Curt Flood Act was passed by Congress in 1998. It revoked baseball’s antitrust status and stripped the baseball owner’s ability to control players’ careers. Free Agency. What a concept.

Every fall we are guaranteed at least 3 things: Beautiful fall foliage, the World Series, and the opportunity for every citizen to vote.

The changing colors of the leaves should remind us of the changing of the seasons of life. A transition from the brutal heat of an American summer, to the cold and dark bleakness of an American winter, to what could be the rebirth of a global spring.

Baseball is America’s pastime. Both literally and figuratively. It reminds us of our youth, of infinite possibilities, where everyone gets a chance to bat, and experience genuine joy and laughter of playing sports instead of toxic and tribal hardball politics and media manipulation.

But this only happens if we all become free agents. We can no longer afford to be influenced by mindless and meaningless political drivel. The words woke, radical,, socialist, fanatic, left, right, liberal, conservative, and the people who repeat them daily, must be ignored. Our minds must be open and free, to research, to inquire, to discuss, to think, and to decide for ourselves.

A late afternoon thunderstorm struck yesterday. As it clears a spectacular rainbow appeared. It landed at the top of a massive landfill near me and stretched to downtown St. Louis where the Cardinals still play. How appropriate. A poignant reminder no matter how nasty and dirty our footing might be, a mixture of vibrant and varied colors always brightens a darken sky.

Unfortunately it did not quite reach the St. Louis airport. A grey wrecking ball may be the only solution to transform this airport from the Stone Age to the real life Jetsons. An EV flying car is just the ticket I need.