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| "The Land": junk paper collage, digitized. |
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Especially special friends
Do you have dear friends that you have never met in person? Dear Elenor is a retired Physics teacher and artist in Austria and you may have enjoyed some of her beautiful photos on this blog. Rad Nana is a Colorado artist, formerly from CA and she misses the Pacific. Even WonderWoman reminds me to send Pacific photos to Rad Nana. Anyway, Rad Nana sent me some beautiful photos from her recent trip to Monterey and Carmel area, and has allowed me to share with you. I think her words and descriptions are as enjoyable as the sights! Thanks, Rad Nana!
"Yes we had an absolutely fabulous time! I recorded the waves so when I'm really craving the ocean I can at least listen
. We spent time at the beach every morning and evening. It just never gets old. Mike and I have a romantic connection to Carmel and Monterey. He belonged to a fraternity and they had a big ball up in Monterey which he took me too. Shortly after that he proposed. That was 59 years ago! Ye gads! Never-the-less when we were working at the Inn we would go up to Carmel in Jan. after the holiday rush was over. It had been 25 years since we had been back. As with so many places in California it has been added too. The Carmel coastline and adjacent homes have undergone massive building and remodeling. There was construction absolutely everywhere. The same is true of the 17 mile drive.
There is the Carmel Bakery in downtown Carmel that is disastrously additive. My husband loves macaroons. He declared theirs the best, which is saying something because until then David's Bakery in San Francisco held that honor.
It was a pleasure to have fresh fish anytime you wanted. A luxury I took advantage of. Hula's for the best ceviche ever. Also best poke bowl
. Great food but the ocean was the star most certainly. I came home to a number of tests and various things left to do until after vacation so it's taken me a while to get some ducks in a row.
. Great food but the ocean was the star most certainly. I came home to a number of tests and various things left to do until after vacation so it's taken me a while to get some ducks in a row. I thought of you so often when you were getting ready for the big day. I am so glad you were able to thoroughly enjoy it. I know it means the world to your family. They are a very lovely group as you know. So much love and blessings dear Jacki."
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The unsurpassed beauty of the Pacific. The gorgeous aqua water from the white sand. |
In a remote village in Guizhou Province, China, generations of artisans have been making handmade suits embroidered with tin. This is the only place in the world where this type of embroidery, called Miao embroidery, is done. After 500 years of tradition, the practice is disappearing. Long Nv San Jiu, a fourth-generation tin embroiderer, says she hopes to teach others this fine craft before it is lost to history forever.
Her name was Bryna, and she came from a small village in the Mogilev region of the Russian Empire, in what is now Belarus.
In her youth, she was engaged to a man named Herschel, who left for America with promises and dreams. A year later, he sent money for her passage. In those days before visa requirements, she boarded a ship to join him, carrying nothing but hope for a better life. They married and settled in Amsterdam, New York—not the glamorous city, but a small mill town. Bryna gave Herschel seven children: six daughters and finally, a son. They named him Issur, everyone called him Izzy.
But the American dream turned into an American nightmare.
Herschel, who had been a horse trader in Russia, became a ragman in America—collecting junk and scraps to sell. What little money he made, he spent on alcohol and gambling with his friends. He was known throughout the neighborhood as a troublemaker and a bully. Worse still, he was cruel at home—so cold that he never once called his wife by her name. He addressed her only as "Hey, you!" The family lived in crushing poverty. Bryna, who couldn't read or write, worked her fingers raw taking in laundry and doing whatever jobs she could find. But it was never enough. The children often went hungry.
She would send young Izzy to the Jewish butcher with a simple request: "Please, give me the bones you don't need anymore." She would take those discarded bones and boil them for hours, making a thin soup that kept her family alive for days. Years later, her son remembered those days: "When it was a good day, we would eat omelettes made with water. When it was a bad day, we wouldn't eat at all. But Bryna never gave up. She held her family together through sheer force of will. And she believed in her son with a fierceness that defied their circumstances. When Izzy talked about becoming an actor—a ridiculous dream for a poor kid from a ragman's family—she encouraged him.
Issur Demsky left that small town and became Kirk Douglas. He became a Hollywood legend, starring in classics like "Spartacus," "Paths of Glory," and "Lust for Life." But he never forgot where he came from. And he never forgot who made it possible. In 1949, when Kirk formed his own film production company, he gave it a name: Bryna Productions. Not after himself. After his mother. In 1958, Bryna Productions released "The Vikings," an epic film starring Kirk Douglas and Tony Curtis. It was one of the year's biggest movies. And Kirk decided his mother needed to see something. He took her by the arm and led her to Times Square in New York City. Among the flashing lights and huge ads he showed her a massive movie poster:
"BRYNA PRESENTS THE VIKINGS"
Her name. The woman who couldn't read. The woman who boiled bones for soup. The woman who was called "Hey, you!" by her own husband. Her name was on a billboard in Times Square. Bryna Demsky burst into tears. Perhaps the first tears of pure joy she'd ever cried in her difficult life. That December, just months after seeing her name in lights, Bryna passed away at age 74. Kirk was with her until the very end. Her last words to him were simple and loving: "Izzy, son, don't be afraid. This happens to everyone." Even in death, she was still trying to comfort him. Kirk Douglas lived to be 103 years old. He became one of Hollywood's greatest stars, a producer, a philanthropist, and the father of actor Michael Douglas. But until his death in 2020, he always said the same thing: everything he achieved was because of his mother.
The woman who couldn't write her own name gave the world a legend. The woman who had nothing gave her son everything. And the son who became a star made sure the world would remember her name.
Every film that bore the title "A Bryna Production" was a love letter from a grateful son to the mother who believed in him when he had nothing but dreams. She deserved to see her name in lights. And her son made sure she did.
Just because ...
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| Beryl-spangled Tanager |
Wednesday's Smiles ...
2 comments:
Oh, Jacki, what an honor and what joy to read my name in today's blog. Thank you so much. You know I hold you deep in my heart. Today I was thinking of you on our walk. It was one of the few sunny autumn days and I thought I'd take some pictures for you. Nothing spezial, just to see how beautiful the colors of the trees are in the sunshine. These colors will be gone very soon but for the moment we can enjoy them thankfully.
Terrific, Elenor! I look forward to seeing them. Have a fun week.
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