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One of the great joys of reading is the ability to travel the world in books.  I spent the last few days immersed in India, reading The Splendor of Silence by Indu Sundaresan, which was a fascinating tale that opened my eyes to a society I knew little about. The story is a compelling combination of war-torn adventure and forbidden love amid the emerging nationalism and prejudice of colonial India during World War II.  For more on this historical novel, see the Book Review pages.

If you can get down to Boston this week, treat yourself to the Hopper exhibit at the MFA, which ends August 19th. It’s well worth the $23, and if you plan ahead you may be able to save some money by borrowing a pass from the Pollard Memorial Library.

What is it about Edward Hopper? His paintings seem fairly ordinary:  the side of a house, a row of brick buildings in the early morning light, two people staring out at the sea or sitting at a diner counter late at night. For me it became clear when I was looking at one of his early watercolors, ‘Prospect Street’– a perfectly fine painting of a street, a row of houses, a tree or two. Then, right next to it, the same painting redone in oils and renamed ‘Sun on Prospect Street’. Suddenly, the light on the side of a white house is incandescent; the tree at the end of the street takes on a new significance, the contrast of sun and shadow seems ominous, yet thrilling.  Then there is the blue he uses; that ’Hopper blue’.  In ‘A Room in Brooklyn’, one sees the blue rectangles of sky through long windows with green shades, that certain type of old-fashioned green shade that fits the room.  The room is austere, composed, airless – the blue of the sky is heartbreaking.  The same with ‘The Sea Watchers’, depicting a couple in bathing suits, side-by-side, but not looking, never looking, at one another, just staring out to sea.  The view is from the side, and beyond is that pitiless rectangle of blue sky.   

There are close to 100 paintings in the show, including the famous ‘Nighthawks’, and they span his whole career from early watercolors to his final, poignant work, ‘Sunlight in an Empty Room.’  At the beginning of the show there is a quote by the artist that sums it up, “All I wanted to do was to paint the sunlight on the side of a house.” 

Dance 4 Peace,  held at the Lowell Memorial Auditorium last night, was started in 1996 when young people in Lowell got together to try to do something about violence in their community. With the help of area agencies, they created and produced an event that is still going strong twelve years later. More than 800 young people helped in the organization, the audience was filled with their friends and peers, most wearing green Dance 4 Peace t-shirts, and all the performers were young people from the area.  The acts included jazz and belly dancing, rap and funk music, and more.  A well-produced powerpoint presentation featured planning committee members visiting Boston’s Garden of Peace and shows a close-up of the stone dedicated to Quoc Bao Le, an outstanding student, graduate of LHS, UML business student and youth leader who was murdered in 2001. The young MCs called for a moment of silence in memory of Quoc Le and other victims of violence, including those from the Virginia Tech massacre, and announced that all proceeds from the event would be donated to Quoc Le Scholarship Fund.   The presentation ended with this quote:

“Peace is not an absence of war, it is a virtue, a state of mind, a disposition for benevolence, confidence, justice.” -Spinoza

Dance 4 Peace is supported by Big Brothers Big Sisters of Greater Lowell, Lowell Community Health Center, the United Teen Equality Center (UTEC) and the Lowell Memorial Auditorium. 

There are many ways to excel at Lowell High School and many opportunities to demonstrate your strengths: one of them happens to be athletics. During the 2006 school year, 11 LHS seniors received athletic scholarships totaling $520,000. That’s a lot of money going to students who excel at wrestling, football, girls softball, cross country, basketball, hockey, girls basketball, track, and crew (three students got crew scholarships). Not only are our athletes succeeding, but the number of students participating in sports has also grown. Consider this: In ’06, there were 132 senior athletes (94.7% of whom went on to some post secondary education experience) and by ’07, the number of senior athletes had risen to 176 students—a 33% increase.

After reading The Omnivore’s Dilemma (see book review), I am more aware of the social, ethical and personal consequences of our eating choices as well as the value of eating locally.  There is a benefit in supporting local farmers and getting better tasting food, but it is not always the most economically viable choice, as the Globe article “The Localvore’s Dilemma“ points out.  Today, I drove up to Parlee Farm for their fresh strawberries, blueberries, corn and peaches.  I did spend more on gas than I would have if I purchased those items at the more convenient supermarket; but how many times does a supermarket peach disappoint or the berries get moldy within a day? Still, the choice is not as simple as it might seem, especially if one is trying to eat locally in New England in January. (I’m planning to read Barbara Kingsolver’s new book, Animal, Vegetable, Mineral, next to see how her family survives that challenge).  Still, Pollan brings many more factors to bear on the problem that the article mentions.  For instance, there are the ethics of the way big-factory farms treat animals; especially egg-laying hens, and the anti-biotics that have to be pumped into livestock to keep them from falling ill because of their crowded and unsanitary living conditions.  All in all, this is a fascinating topic that is getting more and more attention; whether our eating habits can be changed for the better remains to be seen.

When I think about different philosophical approaches to life, I tend to revert to clichés. Whether you see life as a “dog eat dog world” or one in which “we’re all in this boat together,” it greatly impacts your social and political beliefs and actions. As for me, I see us all in the boat together. My success, and the success of my children, is intimately connected with my neighbors; by neighbors, I don’t simply mean the people who live on my street. We can’t ever be truly successful if too many others are desperate. Ten years ago, I met a wealthy Brazilian mother whose son had stayed with us as an exchange student. As I drove her around the Highlands, she was struck by how open our residences were, without walls, attack dogs, or fences protecting our homes from the streets. She told me that in Sao Paulo, they had bars on their ninth floor windows because of the severe crime and poverty. I remember feeling sorry for her. It seemed difficult to enjoy what you have with all that fear. Yet, I think we’re heading that way in this country as the middle class shrinks and more and more people find it difficult to earn a livable wage, own a home, and provide for their children. Perhaps you’re thinking I’m one of the “loony left” we hear about on local talk radio (maybe I am), but to me, it is more than being soft-hearted or fair-minded—ultimately, it is self-centered. It all goes back to that basic philosophy: since we are in this boat together, my children will not succeed if yours don’t have an equal opportunity to do so.