alien drifter

If gatherings can be judged by their edible offerings, then the VCU Friends of the Library Fall Lecture can be labeled a success. I wasn't the only one guiltily returning for more stuffed mushroom caps. The chicken kabobs were left almost untouched. I wish I had tried one sooner. I had too many of the rolled pastries filled with marzipan and drizzled with chocolate. Barboursville provided the wines, of which I drank the Chardonnay. Someone told me the Merlot was also quite good.

I thoroughly enjoyed my status as outsider drifting through the cozy group of Richmond's insiders. No one was overdressed but I did get that mildly startled "Who are you?" look from just about everyone. Except Karen, who introduced herself and started up a lively discussion about the house, VCU and the Bococks. Thank you, Karen! Also thanks to the sweet woman who made me feel welcome and showed me where to hang my coat. It was fun to soak up the atmosphere of this historical landmark while listening to tales of it's residents as told by someone who had actually lived there herself. I never did find out who the portrait of that woman was embedded in the mantel-to-ceiling mirror in the sitting room.

Besides reading from her own book Never Ask Permission, Mary Buford Bocock Hitz also read from Lang Gibson's book, which thrilled me because I designed the dust jacket and photo plates. I didn't see Lang there and I can't now find the passage Mary read. The title of Mary's book attracted me to the reading but I did't hear anything about how Elisabeth Scott Bocock, the subject of the book, forged ahead without asking permission. I guess I'll have to read the book.

The Scott House (919 W. Franklin St.) is yet another fine example of VCU caring for the community's legacy. This house was built and lived in by Mary's parents. Elisabeth, her mother, was a strong proponent for historical preservation in a town that is second to New York in registered historic landmarks. (It is the capital of the old south and just up the river from one of the first European settlements in this country.) Anyway, back to the Bococks ... Elisabeth was a person who could look into the future and see trends and their interactions. She made her children ride the bus even though they lived in an ornate, large home. She also made the family walk a mile and a half to church on Sundays. She preferred her bike to a streetcar. She fought to preserve the trees, too, as they counteracted the pollution generated by that new invention - the automobile. She also started up various institutions, many still thriving and benefiting the city today.

Elisabeth had the opportunity to grow up with her vision intact, resources to put them into practice and social connections to keep them going. Once again I am impressed by how much life is a crap shoot. For every Elisabeth there are a thousand born with the same energy, sensitivity, intelligence and motivation who are cut off at the knees by fate.

Today's message from artwells: Thursday is a mouth. Nourishment enters at the edge of the voice.