36 Hours in Brookings, South Dakota

We got into Brookings about 5pm, 7/19. We checked into the Fairfield and were overjoyed to find the hi-speed internet access was both hi-speed and accessible, unlike the set-up at the Baymont the night before which promised the same but delivered neither.

After getting settled in, we went off to visit Genna's sister, Louise, for a visit and bring her into the DVD age. We got the technology going after a couple of trips to the nearby WalMart. (Note: all people at WalMart look like people at WalMart regardless if it's in Franklin, NC or Brookings.) We hit up the local Mexican restaurant (when you're in South Dakota, don't you think Mexican food?). When Louise ordered a tamale, our waiter informed her that it was rather puny, unlike the ones his mom made who happened to be on the way to Brookings from Mexico to visit him for his birthday AND to make him real, full-sized tamales. Not missing a beat, Louise promptly invited the three of us to his birthday party.

Louise & Genna

After dinner, we dropped Louise off and went to visit Genna's brother Lee.

Now, Genna has described Lee to me as having a PhD in physics, having a current position as a key IBM consultant (our second day of visiting with him was denied because he had to put out a fire with a client in Japan -- Thomas Friedman would have grinned big), and teaching chemistry at South Dakota State University. So, I was expecting some introverted nerd with Coke-bottle glasses....

...Whoops!

Lee apparently escaped from an episode of Prairie Home Companion, although I'm not convinced that Garrison Kellior's dazzling imagination could have conjured Lee. (In true PHC fashion, Lee confessed to missing snow here in July -- Kellior always talks about Minnesotans being down this time of year). In addition to the above CV notes, Lee is a poultry farmer, with a pullet population that produces 35 - 45 dozen or so eggs A DAY, including some beautiful blue-shelled ones with his own hybrid line. The guy is a natural teacher, damn passionate, and an avid lover of American history so we hit it off big. After hearing a cool story of how he managed to meet jazz great Pete Fountain in New Orleans and grabbing a charcoal sketch complete with Pete's and all band members autographs (Lee ALSO plays clarinet and tenor sax), we got down to discussing eggs.

One day's egg production of the Seller's Family pullets

I learned a bit of how eggs are graded and some production variables. Lee is so into his egg thing (perfectionist alert) that he's on the verge of making his own chicken feed since the commercial stuff he's getting now is lacking in alfalfa and other vital nutrients which enhance production and quality. I got a demonstration of egg candling .with his own homemade contraption, learning about the importance of the size of the air cell and the centering of the yolk.

How many IBM consultants know how to candle an egg?

Lee Sellers finds the perfect egg!

There's nothing quite like being in the presence of a true renaissance man, especially one so warm and effusive. We got around to talking about George Washington, and Lee produced a copy of Joseph Ellis's recent biography, His Excellency, which he had recently had read and so graciously passed on to me. The night was over all too fast.

The next morning we went back to visit with Louise. We went into town to run a few errands and Louise pointed out this landmark to us, a mosaic of Jesus on the outer wall of the FIrst Lutheran Church, and, according to her, known "irreverently by the locals as 'Jesus Directing Traffic' (as the mosaic immediately faces into an intersection)."

After lunch the three of us went for a bit of cultural broadening at the South Dakota State University Art Museum. Wayne Thiebaud was the big name but I was particularly taken by the works of Oscar Howe:

"Oscar Howe (1915-1983) was one of the leading American Modernist painters in the United States. His work is seen as a bridge between Euro-American and Native American cultures. Howe was a Yanktonai Dakota, and his heritage was the subject of his paintings. Although he identified steadfastly with his Native American roots, his determination to express his own individual responses to Indian traditions was the basis for his revolutionary work."

Oscar Howe

I noted that his work was done in casein. "What the hell is that?" I asked Genna? "It's what he does his work in", she helpfully replied. Thank God for google:

"With this type of paint, Casein glue acts as the binder for the pigments. Casein is one of the natural components of milk. It is made from precipitated milk, which is then reconverted into glutinous casein glue with the aid of alkali. Casein is one of the first binders ever used by mankind. Casein can be painted on a variety of surfaces, including wood and plaster. Which ever surface used, it must be a rigid one as casein is too brittle to paint on a flexible surface (such as canvas). Casein is also an emulsifier this allows you to "combine" oil and water."

Finally, I also liked the dichroric glass and light sculptures by Ray Howlett. Just imagine if you always liked the light-art at Spencer's and now you had a few grand to blow on an upgrade. I covertly took these two shots:

Ray Howlett

Tomorrow morning we're off for a couple of days in Badlands National Park. Expected high - 98 degrees. Until then....