Today was my first day out of isolation! I can tell my body is getting back to normal because I woke up before 6 AM and felt ready to get out of bed, which is not how I’ve felt the last week. It was a beautiful morning, so I was able to go to the upper deck and watch the sunrise. I had a lazy morning then took the bus into town and met Annemarie. We headed to Te Papa to see a new exhibit by a Māori women’s weaving collective. Since it was a lovely sunny day, and Saturday, the waterfront was hopping, people out walking, riding four wheeled bikes, jumping off the high dive into the harbor. There was a guy in a kilt playing bagpipes. I finally got my picture taken in the Wellington sign, The sign is missing the I, there’s a space for you to stand and fill in the letter with your own body.
The weaving exhibit was fantastic, these women have taken materials often associated with men, such as truck tie-downs, sailing rope, high visibility road sign materials and created woven pieces that were strikingly beautiful. The shadows that these pieces cast also created another form of artwork. I loved that with most of the pieces you could walk underneath them and a couple you could view from a walking platform above so could see the above and underneath and the shadows they created. It was fascinating.
We also checked out another exhibit that had over 1000 wind chimes strung together, made from different materials in different parts of the world.
After that, I did some last minute gift shopping. One place had an adorable, friendly dog hanging out on a comfy chair at the entrance. The artist collective I went into was playing The Cure’s greatest hits and it brought me right back to college. I headed home to rest for a bit, I didn’t want to do too much on my first day out. My feet were definitely wondering what was going on, my ankles and toes were stiff and a little sore when I first started walking. Later, Annemarie came over and made dinner, and we watched a game show where three members of a Shakespeare group did improv incorporating breakfast cereals, 90s song titles and game show names into their own version of a Shakespeare play using the bards rhyming verses. It was incredible to watch, they were extremely talented. I am always so impressed with people who have abilities like that.
