December 5-8, 1999 – The Public Art of Birmingham

Sunday, December 5, 1999

Caroline joins me for breakfast. Tony has a cold so she prepares my grapefruit and toast and coffee this morning. I accompany her on Lutchford’s walk and while we meander around Selly Park she tells me all the gossip of the people in the neighborhood.

I attend a Christmas craft show with Barbara in Edgbaston then Barbara drops me at the bus station and I take the bus to city center to do some shopping. The driver is new and doesn’t know the route. He asks his passengers to tell him where to stop.

There is a lot of traffic and we get stuck in a roundabout for two rotations. In the center amongst whizzing traffic is a pretty little garden that I had not noticed before. There is a bronze statue of a reclining, young, nude girl dipping her hand in the pond. It must look lovely when the flowers are in bloom.

I love Birmingham’s public art and see a lot of it today as I walk. While the little mermaid at the University’s student guild is my all-time favorite, I also love pieces such as: the Guardian Sphinx in Victoria Square, the reclining statue of 19th century MP Thomas Atwood on the steps of Chamberlain Square, the Angel Drinking Fountain outside of St. Phillip’s Cathedral, and the Commuter at Snow Hill station.

There is also some artwork that I really dislike. “Forward” is one of these. I get the idea that it represents a city looking to its future. But its cartoonish fiberglass figures fall flat for me. Editor’s note: An arsonist destroyed the sculpture in 2003. Although I feel bad for the artist and the city that is out a £200,00 piece of art, I can’t mourn its loss.

Everyone is out doing their Christmas shopping; the streets crowded and the stores packed. I have lunch at a Chinese restaurant and then try to find the Jewelry Quarter. I walk and walk but never find it. I finally backtrack from St. Paul’s Square to St Philip’s Square to Snow Hill station where I get a taxi home.

I watch Antiques Road Show and Ballykissangel, write a few letters, and balance my checkbook. Just like Sunday at home.

Monday, December 6, 1999

Dean and Barbara have read my paper. Dean gives me some broad comments that are helpful. Barbara is editing for punctuation and grammar. Peter looked at it too, but didn’t have anything of substance to add. He gave me a couple of references and corrected a fact or two on the British system of government.

I attend an interesting lecture by an American professor who is at Stuttgart University in Germany. He has been working on performance measurement in public sector organizations devising different measures depending on the type of service the organization performs.

I walk to Sainsbury’s about 25 minutes down Bristol Road instead of my normal Tesco’s mini mart. Sainsbury’s is a mega grocery store (or market, as it is called here). They have salad—not the mayonnaisey kind—but real green salad. I buy a big bag (for 2) and eat the whole thing for supper. They haven’t quite got the concept of croutons here, but there are crusty little things they call croutons and I eat them with relish.

• In today’s news: BBC 4 Radio reported this morning that Prince William is again on the front page of the Express, which earlier accused him of being arrogant for going fox hunting. “Who’s looking after William?” the paper’s headline asks. Another report says palace aides have held a crisis meeting to discuss the advice being given the Prince. In an editorial, the Express says no one wants the charming, intelligent, independently minded young man embroiled in controversy, that’s why it is more important than ever that he receives good advice.

Tuesday, December 7, 1999

There is a new guest at the B&B—a studious young man in his 20s from southern coastal England. He is here taking a course for his accountant’s exam about which he is very worried. He gets up at 6:00 in the morning to review his material and, he says, he studies until 11:00 at night.

I myself stay up until midnight rewriting and editing.

• In today’s news: The Telegraph tells of a six-year-old girl in Wiltshire who won a competition to turn on the Christmas lights in her home town. Jenny Owen, from Caine, had been cast as a sheep in this year’s nativity play. She wrote to the mayor explaining, “I’m never a fairy, an angel, or Mary, a wise man, a shepherd, or a king. But always a helper, a singer, or an extra, and this year, a grumpy old sheep. Jenny told the paper, “I have a new dress for the day.”

Wednesday, December 8, 1999

I am bleary-eyed this morning.

I have lunch with Chris who is helping me with arrangements to store my luggage at the BC offices in London over New Year’s. He tells me about the new James Bond movie, which he says is good. Chris apparently is an avid James Bond fan. He tells me how once he went on holiday in Corfu after seeing the locale in one of the early James Bond movies. He encourages me to see the Millennium Dome in London as the whole opening scene of the new movie is in and around the Dome.

Chris went to a friend’s house for Christmas dinner last night and they served turkey with cranberry sauce. He asks, “That’s very American, isn’t it?”

I have dinner at Dean and Barbara’s. Barbara is not feeling well, still she has cooked a chicken and made moussaka and baked pumpkin bread for dessert. We have the red wine that I brought; a Peter Lehman Shiraz from Australia. When I was in London for William’s party, I stopped at a wine store to get them a bottle. The storeowner told me that anything from Peter Lehman is great.

After dinner, we light Hanukkah candles. Ari and Max each have their own menorah that they made and they take turns lighting the candles each night. This night was Ari’s turn. I got them all gifts—books on tape and Cadbury heroes for the kids. I give Dean and Barbara Maine maple syrup and Green Mountain coffee that I had brought with me from home.

I look at their Paris photos. Ari shows me some sketches she had done in the Louvre. She has a sketchpad with a dozen or so drawings. She is quite talented. Max shows me his Escher coloring book too.

Ari told Dean that she was going to miss me when I left. It is so sweet.

When I get home, Caroline and Tony greet me. We sit in the TV room and talk. They show me some pictures of their holidays. Some friends they had met in Madeira are coming here on Friday. They show pictures of them.

It was a day for sweet things. Caroline says to me, “You enrich our lives, like a friend.” And I get kisses from Lutchford. I am very touched.