COWBOY JACK JOHNSON

Thousand Trails has so many forms of exercise to participate in, I think there may be a conspiracy to keep us fit. Water aerobics, water volley ball, zumba and yesterday, I tried Walking Off Pounds. The idea is to walk in place, do some leg kicks and change directions in a twist and arm movements and strethes as the tempo gradually increases. Definitely a cardio workout, no rests, no stops, just constant motion. You walk the equivalent of two miles at a fast clip, in place. I liked it. I found it easier on my joints than walking with the speed walkers outside. The instructor, Leslie Sansone, I believe is her name has videos on-line. Worth doing.

Saturday night entertainment, from 7:00 to 9:00 is Cowboy Jack. We just saw him in the Indio Playhouse impersonating Hank Williams, which was a good show. But, Jack, by himself, even without his band, is excellent.

He does Johnny Cash, Waylen Jennings, George Jones, Merle Haggard, Hank Williams, Willie Nelson, Roger Miller, Patsy Cline, Elvis Presley, Credence Clearwater and others. He is entertaining. Each time I hear him, I learn a bit more about the man. He announced that on Valentines Day, he and his wife Peggy celebrated 34 years of marriage. He has made a living as a musician almost all of his life. He's done the Opry, Vegas and all over the US plus, he has played in Australia, Ireland, and Austria. I expect that list is incomplete, he just mentioned those venues during his patter.

He was an army brat and lived all over the place, but he lives in Vista, California, near the beach, his roots by choice. He met his wife on that beach while he was playing Peggy Dee, a Bob Dylan number. He noticed this woman watching and listening to him and when the song was over, she said, "I'm a Peggy, too."  They were married seven months later. He wrote a song about her and played it for us.  I have to thank Thousand Trails for having Cowboy Jack on their entertainment list. If you get a chance...go for it.
I started a new painting; palm trees the obvious choice, but with only one brush, a half-inch wide, details can be very limited. New brushes soon!

THE TEMPLE OF HEAVEN.

It is an early October  morning and our tour bus takes us to the Temple of Heaven, another UNESCO site. We see buses with people on their way to work, like these women catching a cat nap. Vicki, our guide,  tells us Chinese laborers put in long hours for low pay.

This orange hooded stand is a telephone booth, simple, protected from the weather, low-cost.  You have to respect the design. Although, like the US, cell phones are seen  all over China,  more than in my neighborhood.  (Remember this is 2006.)  The street scenes are so interesting here but  I was using a new digital and still taking pictures as though each picture would be developed and being very conservative, not knowing how many pictures would fit on the sandisk. At that time I hadn’t heard of a cyber album where I now keep my pictures.

We entered the complex through a park with many squares. Our first encounter was a group of people doing ball room dancing. We watched for a while.  A single man asked me and another woman from our group to dance. This is very common in China, morning exercise with a huge group.

The next square held a group of people line dancing.  Wanning Determan, in red and my partner Michal joined them. What an enjoyable way to start the day.

This group was performing a kind of fast clapping exercise designed for mental alertness. In between the clapping they make foot figures and turn around and start again, sometimes hands raised above their heads.  Quite tricky and challenging. Like line dancing, they follow a leader in this exercise that also has music to it.

This group, at a distant square,  practices a graceful flag dance.

This group is doing Tai Chi. I’ve tried it since my China visit, and it is harder than it looks. Great for balance and coordination.

This group was doing a type of  Tai Chi with paddles and balls, very difficult Vicki informed us. I was quite taken by the vast amount of people who exercise. It is easy to see why you rarely encounter an overweight  person in China.

We finally arrive at the entrance gate to the Temple of Heaven.

Before passing through the gate,  I grabbed a picture of the ornate decoration under the eaves and you can see the parade of  protective lions on the roof.

The Temple sits on vast square all the way around it.  It is the tallest round building in the world.  At one time animal sacrifices were done here and the meat cooked and eaten  in a great kitchen/dining room.

You enter by way of this huge marble staircase.

Each newel post is carved, each one different.  The rails have decorative carvings. This stairway was meant to last forever.

The unique building is highly decorated with the typical colors of the day. The Chinese people love the color red and you see it in their special places.

Inside, the building is held up by a series of beautifully decorated columns. They all have gold leaf. Magnificent and irreplaceable.

A close-up of the dragon on the roof.  It is no surprise the temple is a UNESCO treasure.

On the way out we passed through the Long Hall which is really long. Without the measurements, I would guess it is the length of a city block.

It is kind of fun to observe the Chinese people.  We are curious about them and they are open and friendly and curious about us, as well though we can’t speak their language, this mother was obviously enjoying all the fuss over her cute little girl. The wooden stroller is unique.

Instead of a cloth sling, this woman carries her baby in a bamboo slat basket.

As we left, a lone woman was practicing her banner exercise.

As we left the temple, we passed the last remaining gate from Mongolian times hovering above the Ring Road that replaced the feudal walls and surrounds the city. Mau was smart enough to preserve it for posterity. It was through this gate the people, dignitaries, and the privileged few passed to have access to their leaders and protection from enemies.

NOODLES AND SMALL WILDGOOSE PAGODA

Before leaving the Terra Cotta Soldiers, one must visit the Provincial Shaanxi History Museum nearby. It gives visitors a timeline of Chinese civilization from homo erectus to modern China.  But, the real reason to visit the museum is for their fabulous noodle lunch. I’m not kidding. In fact watching them make the noodles is almost better than eating them.

The long noodles are made by a strong young man who grabs this huge rectangular hunk  of dough, separates it in the middle forming a dough circle, and then he stretches and stretches and stretches the dough until it’s about four feet long and it suddenly breaks into noodles. Then he plops the whole mass  into a boiling pot of broth.  It defies reason. The guy was mobbed and one could barely get close enough to get a picture as you jostle in line to get your food.

The flat noodles are made by another strong fellow. He begins with a roll about twice this size in diameter and rapidly slices noodles off with a special tool directly into a pot of boiling broth.

The other best reason to visit, in my opinion, was their exquisite ceramics. The facial expression of the driver and the posture of the camel so realistic.

In this glazed piece, the accoutrements and the horse’s hooves are particularly stunning.

Only in China would you find a dragon handled pot.  I took 19 photos and uploaded them at:   https://picasaweb.google.com/106530979158681190260/200610XianPottery
After lunch we visited the Small Wildgoose Pagoda.

This small, plain Pagoda survives  from the Tang Dynasty. The monks studied and copied manuscripts here. One monk walked them all the way from India. A monk here was starving. (They are not allowed to ask for food.) A wild goose flew into the pagoda and couldn't get out. When it died, he ate it. Thus the name. A Pagoda serves as a temple. The grounds are very spacious and we saw people meeting here, and exercising here. Many shops line the area selling home crafted paintings, jade, glass work and beads. Rings to tether horses are seen about the place from the old times.

Typical of China, the public areas are beautiful and very useful for multiple functions.

In this complex is a beautiful bell. We all took a turn trying to push the heavy timber to ring the bell. It barely made a sound. It takes about ten strong men to make it ring. It was used to send messages high up into the mountains and surrounding forests.

We left the grounds and visited a Jade factory.

The jade was beautiful, but we couldn’t help but notice the workers uncomfortable working conditions.

Lunch was a special twenty-three dumpling meal served from this huge fire pot. Dinner at our hotel was a special Thai meal of two curries, fruits, meats, stir fry and bread pudding. Meals are almost always served at these round tables with a turntable in the middle where dishes are shared around the group.We were so full from lunch we could hardly eat dinner, but, we managed.
For more information about the Wildgoose Pagoda click the link: http://www.china.org.cn/english/TR-e/43175.htm