Missed Opportunities

Dalí Museum, #16, Figueres, 2017

In the spring of 1977 I headed off to Yosemite Valley to climb granite walls. At the time, I had a mild interest in photography…but not enough, I guess.

You see, Ansel Adams was still around and very possibly in the Valley during the time I was there–or, perhaps, not too far away in Monterey, California, printing from his huge archive of negatives.

If I had had the presence of mind, I would have tracked him down and given his hand a shake. Thanked him for his contributions, even if I didn’t really understand them at the time.

A missed opportunity.

In 1983, I spent a week in Barcelona during a two-month, coming-of-age walkabout (with Eurail Pass and Youth Yostel card) through Europe. Salvador Dalí was still alive and probably living at his castle in Púbol, although he was surely grieving the loss of his muse, Gala. I saw an exhibit of his work while in Barcelona on that trip and was immediately fascinated by his surreal craziness–I became an immediate fan. Seeing his paintings in person instead of on a slick page in a fat art textbook was a real treat.

That summer of ’83, I probably could have taken a trip up to the Girona area and–with enough determination–tracked him down and shaken his hand, but it never occurred to me.

Another missed opportunity.

Often, we seem to think that history and famous historical figures are things that happen outside of our lifetimes. Wrong again, Buckwheat. History (like geology!) is happening to us right now.

So, who is that famous person you would like to meet and have a chat with? Are they politicians, professors, artists, scientists, teachers? Maybe they aren’t even that famous outside of certain circles and are easily approachable–like Alex Honnold, Chris Sharma, and Lynn Hill, in rock climbing, for example. Maybe they aren’t even “famous” in the slick conventional media sense. They could even be your own relatives–a distant great aunt you have never met, a great-grandfather…an old friend of your father or mother. What might you learn from them?

So, plan a visit. Take the plunge and embrace a bit of history–don’t let the opportunities slip-slide away!

As for Dalí, at least you can still visit his unique mansion-museum in Figueres, near Girona, Spain. Here are a few images from a recent trip there…

[NOTE: His name is pronounced dah-LEE, not DAH-lee. Thus the accent.]

Strange sculptures greet you at the entrance:

Dalí Museum, #2, Figueres, 2017

And more strange sculptures inside:

Dalí Museum, #4, Figueres, 2017

His remains:

Dalí Museum, #6, Figueres, 2017

It isn’t your normal museum and that was precisely the intention:

Dalí Museum, #7, Figueres, 2017

Dalí Museum, #8, Figueres, 2017

His muse, model, wife, and perhaps even mother figure, Gala:

Dalí Museum, #10, Figueres, 2017

Trot up a few steps and look through the distorting plexiglas portal and you can see the famous lips-couch, but aligned neatly with the rest of the room’s objects: