The Art of Voting

This is a nonpartisan post, and I approve this message.

If you live in the United States, today is Election Day. There's a lot of anxiety about the results.  But let's take a deep breath for a minute.  It's time for some art.

The city of Seneca Falls, New York, was one of the birthplaces of the women's suffrage movement.

Back in September, I had the opportunity to visit the Women's Rights National Park in Seneca Falls, New York.  In the National Women's Hall of Fame there was an exhibit of rug hooking dedicated to women's right, including the right to vote. 

Let's enjoy some of this beautiful art, brought to us by the Rug Hookers of the Finger Lakes.

This is not an art form I have explored, and I admired each of the displayed works.  Some of these are pro-vote art that has been duplicated in the form of rugs.

This may have been my favorite one.

Such an important message. 

I still believe in the process.

I take the right to vote seriously, for many reasons, including the fact that when my father was born, women still did not have the right to vote in New York State.  My mother wasn't yet born when the first woman to be able to vote in my county voted.

It's humbling to think of the many women (and men) who worked to give my ancestors the right to vote.  I will not disappoint them. 

Whatever your identity, my message for today is "if you haven't yet, please get out and vote!"

Movie Mystery Skies #SkywatchFriday

The gloomy skies of fall were a little early this year, but I didn't mind.  When I took these pictures last week, we were getting some rain, so welcome in a drought.

Today, I'm mixing some movie history in with pictures of skies. 

These pictures were taken last week in Seneca Falls, New York, which many believe was the setting for the iconic Christmas classic movie from 1946, It's a Wonderful Life.  Starring Jimmy Stewart, Donna Reed, and Lionel Barrymore it tells the story of George Bailey, native son of Bedford Falls.  

Seneca Falls also had a major role in the history of women's suffrage, the 19th century battle to win women the right to vote.

The movie tells a story of sacrifice after sacrifice by George Bailey (Jimmy Stewart).  Finally, despondent, he decides to jump off a bridge so that his family could collect on his life insurance policy. It's the same bridge where, as a 12 year old, he jumped into icy water to save the life of his brother, and lost part of his hearing as a result. 

Is it coincidence that Seneca Falls has a bridge over the Seneca River, on this gloomy day?  But wait, as some like to say, there's more.

There's a break in the gloom as we walk onto the Bridge Street bridge.  

It's an old steel bridge, quite rusted in spots.  Nearby streets bear names connected to the movie.

Reflections of the sky on the water of the Seneca River.  See those bells?  They are connected with the movie, and people leave them on the bridge as tokens.

Some believe this true story of Antonio Varacalli jumping off this bridge to save the life of another was woven into the plot of It's a Wonderful Life.  In other words, Seneca Falls is the real life Bedford Falls.

We'll never know for sure.  It does make for an interesting story.  What I do know is that this bridge is part of a movie mystery, and also has a place in the great history of our country.

Joining Yogi and other skywatchers for #SkywatchFriday.

The 75th Anniversary of It's a Wonderful Life

Have you seen the movie "It's a Wonderful Life"?

But first, I should ask, "What is your favorite holiday movie"?

Vintage TV and Radio. TV is showing - what else?

For many in the United States, it is a movie starring James Stewart and Donna Reed that was made in 1946 - "It's a Wonderful Life".  Today, I am going to repost (with some updates) a blog post from 2014.

First, a little about the movie, in case you've never seen it.

This movie takes place in a fictional small town in upstate New York called Bedford Falls, and tells the story of a man, George Bailey.  George owns the Bailey Savings and Loan, inherited from his father.

No, this isn't the Bailey Savings and Loan, but we can imagine

George is an ordinary man leading an ordinary, but, in some ways heroic, life.  When young, he saved the life of his brother who broke through the ice in a sledding accident, but lost his hearing in one ear as a result.

George wants to leave Bedford Falls and see the world, but life decrees otherwise.  George is disqualified from military service due to his deafness -the brother he saved goes, and becomes a war hero and winner of the Medal of Honor.  Meanwhile, George marries and has four children, including a daughter, ZuZu. George sacrifices again and again for the people of Bedford Falls and his family and friends, until he finally became so discouraged by a series of personal downturns that he decides to take his own life by jumping off a bridge.  He feels he is worth more dead than alive.

An angel named Clarence, meantime, needs to earn his wings.  He shows George what Bedford Falls would have been like without him, and tries to convince him not to jump off that bridge.  George decides to live, after seeing the impact his life has made on so many people, and the movie has a happy ending, as Clarence earns his angel wings.

Many fans of the movie have asked: is Bedford Falls fictional?

It may just be based on a real place - the small city of Seneca Falls, New York, where, in real life, a hero died in 1917 by jumping off a bridge and saving the life of another, drowning in the process.

Seneca Falls doesn't need the association with the movie to have a place in history - it has a strong place in history for many other reasons, such as being a birthplace of the women's suffrage movement.  But, there are many similarities between Bedford Falls and Seneca Falls.

The movie was directed by Frank Capra. Frank Capra had family in nearby Auburn, New York, which also, for a time, was the home of Harriet Tubman. (It's well worth the visit).  It's also known that Frank Capra visited Seneca Falls around the time the movie was being planned. 

Fans flock to Seneca Falls each December for a festival celebrating this movie. Before they leave, many pick up a bell or two to ring. That's how you know an angel got his or her wings.

This year is the 75th anniversary of the film and the festival has been expanded to five days.  The festival started yesterday.  Let me show you around the Bedford Falls...oops, Seneca Falls, of 2014.

In my 2014 visit, one building that I immediately fell in love with was the post office and its Art Deco styling.

The day was foggy, drizzly and miserable, but few seemed to care.

When I look through my photos, I found that Seneca Falls fascinated me for so many reasons other than the movie.  I wanted to go back, in better weather, to investigate its history further.  I had managed not to take pictures of the historic sites, the mills, the canal or the famous bridge. (I did do that, eventually.)

Here is one of my posts on women, voting, and Seneca Falls.

 I don't have much more to show you of the festival. But I do have a memory, and it's of the daughter, ZuZu, who, in real life is an actress named Karolyn Grimes (she was six when she played ZuZu Bailey).  Karolyn has been at many of the festivals, signing autographs, along with the daughter of the late Donna Reed (George Bailey's movie wife).

This year, Karolyn will once again be in attendance, along with two other of "George Bailey"'s children, and Frank Capra's grandson. All seven child actors who were in the movie and are still alive will be there.  They are in their 80's now.  George Bailey's sister in law in the film, Virginia Patton, is still alive at age 96, too.

But back to 2014.

An older woman walked up to me on the street and wished me a Merry Christmas, and when I saw her picture later, I'm certain that woman was Karolyn Grimes.

Maybe she wasn't, as there were many people playing characters from the movie interacting with visitors, but I would like to think so.  From what I understand, Karolyn has had a sometimes tragic, but always inspirational life.

Karolyn feels Seneca Falls "might" be Bedford Falls, and invites you to visit to decide for yourself.

And the future?  A sequel?  One never knows.