We rose early with the sun knocking on the window and the un-rooster like chirping of a few cardinals. On the road toward our first night in lovely Houston, we sought out "The Teepee Motel. Originally a possible place in which to lay our weary heads, it proved to be very disappointing. The old roadside motel had been "fixed up" by taking away all the personality. The rooms were nothing more than round studies in generic white everything. Kind of a "Motel Teepee 6" and $70 a night...... zero imagination by the new owners; a real loss and kind of symbolic what has already been lost along the auto travel trail. Wasted potential is almost worse than no effort at all.
After a full-on battle with ridiculous traffic and annoying toll booths (this place is a spider web of interstates and friggin' toll roads) our first destination proved to be fruitless. We were misguided and our trek was not worth the effort.... gack, back to the interstates on a quest for a true Oddasee site. We were really starting to get twitchy with all the normalcy and unimaginative people and places. We need odd, weird and/or out of the ordinary.
Then we arrived at "The American Funeral Service Museum". Ahhhh, at last more fodder for our twisted searcher souls. Now visiting a funeral history museum may sound more than a bit morose, it certainly fit our criteria of odd and unusual. We both expected something along the lines of the Rollerskating Museum. Not really anticipating much kitsch or irreverence but this really was impressive in quality and quantity. The museum was quite beautiful and all the displays were well done. There were coffins and hearses galore. There were rooms dedicated to Presidential Funerals and past Popes as well.
In the midst of all the historical information and reverent ambiance was perhaps our favorite display. This presented the coffin art of Kane Quaye of Teshi, Ghana. One tradition there is to have a burial vessel be overtly symbolic of the soon-to-be-interred's life. There were fish, boats, animals, birds along with crabs and lobsters.
We were both glad to be back in the Oddasee mode. The Funeral Museum was worth every mile of traffic chaos. It was a fitting first step into the underbelly of the quirks of Houston.
That's the latest.
Love and Caskets,
ps. Something to ponder: What shape would your coffin be? A Honda Accord? Golf bag? Work station? Golden Retriever? Ski Boot? Elvis? Marilyn? Pizza?
Really Oddasee folks...... it's your turn. Send us your inspired art coffin ideas. No really..... we could use some entertainment coming our way from our many vicarious travelers.
Note: My friend and fellow artist Bonnie Waugh and I have oft contemplated forming an art business along these lines.
No comments:
Post a Comment