Dear Liza,
My buddy Cynthia and I headed downtown last week to our Portland Art Museum. The remodeling work is still going on, so floor space is limited, but what they have on display is really interesting.
Upstairs, there is a collection called Psychedelic. Mostly, these are posters for rock concerts in San Francisco in the mid to late 1960s, when I was too young to go to rock concerts. Still, I knew the posters were cool even then.
Groups like The Byrds, Moby Grape and The Jefferson Airplane gave concerts at the Filmore Theater, and posters like these made sure everyone knew this was The Happening Place. We enjoyed the incredible colors, and wondered how they would react under black light.
There were also mannequins with fashions from the era standing about. Mini skirts in metallics and wild colors took me right back my days as a wanting-to-be-cool pre-teen.
Downstairs was a collection of photos taken by a very young Paul McCartney when the Beatles were on their first tour of America.
Since I was all of eight years old, I remember the mood of the time very well. Any news about the group was BIG news, and their music was in all of our ears.
Considering the frenzied energy that went wherever the Beatles did, Paul’s photos capture a more playful, relaxed mood.
Cynthia and I chatted about all sorts of things (as we always do), as we looked and remembered our own 60s journeys.
And when our tummies were empty and our feet were tired, we headed past a leafy church for lunch at McMenamin’s.
Days out with friends are good for the soul.
Love,
Grandma Judy
Dear Liza 