One of the best things I have done in the past few years is supervise Americorps/VISTA volunteers in Bluff. Since I arrived in Bluff a dozen years ago, I would watch young recruits arrive in Bluff with their hopes high for accomplishing major works and, year after year, their aspirations would fade while languishing in our little elementary school waiting for some type of meaningful assignment. Tired of watching this waste of talent, I finally volunteered to supervise the program.

The first young woman with whom I worked was Beth Farris, a native of Indianapolis. Now married and teaching in her home city, our next destination included a reunion with Beth and her parents.

Not realizing we were crossing into a new time zone, by the time we left the Lincoln library, we arrived very late for a beautiful dinner which Beth’s mother Cathy had prepared. We enjoyed a marvelous visit nonetheless, simply happy to visit with Beth and her parents once again.

The next morning, our objective was the Indianapolis Children’s Museum. Beth was working that morning but promised to join us in the afternoon at the Eiteljorg Museum, a place where I have spent quite a bit of time, participating as either an exhibitor, judge or part of the jury selection committee for their annual Indian Market.

The children’s museum exceeded all expectations. Featured in their central atrium was a Dale Chihuly glass tower reaching several stories and featuring numerous individual pieces. Chihuly is considered one of the finest contemporary glass artists with an imagination as vivid as the multi-colored glass he and his assistants shape into fascinating forms.

Scattered about its base were his popular sea forms. Spiraling down a staircase, we encountered our favorite part of the entire installation. A central circular bench was placed directly under the tower. The kids and I sat and stared up into the colorful forms, mesmerized by its beauty and ingenuity.

We finally peeled ourselves away from its beauty and moved into other areas which provided the kids an opportunity for interaction within the exhibits. They moved from Egyptian building blocks to Grange placing himself into the role of a young T-Rex to Lincoln Log building.

An expected surprise was an informal presentation by Phil Masters, a renowned marine treasure hunter who recently found what he believes to be Queen Anne’s Revenge, the flagship of Blackbeard, a notorious pirate who ruled the seas during the early 1700’s. It is believed Blackbeard orchestrated the sinking of the ship in order to split her riches amongst a smaller group of pirates, approximately 40 versus his original crew of 400.

I was trying to impress upon the kids the importance of the opportunity of interacting with a man who had experienced the adventure of exploration. In order to locate the ship, Masters found a deposition by pirate David Herriott which gave the precise location of Queen Anne’s Revenge when last seen sinking. He then hunted down navigational maps from 1718 to determine where the outer bar near Beaufort was at that time. Once he had pinpointed the location, a team was gathered to mount a search and his partner in the project, Mike Daniel, president of the nonprofit Maritime Research Institute discovered the wreck.

Unfortunately, my kids were not impressed. I know some day, they are going to read this account and think, “What...who?” Oh well...

We ventured over to the Eiteljorg Museum which features an outstanding collection of American Indian and Western art. I’ve always enjoyed their Woodlands Indian collection plus some of their marvelous Western paintings.

Beth joined us at the museum and we wandered around, albeit quickly due to the kids rapid fire approach to the museum. In their contemporary collection, the kids and I liked the painting Black Cowboy-Bill Pickett by Bernard Williams, struggled with Rick Barow’s imagery, and were fascinated by Susie Silook’s “The Walk”. Grange liked Richard Swanson’s barbed wire sculpture called “Radio”.

Too brief a visit did we have with Beth and her parents, but we are grateful for their friendship and hospitality while visiting their home. Next stop, Ohio!