By C. A. Bryson
Last week, I went to the Vancouver Convention Centre to see ‘Imagine Van Gogh: The Immersive Exhibition.’ It was awe-inspiring: there were cathedral-like high ceilinged digitized representations of Van Gogh’s works, on the four massive walls, a truly panoramic experience, accompanied by an evocative soundtrack. (The exhibit is not recommended for those with epilepsy, because of the loud music. I venture to say it would not be appropriate for those with dementia either, because of the noise and all the people.)
Tickets are $39 for Mon-Thurs and $49 Fri-Sun. Masks are worn throughout. There is very good signage on the way to the exhibit, making it very easy to find. The URL for the exhibit is:
Imagine Van Gogh continues through September 2021. It seems the larger-than-life images reflect the larger-than-life personality of artist Vincent Van Gogh. He studied on his own intensively for years and then moved to Arles, Provence in France where he painted his famous ‘Sunflowers’.
In his own lifetime, he did not sell very many of his works. In fact, there was one time when he owed money to a creditor and so put 40 of his paintings in a wheelbarrow and wheeled it to this person who then refused the paintings as payment. His wife reproached this man (her husband) for at least ‘not taking the wheelbarrow’ from Van Gogh! Tragic. Yet what a legacy he left for generations to come. I had the pleasure last summer of completing a ‘Paint-Your-Own-Masterpiece’ copy of one of his paintings. (The image above)
And now, as promised, here is the recipe for Middle Eastern Mint Lemonade, for your enjoyment on these hot summer days. It is very refreshing.
Limonana (Middle Eastern Mint Lemonade)
(Neighbourhood Get Together: Favourite Summer Drink Recipes (North Vancouver City Library, Summer, 2021)
Ingredients:
½ cup sugar
1 ½ cups water divided
1 cup lemon juice freshly squeezed from 4-5 large lemons
½ cup mint leaves relatively well packed, around 60 leaves (I didn’t use this many)
2 cups ice cubes
Instructions
- Put the sugar and ½ cup water in a small pan and warm over gentle heat until the sugar dissolves. Set aside to cool.
- Put the sugar syrup, lemon juice (I only used about ½ cup, and the drink was still lemony), remaining water, mint leaves and ice cubes in a blender and blend until the mint leaves are well chopped up and everything is combined. It will be slightly frothy.
- Pour into glasses and serve.
Enjoy!
Until next week: Bonne chance and bon courage! (Good luck and have courage).
North Van Caregivers 