UConn’s William Benton Museum of Art

I recommend that you visit the current exhibition at The Benton, The William Benton Museum of Art, which will continue until December 17: Unfiltered: An Exhibition About Water. This exhibition explores water as a universal concern and touches on the themes of: the power of water and the changing landscape; water pollution and biology; water scarcity; climate change, the physical properties of water; and the Connecticut River. The exhibition attempts to place on view works of art which provide launching points for discussions about these important water-based issues.  I was especially moved by the video Manthan (2015) by Vibha Galhotra, Indian photographer. This video depicts the Yamuna River which flows from the Himalayan Mountains through New Delhi, from its pristine source but polluted along the way to its passage through the city.

The destruction of the recent hurricanes reminded me of my visit last November to Nassau in the Bahamas. My visit came two weeks after Hurricane Matthew had devastated much of the island’s infrastructure of electrical lines and poles, commercial and residential buildings and much of their tall pine forests.

My serving among you in the center of the UConn campus, reminds me that I have been a fan of the UConn women’s basketball team for more than forty years. This includes having been a visitor to the James Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, MA, over the years since 1976, including my time living in Springfield from 1983-2006 and from 2016 to the present.

Five years ago in the spring, my twin brother and I travelled to Alaska. One of the highlights was visiting a young couple at their training site with their sled-dog team of Alaskan Huskies and a litter of new born puppies. They were training for the next Iditarod sled dog race across-Alaska. That makes me a natural supporter of the UConn Huskies in all sports.