In the Top That Department, I offer the following touching story that combines foreign travel, colored sticks and amazing generosity.

It’s been several months since I accompanied a few dozen KUSC listeners to Austria.  We visited Vienna and Salzburg.   Great trip and great company.  One of the participants was Benla Bennett.   Benla, who has enjoyed a wildly fascinating life, isn’t big on taking photos to remember a trip.  No.  Instead she likes to take a few snapshots of someone she encounters and then go to her pastels and create a real souvenir – an original artwork.  Luckily for me and my wife Marcia, Benla found a worthy subject in Marcia.

A few weeks ago Benla sent an email just to let us know that she had come up with something she’d titled “Contemplating Vienna.”     She accompanied the email with this JPEG. It’s worth noting that she prefers using her fingers over a brush.  If you click here it’ll take you to a larger JPEG that comes closer to doing this piece justice.

Long story short:  the original now hangs in our home.  Wow.  Thank you Benla.  Now, as for the rest of our fellow travelers, we’re waiting.  Top that.

You can see more of Benla’s art (including a pastel of another member of our group) at her blogspot gallery.

- Rich Capparela