7/14/08
life is good. summertime really rocks when you're a school teacher. very different p.o.v. than that of a parent. i'm doing jigsaw puzzles and reading library books--none of the big projects i thought i'd tackle during summer break. the garden is unkempt and the closets are still a mess but i'm having fun. here are some trees i drew after a workshop at questhaven retreat on art, nature and spirit. i've gone back there to reconnect with some of my spiritual roots, and it's working. i've decided to be grateful for the life i have instead of petulant and snarling like in some of these blogs below. what a difference the day makes, eh?


6/16/08
took my first cruise ever to alaska with my hubby and some friends as a part of a 'sam the cooking guy' entourage. (never heard of sam? we think you will soon...check him out at samthecookingguy.com). quite a different experience of that beautiful hunk of the universe than i've ever had before! this was luxury--sublime and ridiculous--all you can eat, drink, gamble, shuffle-board, etc--while the most spectacular scenery floats by outside. saw whales, eagles and icebergs. but my favorite part was getting off the boat in juneau, sitka and ketchikan and renting bicycles to get as far away from my fellow turistas as possible to see the surrounding countryside. those were the moments i treasure.
sitka is my new favorite place on the planet, and the new setting for my ever-present escapist fantasies. now i wanna get back to the sky over sitka. that place is so cool they even have a surf shop. i had to go in and ask if they were for real. surfing in alaska?!?!? they proved it with snapshots of locals hanging ten right there off the tree covered shorelines of paradise. the shop guy told me they had been out just the day before, but had to come in when the orcas showed up. that and the bears on the beaches are the biggest downside to surfing there, not the cold. whew. that is commitment.
i didn't take my camera, so i have no pictures of the pristine beauty of the place to share with you. instead i have these silly photos of me and the larr' (that's my husband larry) eating (of course) and me singing in the ship's karaoke contest. yes, i won, but at what price to my dignity?
i might be able to find a picture of us in front of the iceberg, and if i do i will post it, even tho it looks exactly like one of my parent's christmas cards.
now it's summer in oceanside, ca, and i am SO HAPPY not to have to get up and go to work every day. teaching is really really challenging, but it has its perks! i hope to get some painting done this summer, some camping up on the mountain, and my house back in order. happy summer daze, ya'll!!!


4/29/08
the pictures here are the sky above healy, ak (very top) and the painting studio (left) i had up on palomar mountain which burned down last fall in the witch fires. it wasn't precisely the witch fire that got the cabin, but that was the one that started it all, the one that i watched growing all night from my mountain perch, and the one with the coolest name. something so resonant for me in the phrase, "i lost it all in the witch fires." echoes of past lives? when will they leave us creative women alone? oh well. it only served to strengthen my resolve to get back to that sky over healy. soon. someday soon.
hmmmmmm-i guess the lower sky picture is actually from where i live now, oceanside, ca. the palm trees gave it away. some people would call this paradise. i consider it someplace much hotter. the screaming youth below it is my son tearing down california street on his skateboard. he (thinks he) is much older now, and has given me notice that my services are no longer necessary. wouldn't that be wonderful? as i said, someday soon...


4/13/08
ok, i got tired of trying to translate my vision through someone else, so i took a course in basic html last september and have been working on this site ever since. halfway thru the course my son-in-law informed me html was obsolete, but i kept at it anyway. it's gratifying to build something from scratch, and i'm pleased enough to share it with the world. a little daunting, though, to expose yourself this way. blogs especially. write it and post it and erase it later, i guess.
we'll see.

3/13/07
what will happen next?