transition mission

erasing the past. save. delete. save. delete. shaking hands. moving forward. writing. digging. purging. thanking. cursing. praying. sharing. sorting. pieces of paper. pieces of friendship. moving on into tomorrow. hugging. moody. happy. phone calls. emails. instant messages from far away. travel. collect. new thoughts. plan. stand in the rain. monsoon spring. watching things grow. reading. watching things pass on into the sunset. clean slate. blank book for sharing. collecting thoughts. pieces of paper. paint. paint. draw. write. vent. breathe deep. create. imagine.

painting: Blue Trunk

cove light

travel light,

live light,

spread the light,

be the light.

-yogi tea bag

photo by Thomas Hammond

Hokey Pokey

Welcome to the dinner table at the farm at Claude's Cove. As I said earlier, we can fish for our dinner, or we can go out into the woods and glean the early leaves of the greens growing heartily in our back yard, voluntarily from Mother Nature.

There are the violets of the early spring with their delicate blossoms to dress the salad as a bouquet. Also, the dandelion greens, to all those who call them a nuisance and never stopped to consider they are also a food source.

Ah, but we're reaching to the real soul food element as we harvest the tender leaves of the poke weed. Surely all of you, by now, know the saga of Poke Salat Annie and the Gator and the Grannie. I imagine a little gator meat might go well with the poke, but thankfully they are not a commodity in this neck of the woods. We opted to simmer our salat with some bacon renderings and thinly sliced sweet vidalia onions.

First the greens were blanched in hot water until just tender, then sauted with bacon drippings and onions. The flavor is suttle and somewhat similar to spinach. A menu of slow roasted beef with mushrooms and gravy, oven baked mashed sweet potatoes and french green beans accompanied our fresh poke harvest.

I highly recommend you try it. It is bound to be high in nutritional value. It is all so resfreshing to enjoy. Something that is not run of the mill frozen, fast or pre-packaged, and SO green and natural that it makes you feel good to eat it.

All of that after a day of gardening and planting seeds and plants.I sit back in anticipation of a season of growth, and smile.

Gone Fishing

Welcome to my new office, as of June 1st.

How do you like the view?

Jealous?

This is the birds’ eye view of Claude’s Cove.
I have unshelved and dusted off my copy of “Fishing for Dummies”.

I’ll let you know how many dummies I catch as the summer progresses.

I’ll be taking a temporary break from the city and doing a lot of garden therapy.

Honing up my photography skills….finishing numerous paintings (pictures, furniture…)

and painting projects (kitchen, doors, trim…)

I promise to share documentary results. I really do hope that you will stay tuned in for some astounding progress in my creative development and what adventures lay ahead. I believe I’m off to a stellar start with such a hugely supportive group of onlookers.

Yeah, when I said, “Change is good. Bring it on.” Boy did I open up a big fat can of worms!

Well, when life gives you worms, Go Fishing!

Crappie. It's what's for dinner.

photo by Thomas Hammond

dog gone

Dog Gone. Heart Broke.

He strolled in to our life one hot summer afternoon last year. He was dirty and limping and looking for a drink. I knew right away that he’d be staying for a while.

Seems our lot in life is taking in the homeless…pets that is. They consist of a menagerie, from a coon hound that apparently left the hunt because she’s terrified of loud noise. Then one prize sample that we kept from the litter of eight that she blessed us with two days after our wedding. We also have a pound kitty that we adopted for Christmas several years back.

Last summer’s traveler found us, so we took him in, gave him a meal and a bath and named him Jack. Turned out he had heartworm, the second of our adoptees that we have had treated. He also had never been neutered, so we fixed that too, to encourage him to stay close to his new home. Jack appears to be a full blooded blue heeler. He’s very energetic and loves to chase balls and ride in the truck and go to the men’s club with his new dad.

Late Saturday afternoon, Jack ran away. No explanation, before he even had his dinner. He likes to visit the next door neighbors and believes, as all of our pets do, that their yard is just an extension of ours. He went there and kept on going and as darkness fell and we sat on the deck in the night air, we waited and worried that some ill fate crossed his path and we might never see him again. It was a fretful night.

Sunday was Mother’s Day and I rallied to have lunch with my dear sweet mother, did some gardening, and tried to focus on something other than Jack. After being gone for the entire night, it seemed hopeless. Mr. V dog daddy extraordinaire, kept the faith, searching the neighborhood for some answer. Finally by late afternoon he started going door to door. My best Mother’s day surprise was that he found Jack at the neighbors just down the road where he’d had dinner and a sleep over. Glory Be and how happy I was to see him. Guess we’ll be keeping a closer eye on that scoundrel, but glad to know he was just being neighborly and not looking for a new home. He also seemed pretty happy to see us.

i dream of beaches

and faraway places……..of marshes and sea grass and birds soaring gracefully over the waters….i once saw an eagle perched on a tree branch over a shell mound on Edisto Island…surely one of those top moments of a lifetime, while a quiet man spent the day fishing off the dock in the river just down the hill from our cabin catching his dinner. i dream of beaches with a constant breeze and shrimp boats on the horizon catching our dinner. i dream of sitting on a screen porch and dipping my paint brush into water and painting mermaids. i dream of picking shells and being awestruck by the patterns that nature paints on their surface that even in shards reveal intricate delicacies. I dream of boat rides to islands where no people inhabit, where tree skeletons tower and birds truly are in paradise.

Thanks!

Thanks!

Mr. V and I spent a delightful weekend with friends celebrating their May birthdays. It is a time when we have not been traveling too much or entertaining, so we were high on anticipation of a social weekend. We have all traveled together before for this occasion and spent several wonderful visits with them. As always, we came home refreshed and happy from this pleasurable indulgence. The food was fantastic. We met some new friends. We commiserated on the lack of work and strenuous times we are going through. However, with the comfort of friends, it is what makes these strange times more tolerable.
Thank you L&S for your hospitality.

Another cause for celebration is the near completion of the art studio there. It is a shimmering beacon in the grassy expanse of their yard near the garden. I dream of days of returning there to work together with my dear friend and spin tales and creations as we have done so often in the past.

I recently attended a networking group meeting with Mr. V that was especially for the spouses of those who are looking for new work venues. It was a very positive evening focusing on the upbeat message of seeking out what it takes to survive and overcome the drastic changes that sometime face us. One exercise from the evening was to state three things aloud that you are grateful for at this moment. For me, Family, Friends, and the Faith that we will get through this. All of us have seen other major accomplishments during this phase, and there always does seem to be a reason for change.

Change is good. Bring it on.

photo by Cabinum

Las Olas Sunset

I can feel the breeze as we stand on the balcony overlooking the shore of Fort Lauderdale while attending the Hukilau in years past. It is a fantastic festival of all things tiki. Nothing short of true paradise. The sun, the music, the camaraderie. We met SO many wonderful people, it opened up a world of new connections and friendships. An incredible production of Tiki Kiliki a divine connoisseur of tiki. Also on display were fashions and art and antiquities in the tiki bazaar that were from all corners. Tiki carving demonstrations on the sands of the Yankee Clipper. Seminars on exotica music, tiki drink mixology, bus tours to the famous Mai Kai for the Polynesian floor show and dinner, also to the JetSetter Lounge, retro slide shows by Charles Phoenix. Plus music, music, music. All this, in a nutshell, or a coconut shell, will give you a small hint as to what I mean if I refer to anything tiki in the future.

We have traveled to this “convention” like event on three occasions. I enjoy my time on the beach, beach-combing, and by the pool, reading or working on whatever art project that I’ve taken along for the ride, also taking photos for inspiration and reflection after returning home.

Hukilau season is coming soon. We won’t be traveling there this year, but by all means will be celebrating in our own paradise.

‘Las Olas Sunset’ is a view from our travels there.

Happy May Day!

A May Basket from my dear sweet friend, Donna, to share with all of you.

Happy May Day...also Lei Day in Hawaii.

Mahalo