Hello?

Hello...

    Hello...

         Hello....

Is there anybody out there?

Or is this blog of mine just a waste of what little time I have left on this planet?

CYBERSPACE
is such a lonely place.  In fact, it's cold as hell...

Candy Apples

It's APPLE SEASON!

ENJOY!

Love Fruit

"Tomatoes and oregano make it Italian; 
wine and tarragon make it French. Sour cream makes it Russian; 
lemon and cinnamon make it Greek. Soy sauce makes it Chinese; garlic makes it good." - Alice May Brock (of Alice's Restaurant fame)

Harvest in Full Swing

This is a photo of last year's corn, grown during a normal year. I haven't taken any pictures of this year's corn. It's too depressing. Instead of golden yellow with plump ears, this year's crop died before it's time. Rains never came, which stunted growth and inhibited proper pollination. The corn stalks are a sickly gray-brown and the ears are short and poorly filled out with kernels.

Pastures are burnt up, so besides being no corn for cattle feed, there will also be no hay. NO CORN + NO HAY = NO BEEF. Forget steaks! Bye-bye hamburger...

Wells and municipal water supplies are running low. Ponds are drying up.  It's going to be a bad winter, with sky-rocketing prices for food. Now might be a good time to invest in emergency needs, including non-perishable food and bottled water.

Heavenly Blues

A morning-glory at my window 

satisfies me more 

than the metaphysics of books.  

~Walt Whitman

Excuse Me!

Excuse me!  Can I have a little privacy here while I finish bathing?

Lotsa Luck

Be prepared, 
work hard, 
and hope for 
a little luck. 
Recognize that 
the harder 
you work 
and the better prepared 
you are, 
the more luck 
you might have.
~Ed Bradley

NOTE

NOTE ON THE PHOTOS BELOW.

I apologize for the poor quality of these two photos of my paintings, below. I was in a big hurry this morning and it was misty-rainy outside, so I couldn't photograph them in natural light. I had to grab a couple shots in the studio, under incandescent light.  So they're a bit warmer in color here than they are in real life, and not real sharp.  I hope to replace them with better ones soon, but I was in a hurry to get them to the gallery.

Two New Paintings

"Sandy Beach" southern shore of Lake Superior (Wisconsin) 7"x14" acrylic

I visited this deserted beach in Wisconsin a few years ago, while I was on a self-directed artist retreat. The elderly gentleman who owned the resort where I stayed had been very helpful in recommending local sights for me to see. I couldn't wait to see this one.  It was supposed to have a trail to some look-out rocks. But when I got there, the parking lot signs said it was a 1.5 mile hike (3 miles, round-trip) and I didn't know if I was up to that. I might have gone ahead and tried it, but at the trailhead there was a sign that said "Bears Frequent This Area." No way! So I walked down to the beach instead. It was a blustery, cold, gray day, with the sun sometimes breaking through. The choppy waves washing up on shore were making a loud roar, and just being there in the solitude of nature was spellbinding.

"4 Bins" Morgan County, Illinois    7"x14" acrylic

This is an Illinois farmscape from right here in Morgan County, although I couldn't say exactly where. Once in a while my husband and I take a ride in the country. He drives, and I man the camera, yelling at him to stop when I see something photo-worthy. Something caught my eye about these 4 bins in a row. This is how the corn and beans should look. The photo I painted from was taken last summer. This year we're in a prolonged drought,  and I'm having a hard time convincing myself that there's anything out there that's photo-worthy right now. I still can't stand to go into my ruined garden, after the storm we had the other night.  (SEE: AUG 22 "How It Should Be..." below.)

Just Memories Now

These lovely and deliciously sweet grape tomatoes, like everything else in my garden, are just memories now, after last week's storms totally destroyed what the raccoons hadn't already eaten. I don't even want a garden next year, but after a long winter, once spring returns, I know I'll optimistically be out there rooting around in the soil.

The Wolf Pup's Gone!

We sold our little Wolf Pup camper today. Sold it back to the dealer two years after we bought it. I'm kind of sad, but in my condition, I can no longer enjoy camping.  It's a three-ring circus when you're stuffed in there with an enormous German Shepherd.  And the getting-ready, the getting-there, the setting-up, the tearing-down, and the getting-back are all so much work. It'll be easier to just go to a pet-friendly motel.

My dream has always been to spend a year or two on an extended road trip all over the U.S. That's what I expected we would do when my husband retired.  But he's not interested in an adventure like that. He'd rather camp at the nearest lake and fish.

We got the Wolf Pup in May of 2010.  We went camping about three times that summer. Last summer, I think we went once or twice --- it was so darned hot. But this summer was the Summer to Burn All Summers, and we only went camping once.  So the camper's only been used a half a dozen times.  We can't camp in the spring (planting season) and we can't camp in the fall (harvest), so there's not much use to have a camper. And having it set out in the weather year-round wasn't doing it any good. We're better off to let it go while it's in excellent condition and pay off the loan.

But I'm still sad.  I loved that little camper!

We Got It!

Isaac arrived with gentle rains on Friday afternoon, but sometime during the night we felt his wrath. When I went to the garden in the morning, I was shocked! Everything, including those beautiful sunflowers had been crushed to the ground by the storm.

I feel real compassion for those who lost much more than just a garden in this hurricane. I'm willing myself to keep this in perspective, because that's the garden I nurtured all summer, in spite of my pain. It represented life to me. It would be easier to retreat to a dark space and sulk.

But I still have my hummingbirds...

Just as it is in real life, where you sometimes have to look hard for that silver lining, you'll have to look hard for these two hummingbirds. Or maybe not. They're the blurs at the top of the photo.  One hummingbird is actually flying upside down trying to stab the other one! If they'd only co-operate with each other, there'd be food for all. Watching them reminds me of humans and wars... it's supposed to soothe me!