Here I am in Laguna Beach as the Pacific roars outside my hotel room. I am so proud of myself, figuring out how to use the iPad camera attachment to upload photos so I can post them here. It was a long day in the air but because of the time difference it was only 3:00 pm when I got here and I was able to explore. Given the weather and the proximity to water I expected to love Laguna Beach but I did not expect to fall in love with it. That happened when I stumbled upon a dog birthday party in the middle of an outdoor restaurant. I already suspected that this was a dog friendly place from the sheer number of them on the beach and streets but to find a fancy birthday party complete with a bulldog in a birthday hat ( It was his 8th birthday I was informed) and two large Italian dogs (can't remember the breed but not one I am familiar with) and their humans drinking wine and eating birthday cake, well let's just say they had me with the bulldog in the hat! Then I stumbled on Anything Canine, a doggie boutique where I purchased pink bedazzled sunglasses for Alfie ( these are for work people I plan to take her photo in them.) Anyway, if you love dogs and the beach you gotta love it here. Tomorrow begins the first day of the conference. I'm looking forward to it.
Patiently Waiting
Not sure how much blogging I'll be doing while I'm away. I am bringing my Ipad, but not sure how skillful I will be in uploading photos to it. So, like my pug, Alfie, I hope you will be patiently waiting for me when I return!
World in Miniature
Big week ahead. I'm off to Laguna Beach tomorrow and arrive home in time to start a writing workshop with Jon Katz at Hubbard Hall in Cambridge, NY. The next day, I am supposed to visit a pet crematorium for an article I am writing. Today, after running last minute errands in preparation for my flight, I was driving up my driveway when I spied a "bouquet" of mushrooms on the front lawn. I ran inside to get my camera and tried snapping them for a few minutes. Nothing too spectacular. Then I noticed this lone, little fella a short distance away. I love the warmth of his color, the microcosm in which he dwells.
World of Wonder
I was never one of those people who dreamed someday of traveling all over the world. In fact, when I was a teenager, I really didn't think I'd ever stray too far from home. Then things changed. With my brother and my friend, Joan Foster, I ended up on my first ever camping trip out west where I worked at Best Friend's Animal Sanctuary, communed with prairie dogs in South Dakota, swam in a lake at Roswell, New Mexico and saw the Grand Canyon. Since then, I have traveled through a hurricane to San Antonio and survived the "Pug Bug"-- a Norwalk virus (like they get on cruise ships) in Pennsylvania. I have been to Memphis to see Graceland and observed Niagra Falls. I swam with turtles at Oahu's North Shore and annually visit the iconic Woodstock, NY. This year will mark my fifth mission's trip to Hana, Hawaii and tomorrow I leave for a creativity conference in Laguna Beach, CA. One day, I dream of seeing Paris. I have discovered that although road trips and airplane flights can range from hectic to downright boring, the sites along the way are often filled with wonder and leave me wanting more.
Children's Hands
I took these pictures within a few days of each other. Neither one of them was planned. The first is of my niece, Tori, scavenging for pine cones and flowers in the backyard. The second is of my nephew, Avery, showing off the dog statue he made in art class. Both have a magical quality to me conjured by the delicacy of their hands, the lightness, yet, deliberateness of their grasp, the objects they chose to embrace. A world lives in these pictures -- one of fairies, imagination and childhood secrets, a world I can almost reach out and touch.
Lunch
They say the life of an artist can be lonely, the artists luncheon for the Anointing the Goddess Show at the Pig Barn Gallery (see www.fullmoonfiberart.com/events for more details) proved that it is anything but. Today, writer and photographer, Jon Katz, prepared a wonderful lunch of pasta and roasted vegetables for those of us exhibiting in the show while his wife, fiber artist Maria Wulf, videotaped us talking about our work. At first, we were all a little bit embarrassed to have the focus on us, but soon we were caught up in all the inspiring pieces that the others were sharing and we forgot our self-consciousness. The conversation was stimulating, the spirit generous, and we began to see and form connections with each other and our art. We couldn't help but share a laugh as well when we saw how wonderfully Jon's gourmet meal complemented artist Joyce Zimmerman's fascinating sculpture. I left feeling inspired by the art, the food, the conversation, but mostly the warmth of new friendships.
Dappled Light
Walking Alfie the other day, I stopped to admire the way the dappled light fell through the trees and danced upon the path. It twinkled among the shadows, an otherworldly special effect. I wanted to capture it the way I used to catch lightening bugs in a jar. It remained elusive, pooling around Alfie in delicate splotches. This picture was the best I could do.
Look Up
On the day he died, I sat under this tree with Vader. Perhaps it was because he so seldom changed position, but as I held him I noticed how entranced he was with the sky. I decided to stretch him out on his back and I joined him. We sat there quietly, staring up at this tree, watching as the sun broke through the leaves. I noticed the delicate branches that thread amidst the canopy of green. I looked at Vader, who had entered a world all his own. He breathed quietly, content. I am not sure what he was seeing, but I know I would never have caught even a glimpse if I hadn't looked up. It is something I need to do more.
A Thing of Beauty
My camera has become my drug, altering my senses making the ordinary, extraordinary. Once I would have found a tiny spider aloft a flower bud boring or gross. I might have passed it by unnoticed or even worse disturbed it in my rush. It is unlikely that I would have paused to watch it string its web or that I might begin to look for it and wait for the perfect shot. Without my camera, I may have missed the moment when it becomes a thing of beauty.
A Stuffed Dog
I adopted Vader from a longtime pug lover, Joan Foster. A year before I met her, her husband Charlie, a gregarious man, well-loved by everyone, died. The two used to raise and show pugs together and after Charlie's death, Joan began to take in more rescues and befriend many more people with other breeds of dogs. As the years went by and many of the pugs whom Charlie had raised died, we would comfort ourselves by saying "there goes another one to be with Charlie," or "I guess he's with Charlie now."
As more years passed and the rescues and her friends' dogs died, we would laugh by saying "Wonder what Charlie thinks of that one? He's probably saying, 'a poodle, Joaner, really a poodle?" Or when Ginger, the beagle-basset hound-pug mix passed, "Oh my, what do you think Charlie thinks of Ginger? I bet he's saying, 'Joaner, what have you gone and done now?'"
So you can imagine the smile amidst the tears, when my friend Norma called me up and reassured me that Vader was now with Charlie and when, after a pause, she asked, "Can you imagine what he thinks of Humpie Doggie? This tops it all. He's probably saying 'Joaner, what have you gone and done now? A stuffed dog, Joaner, a stuffed dog?'"