Friday Relaxation: Sometimes We Just Need To Surf

 

Thanks Angus, I had to add this one

The Thursday Ramble: Origins

Origin is not destiny, but where we came from, shapes parts of who we are, as we move forward in life. I have landed on my feet a long way from where I started, and yet the history of where I started shapes a part of my life today. 

My grandfathers were farmers. My mother's parents had sold the farm in an early medical retirement by the time I was in school.  We lived on the same farm that my paternal grandparents lived on when I was born and growing up. My grandfather gave my parents five acres of the farm and they built a small house, settled in and raised a family. 

My grandparents raised a large garden, I spent many summer and Autumn days helping in their garden and helping my grandmother with canning and freezing the bounty of the garden.  We were surrounded by active farms, dairy, beef, pigs, and chickens. Fields of wheat, corn, and hay. The rhythm of the growing season is embedded in my being.  But it was a terribly isolating place to be. The house I grew up in is still over a mile from the nearest paved road. There were few neighbors, and my mother was not the most neighborly person.  

When I was in the first grade, the first time around, we lived in Phoenix Arizona for 4 or 5 months. The place left a magical impression on my brain. Changing schools a couple of times during that early stage, was a disaster. I spent another year in the first grade. That experience left me with a fear of failure. A fear that persisted through college, and graduate school, and passing the Bar Exam. I studied harder than most. It was an unhealthy fear that drove me to extremes, but it also resulted in doing well in school.  Maybe it is why I still read voraciously. 

When I was in the 8th grade, my parents started spending winters in Florida, the first winter in a large planned development north of Tampa named Spring Hill, then after that on the east coast, across the intercoastal waterway from the Space Center in Titusville, Florida. I had a bike, there were two shopping malls in town, I rode to and from school almost all of the time. It was a large town, really not large enough to be a city - more than I could explore in a day. 

Those early experiences continue to shape who I am. I greatly respect the countryside, and farms, but I have no desire to live in isolation again. That fear of failure, drove me to study more than most, something that probably continues to drive my professional writing. Those summer days helping my grandmother are the roots of my love of playing in the kitchen and of working with fresh real ingredients.  

I have landed a long way from where I started, but where I started shapes who I am here and now. 

My World of Wonders: October 21, 2026

 

Where have I been this week?  The pharmacy, Trader Joe's, the Farmer's Market, the pool, the treadmill at the gym, National Harbor in Maryland, the community center, the UPS store, the European market, Huntley Meadows, and Aldi. 

What has the weather been like? Changeable, 40 degrees and clear, 80 degrees and rain, howling wind, warm sun, it is that transitional time of the year when we have all four seasons in one week, sometimes in the same day. 

What did we do on our 34th Anniversary?  We went out to lunch at someplace new, Nan Xiang’s Soup Dumplings at National Harbor.  A soup dumpling is a Chinese dumpling that along with the usual fillings contains a hearty broth, you break it open and suck out the broth before eating the dumpling. It was a first for us. Very good. And they have a kitchen robot that to your table. This shot is the robot heading back to the kitchen. He plays music so hear him coming and going. 

What artsy stuff am I doing? I have sketched a figure to build the next painting, last week was the monthly arts committee meeting. I did a demonstration of how to prepare commercially made or recycled frames for hanging. I framed a piece of art that a high school friend sent me 50 years ago. I am sent it to her daughter. 

When am I looking forward to? Election day. Regime change starts at home, get out an VOTE the bastards out of control.  

What mistake did I make? I checked the box and ordered the large case of Kleenex, more boxes than I know how to store, such a great value. 

Travel Tuesday: Paris

 

Monday Moods: Travel

After 60 some years of traveling, there are a few things I have learned to make travel more pleasant. To improve my mood about travel. 

• Pack less, my father used to say take half as much stuff and twice as much money. 
• If you can't carry it, don't take it. Over the years I have downsized the cameras and lenses I carry, I carry a tiny computer, I leave things home, I leave things behind that I don't want to carry. 
• You don't need to stay connected. I started traveling long before cell phones, let alone international roaming. I would be gone for a week or two and guess what, the world didn't come to an end. Don't obsess over being constantly connected, if anything, plan a week with no connection at all. 
• Check a bag when you fly. It allows more flexibility when packing, it makes boarding and getting off of the plane much easier. I have a couple of airline credit cards that include as a perk, checked bags. When I fly other carriers, I always select a fare that allows me to select a seat and check a bag. 
• Be flexible.  I see people create detailed, almost hour by hour, itineraries of everything they "have to see and do." And when the museum is unexpectedly closed, or the wait to get in is hours long, their world is turned upside down.  Walk around the block, and see what is there.  
• The online maps application has never driven the route that it tells you can drive in 47 minutes. The estimates are based on driving at or near the speed limit. The reality, is this is often impossible, and even more often, not the way you want to drive it. Double the estimated driving time. Have time to pull over and see the view. Have time for the speed-bumps and roundabouts that the software didn't understand that you often won't drive anyplace near the speed limit. And if you do, you arrive a little early and have a little extra time to explore the place you are going to. 
• Always be nice to the desk agents.  By being nice I have gotten some amazing upgrades at hotels and car rental desks over the years. I have also been rude, and received what I deserved.  
• Arrive at the airport early, and once you have checked in, dropped off your checked bags, and cleared security, surrender all control. It is beyond your control, don't fight it. 

Relax and enjoy the adventure. It will make your Mondays all the more pleasant. 

Travel when you can. There are no guarantees that you will be able to take that trip later. 

The Sunday Five: Technology

1: When was the last time, if ever, you used a rotary dial phone? 

2: Do you know anyone's phone number without looking it up? 

3: Is your computer on WiFi or a cable?

4: Do you remember Windows 95? 

5: What was the earliest operating system you worked on? 

My Answers: 

1: When was the last time, if ever, you used a rotary dial phone? In the early 1990's visiting my sister and my parents one summer on the farm. 

2: Do you know anyone's phone number without looking it up? No. Someone asked me Sweet Bear's number, and I had to look it up. 

3: Is your computer on WiFi or a cable? My desktop is plugged directly into the modem, everything else is WiFi. 

4: Do you remember Windows 95? Yes, there was a YouTube the other day that encountered Windows NT, the child (in his 30's) had never hear of it before. 

5: What was the earliest operating system you worked on? Basic, I develop a program for home builders to price a home, add options, and calculate five different financing options. I gave a copy to a friend, who shared with a friend, who built a nice business out of it. I used their version of it the last few years I was in Florida. I started it, someone else made something out of it (I never felt bad about the fact that someone took what I started and made a finished product out of it.)  

Please share your answers in the comments.

The Saturday Morning Post: Screw up to learn to be creative

I had a flashback recently to an art class I took 35 years ago at Rollins College. It was a silver casting and construction class. One of the projects was to construct a hollow silver cylinder box. You start with a flat sheet of silver, roll it around a form, cut it size, solder the seam, solder on a top and bottom that are slightly larger than the cylinder, trim those to size, file the endes, and polish the finish on a buffing wheel. I started out with a large round, the larger size was easier to work with, or at least it seemed to be. I was working fast and feeling really good about it, and disaster struck. The piece caught on the buffing wheel, was pulled out of my grip and smashed into the floor. The professor who had been watching from a distance, and shaking his head from time to time, as I worked fast and cut a few corners watched it happen, and stepped into his office, the room could hear him laughing. I had screw up, I was working on too large of a piece, I was working to fast, he knew it, I knew it, the piece was a mess. 

I cleaned up, went home and thought about it, and I started over. I made a smaller piece. I followed the instructions. I put a lot of hours into it. In fact I will say that the most important thing I learned in that class, is to put the hours into do the job right. And many jobs will take much longer than you expect or hope. 

If I hadn't screwed up, I might never have learned that. 

There have been books written about making a mess and breaking things, the real message is to learn from the mess you make or the things you break, learn how to do them better. Learn to create, by screwing things up. 

Foodie Friday: Harvest Season

Here in the Northern Hemisphere it is harvest season. The bounty of the autumn is ready to be explored and enjoyed. Find your local farmers market. If you don't know where it is at, Google it (more than once I have found farmers markets for bloggers and left the answer in the comments), ask around, find who has what that is fresh, preferably local, though the best of the season is shipped into places where nothing is local. Here I pay a premium for farmers who come to us, or I can drive an hour or two into the country and buy directly at the farms. 

Buy what you normally wouldn't, buy what you love. 

As the weather turns cooler, it is a great season for soups and stews. A nice mix of chopped veggies, a little wine and stock, and let it simmer. 

I made chicken stock a couple of weeks ago. One whole chicken, an onion, a couple of carrots, a couple of stalks of celery, and several cloves of crushed garlic, water, a slow simmer and time. I had 6 cups of wonderful stock to cook with, and poached chicken for a couple of meals. Stock making is simple, toss it all in the big pot, add water and simmer. All it takes is time. 

I know there a beet haters out there. Peel and chop just one, and add it to a soup or stew as a background flavor.  You will be surprised. If you buy golden beets, you don't get the deep red color. 

The Thursday Ramble: The Good Old Days

If I am lucky, I will live to a nice old age. At 20, that meant 50, at 30 it meant 60, at 60 it might have been 75, at my age it is 85. That end date, is harder to move as I get older. As one blogger has put it, I have more yesterdays and than tomorrows. I am a realist, I am unlikely to live much past my mid 80's, if I live that long. I think of this often, I calculate how many more years do I have to do whatever I want to do. And the number keeps getting smaller. 

And I know, that at 80 or 85 I will look back on the "Good Old Days" and today will be one of those. 

Yes I did some fun things in my 30's, brave things in my 40's and 50's. But honestly, my 60's have been pretty amazing. We have gone and done, and seen.  I have a world of experiences and memories to look back on as the Good Old Days. 

Don't put off having your "Good Old Days." Make that call, read that book, see that show, hear that concert, paint that picture, take that trip. Someday, the ability to do those things will end, and you will look back on today, this week, this month, this year, as the "Good Old Days." Fill those days with memories. Be the old person who starts every story with, "well there was this time when I . . . ". Have memories, not regrets. We regret more the things we didn't do, than the things we did. 

My World of Wonders: October 14, 2026

 Where have I been this week? Painted Post, New York, back to Alexandria, VA, Inova Mt Vernon Hospital, the farmers market, the grocery store, the library, the treadmill, the pool, the grocery store, J's doctors. 

What am I reading? "How to Art", with a stack of books urging me to read soon. 

What have I been watching on YouTube? Cooking with Benjamin, he is in Arizona, with a southwest flair, and a focus on lower cost. He is fun to listen to, and very unfussy in the kitchen. 

What have I been thinking about this week? Refer back to Monday for how the week went, it was a challenging week. One of those that makes you think about life, health, the inevitability of loss. Enjoy every healthy day while you can. 

Who deserves a slap this week? I wake up every morning and check the news, and he is not dead yet. There are not enough slaps in the world. 

Who deserves an "atta boy"? President Z for taking out some data centers. 

What artsy stuff have I been working on? The next Gallery show is Still Life and Real Life, submissions are slowly trickling in. We are working on the schedule for 2027, we want to do a couple of shows that feature one or two artists. I have been pulling images for a show of photos. This prompted me to stroll through about 100,000 photos, trying to select 20, I narrowed it down to about 50.  I have found someone to split a show with me.  

Travel Tuesday: Flashback to Milan

 

Monday Mood: Thankful

 

Well that didn't go as planned, but all will be okay. We started out on the trip to New York, and things did not go as planned. Sweet Bear became confused and had difficulty putting words together, then he was better, then he had a headache. We eventually turned around and came back home. A consultation with his Doc urged us to go to the hospital for tests.  The verdict, a TIA, not a full blown stroke (thankfully) but a small "event." A "warning shot." 24 hours later, after every test they could figure out how to bill for, and a couple of new medications, we walked out of the hospital.  

Home three days before expected, and thankful for being home, alive and well.  

That was a more exciting week than we had planned. 

The Sunday Five: Were You a Good Kid?

1: Where you a troublemaker when you were a kid?

2: Was your parent's trust in you, well placed? 

3: What was the craziest thing you got away with when you were young? 

4: Is there anyone you owe an apology to for something you did as a teenager? 

5: Did you ever get caught? 

My answers:

1: Where you a troublemaker when you were a kid? Not really, my biggest act of defiance was refusing to work one summer day. 

2: Was your parent's trust in you, well placed? Yes, I was a good and boring kid. 

3: What was the craziest thing you got away with when you were young? As a photo opportunity for the Yearbook, I asked the Principal for permission to lead a donkey down the hallway of the school, he said NO WAY. The Superintendent of Schools was just down the hall, I asked him and he said yes on one condition, it had to enter the school through the back door of the Music Room during class. We put it in writing, and he covered my ass when we led an ass through the school. ( An early  sign that I destined to become a lawyer.)   

4: Is there anyone you owe an apology to for something you did as a teenager? My mother, my sister and I turned a street sign one night, and the next day got my mother to turn off of Holiday Drive, onto Holiday Drive. Sorry Mom, one of my few practical jokes. 

5: Did you ever get caught? No, I had a boring childhood. 

Please share your answers in the comments. 

The Saturday Morning Post: Tell Your Story

There is an American Artist, who blogged when she was married to French Boy and lived in France, who is now in New Mexico, seemingly without Frenchy, who pops up in my social media feed from time to time. She has built a career as a modern artist, and talks very honestly about the traditional gallery and art league process. She is very critical of the "pay to play" entry process, of shows juried by judges who only see art as narrowly defined, and of artist's statements that sound like they are answers to an interview template. She urges artists to tell their story in their art and words, in ways that truly expose who they are. Tell the world what you were feeling, what inspired you, be different, in other words BE CREATIVE. 

She urges artists to find or create opportunities to show their work, without buying into the system. Find a venue that needs art, that is run by people who are open to your art, and exhibit there. When all else fails, find a vacant space and stage your own show. A show can be anyplace. When we were in Lexington, half a dozen times a year there was an art walk, people would fill empty storefronts, empty offices, the front room of a house, a garage, even an alleyway with art for a night. They would talk about their work. Music, food, and drink were always a part of the experience (sadly I only went a couple of times.) Back in the early 1990's in Orlando, the warehouse at a glass company was converted to an art and theater showcase one Saturday evening a month. It was creative. The shows here at Arts in Montebello are open shows, if you submit it, we will show it unless it is clearly offensive. In over a year of organizing shows, we have not had anything offensive submitted. I worry that if we don't offend someone sooner or later, we are not showing enough work.  Be creative, find venues that allow you so show your work. 

One of the works above was inspired by a dream. The artist's statement tells about the dream and how it compelled her to get up early the next  morning and paint. She sounds just a little bit crazy, and I think people can identify with that. It tells her story in a very creative way. 

Freaky Friday: The Day The Earth Moved

August 23, 2011 I was at a conference at the Marriott Hotel at Woodley Park*, mid afternoon, there was this distant rumbling sound, the room went quiet, and the sound got louder, then the room started to shake. There was construction going on next door, and I wondered for a moment if the excavation was collapsing. One of the speakers was from California, she dove under a table. I held onto a picture frame that was shaking so hard I thought would fall off of the wall. It lasted less than a minute. It was an earthquake. The biggest one in recent history in the Washington DC area. 

Everyone was moved outside, about half an hour later the hotel announced that it was safe to go back inside. Most people did, a few refused to do so. One group told the hotel to ship their bags, and took a taxi to the airport. A few minutes later it was announced that the conference was adjourning early.  I walked a couple of blocks, and found a Capital Bikeshare Bike, and started my journey home. The subway had reopened, but with a very-slow speed restriction. The wait to get into a station in the city stretched down the block. I rode out of the city. By the time I got to Crystal City, in Arlington, I was able to get on a train to my home station. Good thing, as BikeShare had not extended service to Alexandria at that time. 

The photo above was take a couple of months later, as I was riding across the Mall on my way to L'Enfant plaza to catch the train home. 

The Washington Monument was closed after the earthquake. It needed a careful inspection, not easy to do. They put out a call for structural engineers, who were skilled mountain climbers and under 150 pounds. They squeezed out through windows, secured ropes and meticulously inspected the outside of the monument. Ultimately the monument was surrounded by scaffolding for a few months. Then later, closed for replacement of the elevators, the rails the elevators ride on were twisted in ways that could not be unkinked causing frequent  malfunctions. 

The photo above was a once in a lifetime moment, being in the right time at the right time. Kind of like being in DC when an earthquake shakes the world. 

* the Marriott Hotel closed a few years ago, was torn down and replaced by apartments.