Bzzy , Bzzy, Bzzy!

I have had THE most wonderful kind of day!  It was an unexpected pleasure to meet Anne Marie and Charlie Hammond, beekeepers extraordinaire.  I had called them a few days ago to see if they would allow me to take pix of their bees and ask some questions.  Today Anne Marie called and said "How 'bout this afternoon?"---I was so happy/shocked/unprepared/delighted and said yes, see you when I get geared up and off I went to greet the bees. 

 Shortly after I arrived, Anne Marie suited me up(sacrificing her own hand while giving me her gloves) and we went out to the hives.  They had some camphor bits smokin' up around the hives to better control the darlings and it was a beautiful breezy afternoon.  I was given a good dose of background information on the social side of bees and some biological info too--how they are affected by pest control, disease, mites, climate-- and of course,how they make honey.  HONEY!  That alone would have been worth the trip.  I was treated to some Tupelo honey and their homegrown wildflower honey, which was far richer and more complex than the store stuff, what Anne Marie called Baker's grade--still sweet but bland.  Amazing. 

 Well.  Everything was happening so quickly I really didn't have time to be nervous or scared, which is one of the big reasons I wanted to do this.  My decision to do this project on bees grew out of concerns I have been made aware of lately having to do with CCD, or colony collapse disorder.  While that is more a problem for larger beekeeping operations, it drew my attention to bees in general.  I started digging around the local and Florida organizations to find out what the general state of beekeeping was in our bountiful, pollen dependent state.  There is a ton of info on the net about how to become a beekeeper, regulations ( inspections are required), the medical treatment of bees for both their health and ours, introducing new Queens to established hives ( I really enjoyed that stuff!) and much more.  Anne Marie mentioned the possibility of fighting allergies with honey in season.  I plan to pursue that trail.  Honey has been used medicinally like, forever.  

And speaking of forever, here is where the full circle comes in.  In Minoan culture, as in many cultures around the world, Bees were very highly regarded and had a significant role in their world view.  The Malia Minoan Bee sculpture in the picture  above shows two bees joined by pollen with drips of honey from their wings and bodies.  So important to the cycle!  Like Corn Mother, they are providers and important to the food chain.  There is even  a Bee goddess with the face of a woman and body of a bee.....And the final part of the circle for me personally, is that I am switching to using only beeswax in my batiks.  I think it will work effectively, smell wonderful, and be much better for my health.  Beeautiful!

As far as the social part of the bees go, I love the worker bees.  Little girl bees, cleaning and busting out of their birthplaces until they can forage for pollen and return triumphant to the colony.  All the while working for that Lazy @#%*! Queen.  I call them my Cinderella Bees.  I figure if I can personalize them it helps me get past the fear part.  That's how I am going to show them in my art, my bee girls.  

Many thanks to the Hammonds! Informative and generous ( Charlie gave me fresh radishes, Anne Marie gave me skydiving tips!) as well as kind.  Can't wait for the orange blossom honey to come in...

"Busy, busy, busy..."--Kurt Vonnegut

What's the Buzz?

For your enjoyment (I hope) this is a 1975 batik blouse worn by Sister Leni, because.....

This year the theme is BEES.  I have been hearing a lot about populations of bees disappearing seemingly overnight.  It is a huge alarm!  Our friends in the cycle are so important, so vital to our ecosystem.  They give us such a model of teamwork and pattern.  So I will explore the connection to bees and look forward to doing some beeautiful art with them.  Partners, me and the bees. and the corn.  OOOOOOhhhhh bees and corn together!  Fun! Pretty!

I am in obsession mode.  This usually happens when I am bored or have just come off a project and hit the void.  So tonight it is coral necklaces that look like snakes (coral snakes, of course) and old tv theme songs.  Just enough to keep me up past my lunesta.  But I will make it through because I have found just the thing to settle me down.  Actually, it is writing.

I think I put off writing for years, because I was afraid of not getting a good grade.  Aside from having an official license to read, getting a degree in English pretty much guaranteed not ever wanting to be judged by my words on paper ever again.  Which is kinda strange because I did well in school.  It just sucked my creativity dry.  I loved everything I read then, but it was all paraded across my  brain like a feast that you had to figure out the ingredients for.  Now I enjoy writing... maybe because sometimes people write back, maybe because it clarifies what I am thinking about.  Which is BEES.

 

A Month of Celebrations

March usually gives me a tummy-ache, on account of all the frosting I eat at birthday time.  Today my Daughter in law, Laura, is 21.  Cheers!  She is on her own for a while in Japan as Sky is out keeping us safe.  Schoolin' and shoppin', all on her lonesome, she is gettin' it done.  Salud!  Next, is CJ's birthday, the 27th.  He will turn 26 on the day he and Vladimira are moving into their new home.  A bottle of the best to you!  And Sky will be 24 (my favorite number!) on April Fool's day.  in Korea.  Hoping it is only treats and no tricks for you...

Anyway, I am still managing to finish the cake from my reception ( above) and still celebrating the mural, also above. You can't see my hand tightly gripping a Mr. Clean sponge....however, I just love the group of people I worked with and happily I saw some of them at the reception.  However, I am taking names of those that did not attend....(kidding!)

CJ (Chris Jr.) suggested the name Vacationing the New Desert World for my story .  I like it.  and about the story...

Vacationing the New Desert World Part III

As soon as I stepped inside the entry to the rock -camouflaged structure, lights came on... very , very bright lights.  I figured they were programmed that way because it was so glaring outside.  After a few seconds they began to dim to a normal wattage.  I looked around for some kind of host and found a console blinking my name next to a map similar to the one on my display.  There was a scanner over it, so I winked into it and a voice said "Please state your equipment request."  

It was unnerving.  The voice was lifelike in contrast to the silicone nature of everything up to now, but I kind of felt let down that there wasn't even a hologram of an AI to meet me.  Well, I had wanted to get some me-time in, after all.  So much to discover, so much relaxing to do, so much to decompress from, right?

 Okay.   It wasn't exactly a  welcome center.   This was the supply area for the lodge.  As good a place to start as any.  I considered my options.   Knowing that I would be here for a while gave me the luxury of doing nothing .  I could go back to the lodge and sleep.  or read.  or do some exercises. or not.  I decided to look around the center for a snack and see if there was any evidence of recent visitation by whoever maintained the place.  The air hummed around me with a pulse/tune built in.   Such environmental modifications were passe' these days, thanks to modern sensory engineering.  Still, it was a pleasant enhancement to the sterility of the place.  Kinda made me feel like moving to a ghost beat.  Not quite music, not quite rhythm, the air ssssssssssed around and my pace matched it shortly.  Quiescent exercise. Another way of keeping up with the planetary differences, I supposed.  After a few weeks of this I won't mind the g-differential.  

I accessed the food controls and had some water and more fruit.  There was a green wafer with it that seemed familiar.  It almost disintegrated with my touch.  I licked my fingers ...tasted like a dusty type of nori, the seaweed wrapper sushi came wrapped in.  No telling how long it was in the dispenser.  hmmmmm. More water.  In fact, water tasted better with each sip.  Ahhhhh, the simple things!  I sat down and waited for motivation.  

That was the last thing I remember.

Ya Gotta Have Peeps

Ahh.  The reception at Spirit of the Hand was wonderful.  Like my whole Hernando County life passed before my eyes.  People from all different parts of my life were there flowing in and out of the shop, just like they do like, in real life!  But all in one room!  The CFCs, (another story), the muralistos, mermaids...funny how I have to attach names for them to keep straight.  Aging makes strategists of us all..or is it just me?   I am so honored to be a part of the art community out here.  and of course, I love being the center of attention, just in case you haven't picked up on that.  

Just in case you may wonder, why Manysisters?  I have 4 sisters, Stefi, Leni, Cory, and Joy, and many sisters of the heart.  Some of my sisters are sistahs . Some are not even women.  or human.  My sister Denali, my Anatolian Shepherd, could have borrowed my  clothes if she needed to.  she already had my shoes.  I digress.  There is a legend that some native people name their children after the first thing they see.  Well.  

Many Thanks from Manysisters for everyone that made the night so special. (more below the video!)

and now for a lovely signed version of "the Music of the Night" from Phantom of the Opera by Cierra, Evie's niece

Here is a whew! out to Rhonda, whose Harry was in a motorcycle accident. I am thinking about you two and sending good mojo your way.  One look at you said it all.  I am grateful you stopped in with that close call so heavy on your shoulders.  

Guac Queen, what can I say?  I will give you back the bowl one day if you promise to refill it...

CFCs, Subtle, Elegant, you sneak in and out, hardly waiting to talk about me in the parking lot.  How I love that!  DonnaJean, Ingrid, Kathy, Karen--always make Thursdays sparkle!

Karen, thanks for packing me up and getting me out!  from there and all my shows!  I may let you organize my house after all!

Muralistos,  there is such comfort in knowing that working together can lead to lasting friendships.  Lynne, Karen, Joe, Grace--there is no I in team.  But there is Me!! and meat. and emat.

Evie, or should I say Dr. Evie in the blue coat!  I can always count on you.  

Kathleen and Pete.  in the dictionary under support.  Talent, dedication, and friendship.

and more love to all my old friends and new ones wellmet this night. THANK YOU!!!!!!

 

The Shamrock Shore

 The Fab Four Family Photo...1972ish--Stefi, Leni, Julie, Cory 

Sure and you'll be knowin' that  your little jewel will have taken a wee trip to the Shamrock Shore with her mam in what, like 1975?! just to see if all the stories were true.  And they were! and not!

My Mom had to bundle me up and practically carry me around the Emerald Isle, I was in such shock.  No #%* Lepruchans and no hot sauce.  It was sad, possums, yet....they rocked!!!  After choking mightily on those darn Euro cigarettes, Players, I believe, we  decided to have a Guinness or two at a pub in Dublin called, of course, Donovans.  I was made to get up on the bar and sing some country song and a really poor version of Danny Boy, after which I got into an argument about soccer, for goodness sake.  Soccer!!! (Okay, I was a Tampa Bay Rowdies Fanny) Anyway, I soon discovered that I thought Guinness tasted like liquid tobacco and that I  loved Irish music.  So for your listening pleasure, the wonderful band Horselips, singing the Shamrock Shore,  from the album Happy to Meet, Sorry to Part.  The Commitments, the Republic of Loose, even that little band U2...It's all good!

Okay.  Sky, my lad, told me he is wearing a green shirt that says "I'm not lucky, I'm good" which I would have worn if I had thought of it first.  Chris, my lad, will probably be wearing the camo, which is Marine for " I'm a Marine, and I'm good".  Right on all counts, those boys!!

Still feeling like the luckiest person in the world.   

A little more nothing

More nothing going on at the Desert Planet...

With a whoosh I was separated from my quarters.  I had been there a total of 15 hours and still not a soul in sight.  Or anything that might have once been alive.    I hadn't come for a Friday night Luau or a video date, so this was ok with me.  But it was oddly disquieting.   The sun was climbing  and not so directly in my eyes.  I wore shade and a breather membrane for dust.  Nothing stirring dustwise, either.  The welcome package contained a global positioning monitor and a simple map of the compound, both of which were uploaded to my headgear on arrival.  Fingering the button on the suit triggered the display and I found myself on the southern (?) end of the small grouping of structures that was to serve as a tourist destination.  What had looked like rocks earlier showed to be the camoflaged buildings on the map.  Thataway, I said to no one.  

This particular Desert World had a similar gravity to Earth, just a bit heavier.  My footsteps felt clunky and crunched loudly in the absence of  anything to absorb the sound.  If I had flown over this area during the day I might have missed it--the blending of rock and buildings was almost seamless.  There was a gentle slope leading away from my lodge. As I approached the nearest building I turned to barely make out the doorway I had just walked through hidden in the creamy stone.  Better get my bearings, I grumbled to myself.  Getting lost would be too easy here.    

Circling the rocks that housed the next building, I felt a bit disoriented as I looked for an opening.  About this time I would have had my comm out and asked directions .  A minor challenge, sure, but nothing I couldn't handle.  There was nothing obvious, no change of color or texture.  Whatever language the landscape spoke, I was dumbfounded.  After a few minutes I pulled up the guest map and looked for a key.  There were numbers next to the  building, maybe indicating a code for the doorlock.  I punched them into my comm and aimed it at the rocks.  Immediately a wavy noise eminated from one side of the pile.  Looking a bit more closely at the source I found a light flashing around the doorway, illuminating the opening slightly in the sunlight. 

 The door opened automatically as I came near with the same sucking noise I had heard the night before.  Anybody home?

Lincoln Vail of the Everglades

Hey you Boomers.  There was a time when tv studios in Florida were making out Miami--Ft Lauderdale to be the Hollywood of the east.  We had all kinds of programming--Flipper, Surfside Six, Everglades, Gentle Ben, Whirly Bird...usually Ivan Tors had the special effects with the aquatic scenes and there was some swingin' stuff goin' on with the 77 Sunset Strip wannabees at the Fountainbleau.  or maybe it was the Eden Roc.  

I was just a little cadet then, and my heroes have always been a little on the super side.  Lincoln Vail was the police/ranger for the Everglades County Department.  He was sooooooo cool.  But the star of that show, really all the shows, was Florida.  Route 66 had an episode set at Weeki Wachee, which I recently viewed courtesy of former Mermaid Barbara Wynns. It was Fabulous.  The boys in the corvette go to Weeki and meet a real mermaid.  I actually swam in that water!!! George Maharis and Martin Milner.  Wow.  But then again, it was really all about the Spring.  What I loved about those shows was how natural Florida looked --it had a really different identity.  A bit of a mystery there.  You would never know it now....

Florida.  Yeah. Let's hope Weeki Wachee State Park keeps that old Florida flavor.  Something between an orange creamsicle and smell of new cut grass....

 

When Nothing is Everything

Above is a picture taken from my cellphone at Pine Island.  Hmmmmmmmmmmmm

Here is part of a story I am working on.  I like to try my hand at Sci Fi now and then.  Not the techy kinda writing, but more the concept driven stuff.  My favorite writers walk that line with grace.  Kim Stanley Robinson's Mars and Beltway books, Jack McDevitt's anything (the man can do no wrong) or anything by Arthur C. Clarke.  I also like Syne Mitchell, who is also a fiber artist and makes me jealous twice.  

When Nothing is Everything 

Having arrived at the Desert World at night, I was unprepared for the mind-burning brightness of the uncompromising morning light.  The windows of my lodge were unfiltered as on Earth, and there was no mercy in the illumination.  Originally I had planned on a casual vacation with an island theme-- palm trees, flowers,  surfing, and grass skirts shushing in the breeze.  But then the cacaphony of the real world intruded and I knew that my solace could be better guaranteed by quiet.  So there I lay, half under the sheets with my arms across my face, hoping my present plan wasn't a big mistake.  Eventually the glaring starburst in my lids subsided and I opened my eyes to the view outside.  The agent wasn't kidding when he said desert.  Except for the tracks still visible leading to my accommodations, the view was devoid of anything but rocks and sand.  

Desert World had been settled- a term I use very loosely- by a team of terraformers, that is, people who make planets habitable like Earth by introducing ecosystems and modeling them like, well, Terra, or Earth.  The job turned out to be overwhelming.  Asteroid miners were on strike, supply ships were too sparse after the lunar outpost on Phobos had been wiped out, and there wasn't much interest in planet renovation now that the new galaxy class drives were operational.  So some of the team moved on and a few stayed out here for the principle of it.  Extracting water and building farms slowly, they supplemented their supplies and income with tourism.  Lucky me...

I opted for this journey, this spirit walk, this leave of absence because I just couldn't take the neverending assault of home any more.  All the communicating. It just wouldn't quit!  Night and day, the texting, buzzing, ringing, whispers, demanding I pay attention to every detail or I would pay dearly for having missed , I dunno, what?  There was always a prompt sounding for me to acknowledge, people to pay,  sporting events, rejuvenation appointments, holo conferences.  I was pulled in every direction and I was drowning at the same time.  I couldn't sleep , my hearing was going downhill from all the attachments and I was constantly running into things when my appointment alarms went off.  Enough.  So I figured I should check out of it and get some peace.  Put an end to the chaos and just listen to my thoughts for a while...

After a lean breakfast of coffee and some kind of dry fruit, I geared up for a look-see outdoors.  I had been deposited at the door  and whisked inside--almost sucked inside the entryway by my driver the night before after an eerie whistling ride down from orbit.  From there it was just a matter of unpacking and looking for the bar, which, thankfully, was next to the bed.  Just water and an alcoholic jelly thing like the shooters my ancestors got so nostalgic about.  A few of those with some nuts from the flight down and I was out.    Now it was time to see the visible quiet I had imagined and put my savings into.  With my heart beating a quickening drumroll, I ventured out the door.

Til next time....

Anniversary-We Keep On Keepin On

Today Chris and I celebrated 28 years of marriage, 30 years together.  Still the most brilliant guy I know, and still manages to teach me with his patience and perseverance.  And he is still younger than me, so I look forward to the next 30!

He remarked that we have officially lived with each other more than we have lived without each other.  I remember hitting that milestone with my parents .  Since I left home at 18 to go to college, I have lived twice as long away from them.  But only in distance.  My sisters, the CFCs, my extended family of the arts community, more sisters and brothers---just show me how the heart stretches, like Corn Mother's umbilical cord.

Sky, Laura, and Chris all called from around the world (literally!!) to wish us a happy day.  It really, really was.  I am the luckiest Mom ever.

I hung my stuff up at Spirit of the Hand Gallery in Brooksville.  I love that it has good lighting and the iridesense of my paintings sparkles!  Nanette, the owner/artist of the store is very supportive of the arts in general and I am grateful for the exposure and advice she's given me.

http://www.spiritofthehand.com is the website--I may be featured on it at some point before the show closes!

Today-the next day, the mural group finished the last interview for the newspapers.  I am so proud of what we accomplished  !  After working on my own for so long I had forgotten how great the camaraderie of fellow artists can be.  Great support and a learning process.  My thanks to Lynne Simone, Joe Starkey, Mae Polizze, Felicia Himmel, Grace Ashcraft, Jana Withers, Karen Heidler, Muriel Prieto, John De Roberts,and Rene Donson.  (in no particular order, just a bad memory for names right now!) --my thanks for putting up with my brand of bossiness.  I would do it again in a heartbeat.