Fiorghra

My Mom Died This Morning - A True Story

2012-02-11T12:23:00.000-05:00

My Mom died in October of 2001. I've shared the story of the day she died with some but I decided to write this poem, or prose, or whatever you might call it.

My Mom Died This Morning - A True Story

My mom died this morning

A more positive person you’d never met

At times, a difficult life of poverty and domestic violence

But through hard work and perseverance

She created security and great love

If you’d asked her she would have said her life wasbeautiful

And she was right

Never one to dwell on the negative

Her vivaciousness, wit, understanding, and laughter

Is what everyone always remembers about her

My siblings and I spent the night at the hospital

Knowing it was the end

Wanting to be there for a few last hours with her

She talked about her theory that when you die

You become whatever age you were the most happy during yourlife

I pictured her running up the big hill at my grandparents’house

Pigtails flying, followed by any number of her 9 siblings

Headed for the big oak tree that was her steed

Her fort, her Mt. Everest, or her ship,

Whatever her fancy may have been that day

Just as the sun was rising

Her own beautiful star extinguished

All that was left, and it was much,

Was the light and laughter that was her memory

Never being one who could cry at the appropriate time

I sat there feeling empty and alone amongst a crowd of tears

I knew I had to get away and be alone with my loss

I drove home and loaded my kayak onto my car

The unseasonably warm October morning with bright sun andblue skies

Belying the tragedy of the day

A five minute drive to the river

I was relieved that the early hour guaranteed my solitude

Paddling downriver against the incoming tide

You’d think I was being pursued by a monster

Tears finally flowing, leaving a wake of despair

Stopping exhausted next to shore

I looked up and saw a beautiful bald eagle

Perched in a tree not 20 feet above

Staring down at me with a hint of concern

What can be so sad on this day the Lord has given us

He seemed to ask

So I told him of my loss

Of the feeling of becoming an orphan

Of being abandoned

No matter that I was almost 50 years old

We sat there and talked for 20 minutes

Though not a word was spoken

His understanding and compassion

Allowed the tears to flow without feeling pitiful or silly

Finally I thanked him for listening and started off again onmy paddle

Peacefully at first but as the sadness returned

The paddling once more became frantic and obsessed

Again, I pulled up next to shore to rest under anoverhanging tree

And as I did, much to my surprise, the eagle landed justabove me

I couldn’t help but smile through my tears

And welcome him back

I shared with him memories of long talks

Of funny stories, of sad times, and beautiful moments

We laughed and cried

And gave thanks to the universe

For kindness, for adversities, and complex relationships

Again, I thanked him for listening

And slowly and more peacefully

Continued on my way downstream against the tide

I paddled hard and fast and steady for quite some time

But with much less distress than I’d been feeling before

The sun was beating down harshly at this point

The heat of the day at its peak

So the shady cove beckoned me

I pulled over and closed my eyes

Welcoming the relief from the sun

I splashed some water onto my face

And hearing a noise, glanced upwards and burst into laughter

To see my now old friend perched up above

He seemed relieved to hear my mirth

As if it signaled I was back to my old self

The woman who was the daughter my mother produced

Sensing all was well

He lifted off from his branch

And with grace and majesty

He soared down the middle of the river

Until he was just a dot that disappeared

Into the horizon

Suddenly exhaustion overcame me

The sleepless night, the deep emotions and the physicalexertion

All came together

And I was grateful to allow the incoming tide

To gently bring me back

Bring me back to my less than perfect but oh so glorious life

To the guilt that every mother feels when she’s put her ownneeds

Before the needs of her family

To a husband who was also dying

And had only a few months left to live

To three teenage sons who were sad at the loss

Of a grandmother they were very close to

But I’ll be forever grateful for that October day

That I spent with my eagle friend

Thank you Mom for sending him to me

Once again, you knew just what I needed

So if you’re ever with me

And an eagle appears

You’ll know why I look at it with love

And say, “Hi Mom.”

This poem contributed to dVersePoets Open Link Night.

January 2012

2012-01-20T12:59:00.003-05:00

I feel a simultaneous aversion and aestheticappreciation. It really is very beautifulbut with no snow, I’d been wistfully thinking that spring was just around thecorner. It almost didn’t matter that itwasn’t because my psyche felt it there. Now there’s no pretending. Itreally is mid-January. The lazy paddledown the verdant and wildlife infested Cobb are a distant daydream. The kayaks arecovered in snow and won’t be taking me anywhere. I supposeI must remain present and entertain myself with my favorite winter sport – my potterywheel.

Pottery weekend

2012-01-16T23:12:00.001-05:00

I think this is a link to a video - not sure if it will work.

http://youtu.be/m0hB4ic8ZMY

The bottom to a casserole dish. I made a video of throwing this piece. I'll try to post it.

The top to the above casserole dish.

Batter bowl #1. I made a batter bowl as my Yankee Swap Christmas gift this year and it got swapped (stolen) two times. Both Jenika and Linda were quite disappointed to lose it so I thought maybe I'd make one for each of them.

Batter bowl #2

Lisa's son, Josh, was unable to make it to our Christmas Eve celebration/yankee swap this year but asked his mom to be sure to bring home a piece of pottery for him. I put out a table full of pottery each year and ask people to take whatever they'd like. They are often not my best pieces - glazes didn't come out quite how I'd wanted them or the shape didn't turn out quite as I'd expected. Anyway, Josh has a new apartment and I thought I'd make him a couple of cereal/soup bowls.

This is the bottom part of a covered h'ors doeuvre plate. I have a couple others of these and I use them quite a bit.

Not sure how much I like this. I think it's too tall. We'll see how it looks after glazing.

Serving bowl. Maybe I'll make a cover for it. I like my food to stay hot.

Christmas Celebrations 2011

2011-12-27T11:25:00.000-05:00

Christmas Eve gathering for our Yankee Swap

Rick had been going on all night about how he was going to get #1 for the Yankee Swap and sure enough he did!

Jared opening a bottle of Gray Goose Vodka. Unfortunately it wasn't long before someone else traded him for it.

Jenika was very happy to get the batter bowl I made, along with some pancake mix and real maple syrup.

Unfortunately for her it got scoffed up, first by Linda and then later by Sara who was the final owner.

Jared

Lisa with Chelsea and Justin looking on

Sara, Chris, and Donnie

Justin

Moi

Anytime Rick makes anything resembling a lap, Karma makes himself comfortable.

Christmas morning breakfast.

Monkey bread and egg and sausage casserole

Christmas morning breakfast

Emma enjoying her bed by the fireplace

A visit from Mom the day before Christmas Eve

Mid December 2011

2011-12-18T15:53:00.000-05:00

I've been really busy with work and trying to get a few pieces of pottery made before Christmas. I was surprised that the tall vase below came out so nicely. I'd glazed this piece quite some time ago and but the red chun I'd used on it was turning out gray on every other piece I'd done so I decided to dip this piece into the celadon blue (the color of most of the other pieces in this photo) figuring it might come out some color in between but lo and behold, the red chun came through beautifully!

My small bounty from the most recent firing. The red chun actually came out nice this time.

On Wednesday, December 14th, in response to our idiot Governor's effort to cut 65,000 people off our state's Medicaid program, we helped to organize a rally at the State House. Reports said over 500 people attended, many of them staying to testify afterwards.

It was a hectic week working with folks on their testimony and trying to close cases and getting things wrapped up so that I could be gone for two weeks. Rick sent me a nice bouquet of flowers on Tuesday. Thursday evening we went to The Liberal Cup and listened to Back Woods Road. Rick came down and sang a couple of songs with them. Tammy Trask joined us as well.

I had planned to go out shopping on Friday but ended up staying home and throwing a couple of pots. Went to Eddie's Christmas party for a bit and then to The Mad Dog in Gardiner to listen to Rick Dosedlo and Logan. On Saturday we went out and bought our Christmas tree and hit a couple of stores. I got home by mid afternoon and then just puttered until about two a.m. decorating and cleaning.

Emmy had been acting pretty sick and not eating so I gave her the bed I'd bought for her for Christmas early and she lied close to the fire and seemed to feel better after a few hours. She even ate some canned food and was back on dry food this morning.

Overall a very nice start to my vacation.

A Summer Memory

2011-11-22T14:41:00.002-05:00

The Bluegrass Festival

A weekend village has sprung up

Gulf Streams, Dutchman, Fleetwoods, tents

a bass drives out a beat

while the dobro weaves a path through it

guitars fill in the edges

as the fiddle springs to life,

and the banjo dances in and out

vocals weeping in the distance

the professor, pharmacist, salesman, and lawyer

this weekend are banjo, guitar, bass, and mandolin

the development director of a small charity

is dancing Denise

teenagers appear at the edges of the compound

instruments nervously in hand

only their timidity standing in their way

where else can you wander into somebody’s home

quietly pull up an empty chair

and become part of their evening

whether as an appreciative observer or participant

and leave later, never having exchanged names

drunk off intimacy and community

This poem contributed to dVersePoets Open Link Night.

Occupy Augusta November 19th

2011-11-20T16:39:00.000-05:00

I love this photo - that's me holding two signs - both mine and Rick's, Keeley beside me and my oldest son Justin, on the far right. Rick took the photo from the steps of the state house and you can see the tents of Occupy Augusta behind us. We participated in a meeting there today that was quite interesting. They talked about legislative actions they would like to see happen; some made sense and others I can't say I'd subscribe to, but they were all treated with respect and allowed discussion. There was discussion about legalizing the industrial use of hemp, which only makes sense and I've never been able to understand the blind objections to it. Maybe it's not really as useful as folks in these settings expound. I'll need to do some internet research.

Test Glaze Firing

2011-11-18T15:07:00.003-05:00

So I fired my test glaze pieces a couple of days ago. I had numbered each piece on the bottom when I threw them so that I could track what I did to each one in terms of glaze thickness and placement on upper or lower shelves. I wanted to test two different glazes: the first, red chun, has always been a difficult glaze but when it works out well, it’s really beautiful and probably my favorite all round glaze. However, instead of coming out red my pieces have been coming out rather gray and I couldn’t tell whether it was because the glaze was too thick, too thin, the kiln was too hot or too cold. So I put one with thick glaze and one with thin glaze on each of the 3 shelves. There’s about a whole cone’s difference in temperature between the top shelf in the kiln and the lower as you can see from the photo below.

These are 5, 6, and 7 cone packs. I'm trying to fire to cone 5. I had to put a cone 7 in the kiln sitter and I think it still turned off the kiln a little too early. The single ones are cone 5 which I put right in the peep hole to be able to see it best while firing. You can see that the cone 5 and cone 6 bent fairly nicely on the top shelf; just the cone 5 bent on the middle shelf; and the cone 5 on the bottom shelf only bent slightly.

So . .

#1 red chun – thick glaze – bottom (cooler) shelf

#3 red chun – thick glaze – top shelf

#4 red chun – thick glaze – middle shelf

#2 red chun – thin glaze – bottom shelf

#5 red chun – thin glaze – middle shelf

#7 red chun – thin glaze – top shelf

Starting from the left front they are numbered 1, 2, 4, and 3, 5 7 coming down from the back on the right. The larger piece in the back is a red chun when behaving well - the color that I'm going for.

There really seems to be almost no difference overall. Each of them are fairly gray but each has a section that's got a little red tinge to it. So I can't say that the test firing taught me anything. Bummer. It's still just red chun behaving badly. Maybe it's just a bad batch. I buy my glazes all mixed. The glazes I'm accustomed to using are ones that my pottery teacher, Malley, mixed herself.

The other glaze I wanted to test is the royal blue which has always been a really solid glaze, didn’t run much and showed off embellishments fairly well. However, mine had been blistering and running and again, I didn’t know why. I think I did learn something from the royal blue test glazes.

It seems the thinner glaze on the cooler bottom shelf works best for the royal blue, though they all seem to have some blisters. I really need to get this one right because I'm going to use it for a nice covered casserole dish and don't want to mess it up.

It's my birthday . . .

2011-11-04T15:00:00.000-04:00

Today's is my 58th birthday. Hard to believe. But life is good, I feel pretty healthy and I guess I don't look too bad for my age, at least most days. I guess at midnight last night I was dancing at The Wharf with Betty, Melissa, and Dave Thibodeau, to music by Paul Thibeault and Alfred Lund. Fun time! I slept late this morning, (being a Friday) and took a leisurely shower and puttered a little around the house, spent some time on FB, and now need to pack for our overnight at The Second Street Bed & Breakfast in Hallowell. Rick reserved us a room for the night so that we can indulge and not have to worry about driving. School Street Band is playing at Higher Grounds tonight; they've got a killer guitar player and do some great dancing music. We were out till 1:00 last Friday night celebrating with Regina and Lance but not sure we'll make it that late tonight.

Occupy Augusta

2011-10-16T12:04:00.000-04:00

Thank you Paul Krugman for explaining so eloquently why the Occupy movement calls to me and so many others.

Our contingent of a small - maybe 100 as reported by the local paper - but dedicated group outside the Capitol Building in Augusta on October 15th

"What’s going on here? The answer, surely, is that Wall Street’s Masters of the Universe realize, deep down, how morally indefensible their position is. They’re not John Galt; they’re not even Steve Jobs. They’re people who got rich by peddling complex financial schemes that, far from delivering clear benefits to the American people, helped push us into a crisis whose aftereffects continue to blight the lives of tens of millions of their fellow citizens.

Yet they have paid no price. Their institutions were bailed out by taxpayers, with few strings attached. They continue to benefit from explicit and implicit federal guarantees — basically, they’re still in a game of heads they win, tails taxpayers lose. And they benefit from tax loopholes that in many cases have people with multimillion-dollar incomes paying lower rates than middle-class families.

This special treatment can’t bear close scrutiny — and therefore, as they see it, there must be no close scrutiny. Anyone who points out the obvious, no matter how calmly and moderately, must be demonized and driven from the stage. In fact, the more reasonable and moderate a critic sounds, the more urgently he or she must be demonized, hence the frantic sliming of Elizabeth Warren.

So who’s really being un-American here? Not the protesters, who are simply trying to get their voices heard. No, the real extremists here are America’s oligarchs, who want to suppress any criticism of the sources of their wealth."

Full op ed: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/10/opinion/panic-of-the-plutocrats.html

Connection

2011-10-11T20:37:00.001-04:00

Connection

There is a hunger for connection

Deep down in one’s soul

Under all the layers

That moment when you cut

Through all the bullshit that

Surrounds every relationship

And connect

There are no ex wives, old boyfriends, or needy children

The stress from work is immaterial

The unsold house, the bills, the mistrust

It’s not separating us in this instant

There is only the two of us

And the ping rate is minuscule

It’s there and then it’s gone

Back to daily life

One suffers the hum drum of routine in memory of that moment

As the power of two dance before them, drawing them in

And usually spitting them out

But for the rare moment

When defenses drop and we’re given another glimpse

Of what’s behind the great wall of ego and thought

This poem contributed to
dVersePoets Open Link Night #13

Lowell Celebrates Kerouac 2011

2011-10-10T01:14:00.006-04:00

We stopped at the "Historic Trolley Pizzeria" on our way into Lowell Friday afternoon and then drove straight to Jack's grave. We found it pretty easy it being our 3rd trip there.

Me bringing a rose for Jack's grave from a bouquet Rick had brought me last week.

An assortment of offerings - the shots, harmonica, a couple of beers, my rose, Rick's book, and the single malt 16 year old whiskey we brought for our toast.

I read the 242nd Chorus from Mexico City Blues.

After leaving the grave we checked into our hotel - not an easy feat. It was so absurd I seriously thought we could be on candid camera or something, but it gave us a chance to talk to the other people in line and met a couple in town for the festival from Bordeaux, France and a professor from Quebec with several students. We then walked over to Ricardo's, getting lost en route and finding the prof and his students wandering as well. We all found it a few minutes later and had a beer, talked with Mike, listened to a NY street poet named Steve Dalachinsky whom I really liked. Then this Jack impersonator told a little story about the first time he met Ken Kesey - not a pretty story. :-)

This is "Jack" hanging out at Ricardo's - the first pub on our tour.

We stopped at Cappy's Copper Kettle second where we met a pretty interesting local dude playing pool. He told us he was a fighter - a kick boxer I think - and told Rick he looked like Kevin Nash who apparently is a wrestler. It's very ironic that Rick is probably the only person in the bar other than this guy who would have a clue as to who Kevin Nash was. After seeing a photo of Kevin Nash I must say I don't see the resemblance - 6 ft 7 - 300 pounds of solid muscle would be the first difference I notice.

Next we went on to Major's Pub. Rick had been posting on his Kerouac-obsessed blog all week that anyone who came up to him and said Rumplestiltskin would get a free book. While Rick was outside taking photos I grabbed a table and invited some other folks to sit with us. I got talking to Melissa, Todd and Nancy and then Rick came and joined us. As we talked, Melissa said - hey, are you that guy with the blog? I said, what's the magic word and she nailed it! Rick had been carrying a couple of books around so true to his pledge, gave her a signed copy. It turns out she'd come across his blog when googling a Kerouac quote and saw his posts. Her partner Todd was the Kerouac lecturer for Saturday which turned out to be very interesting.

The last pub was The Worthen House - the same place we ended last year with all the antique belt driven fans. As we were going in, the woman in front of us was telling the guy collecting $5 cover charge that she hadn't brought enough cash with her so I paid her way in. We hung out and listened to Reverend JJ - a pretty good solo guitar and harmonica player and then a rather loud and unique band afterwards. Walked back to our room about 11:30 I guess.

We had breakfast at the hotel and walked over to Kerouac Park for the bus tour just in time to hear more poetry by Dalachinsky and then a little talk and some flute tunes by Daivd Amram.

Here's a photo of Steve Dalachinsky from Saturday at Kerouac Park.

David Amram

People listening at Kerouac Park

We then boarded the bus and went to Jack's place of birth - 9 Lupine Street in Lowell.

Here's Roger Brunelle who grew up in Lowell at the same time that Kerouac lived there. He never met Jack which he regrets - says Jack died before he was awakened.

We also went to the Grotto of Our Lady of Lourdes, stopped at the Merrimack River, a couple of schools where Jack attended, and the Lowell Library where they say Jack still holds a record for having checked out the most books, among other places. We broke off the tour when they headed to some locations we'd toured last year and went to a little Mexican restaurant for a quick bite before heading to the Lowell Center for Todd's lecture.

We had to leave right after he finished so that we could run back to the hotel and get poetry for the open mike back at The Worthen House. Rick had brought a poem he'd written about being at City Light Bookstore in San Francisco. I had my moleskine but none of the poems I had in there were really speaking to me so I decided not to read. I really wanted some of the more recent poems I'd posted to dVerse poetry.

Rick reading at open mike upstairs at The Worthen House

We had planned to go the the Centralville Social Club and listen to music at 8 but we were pretty beat (so to speak) at this point and decided to go grab some dinner at a cool pub we'd walked by earlier called The Old Court. After a nice dinner we knew the music was a no go and decided we'd be redeemed if we went back to the hotel and streamed Howl from Netflix. Loved the movie - great dialogue.

When we got up on Sunday we decided to go down to Concord, MA to Sleepy Hollow Cemetery where Henry David Thoreau, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Louisa May Alcott, and Ralph Waldo Emerson are all buried.

Entrance to Author's Ridge

Me in front of Louisa May Alcott's grave.

Here's Henry David Thoreau's tombstone - very simple, as it should be. There's a much larger family marker next to his stone.

Rick at Thoreau's grave. He read an excerpt from Civil Disobedience.

Here's me at Nathaniel Hawthorne's grave.

And here's Rick at Ralph Waldo Emerson's grave. I read the poem, The Apology.

The Apology

Think me not unkind and rude,

That I walk alone in grove and glen;

I go to the god of the wood

To fetch his word to men.

Tax not my sloth that I

Fold my arms beside the brook;

Each cloud that floated in the sky

Writes a letter in my book.

Chide me not, laborious band,

For the idle flowers I brought;

Every aster in my hand

Goes home loaded with a thought.

There was never mystery,

But 'tis figured in the flowers,

Was never secret history,

But birds tell it in the bowers.

One harvest from thy field

Homeward brought the oxen strong;

A second crop thine acres yield,

Which I gather in a song.

All in all, a fun and interesting weekend. We had a nice drive home during which I stopped at Starbucks for a caffeinated mocha frapacinno, so here it is 2:00 a.m. and I'm still wide awake and putting my blog together. I'll be glad tomorrow - and when I look back in 10 years - that I did.

Childhood Memory

2011-10-03T21:46:00.003-04:00

Chaos reigns as it often does when he’s around

Yet flight is rejected

Only with complete presence can you detect the landmines before they explode

He crafts them carefully so you almost believe you put them there yourself

Complaints of a hard day of work and coming home to no dinner on the table

He bats the covered plate off the table and it crashes against the wall

The white of the eggs stick guiltily to the window

While the yoke breaks and makes a dramatic descent down the glass

Landing with silent thunder on top of the pink ham and scattered home fries

As my brothers and I run laughing hysterically from the room

Knowing our own peril, we can’t help but point out,

He is of course, right

Dinner is not on the table.

This poem contributed to dVersePoets Open Link Night Week 12

dVerse dSires

2011-09-27T19:27:00.003-04:00

I was headed to my pottery wheel when I remembered it was dVerse poetry night

Oh no! What am I to do?

Poetry or Pottery?

I guess I could write an ode to my pottery

If I knew what an ode consisted of

A haiku perhaps

But I was already well beyond all syllabic limitation

I gaze at the glaze

The evil red chun creates

Havoc wherever it goes

Clay desires my hands

Oozing mud through my fingers

What shall I become

Pulling it upwards

Sensuous shaping into

A tulip vase p’haps?

The best I can do in a pinch.

Off to play with mud.

Will check out some poetry postings in a bit.

Love to all.

This poem written
for and contributed to
dVersePoets Open Link Night Week 11

I love flowers

2011-09-20T19:52:00.002-04:00

They greeted her with smiling faces

With all their prickly thorns and petals of love

She went about her evening chores

While the flowers sang their music

short and sweet
This poem contributed to
dVersePoets Open Link Week #10

Test The Glaze Firing

2011-09-19T21:02:00.000-04:00

The witness cones on the far left are from the top shelf. They are Cones 4, 5, and 6 and the two single ones are Cones 5. Cones in the middle are also 4, 5, and 6. You can see the 4 bent completely and the 5 just a little. The cones on the right are all from the bottom shelf - again 4, 5, and 6, and the single one is a 5. But as you can see none of them really bent.

These two pieces are both done in Celadon Froth. There was no blistering but I need to make sure I hold it in the glaze long enough to get it thick. You can see the blue is where it was double dipped and the brown is just a single dip.

Again, Celadon Froth - this was on the bottom shelf which only got to about Cone 4 but it came out nicely. Even the Celadon Froth pieces on the top shelf came out fine - no blisters. A great glaze!

This is red chun but it came out mostly grayish. When not layered with other glazes it did not blister. These were on the top shelf so it got hot enough and the glaze was plenty thick enough. So maybe it got too hot or maybe it was too thick. Gotta try to figure this one out because I love red chun when it works!

This is cappucino with the rim dipped in red chun. This was on the top shelf and apparently got too hot because it's all blistered. I think it's the cappucino that blistered because the pieces that were just done in chun and were on the top shelf didn't blister.

Another blistered cappucino and red chun.

Mocked

2011-09-12T22:04:00.002-04:00

Our eyes met across the crowded room

By the end of the look

We knew we’d be spending the night together

By the end of the night

We knew we’d be spending our lives together

The tumor laughed at our plans

Mocked our passion

Instead of ripping you from my arms

Leaving me sobbing and beaten

It took you bit by bit

Until in the end

Your death was my relief

And it was guilt that crushed me

And now I sit alone on our porch

The one you built for us to grow old upon

A bird call startles me out of my reverie

No doubt a mockingbird.

This poem contributed to
dVersePoets Open Link Week #9

Crystal

2011-09-06T20:00:00.003-04:00

They gave me the name before it was all the rage

A Crystal, mixed amongst the more traditional Linda, Donald, William and Thomas of my siblings

What was its meaning

From what flight of fancy did it derive

I’m sure I was told but it wasn’t a definite thing

The story given, a little vague

Eyes that sparkled,

Something about a soul and the universe

A much better answer than

Your father’s great aunt

Though that gives you good strong roots

This leaves you hanging, gives you wings.

Amazingly I was 50 before a person gave me a crystal

A rough unpolished rock with multiple offshoots

Multi faceted in the truest sense of the word

He’d brought the crystal with him from his homeland

Not sure why until that moment he presented it to me

Wrapped in a silken Thai cloth

His Buddhism training and the time he spent as a monk

Taught him to trust his instincts

He talked about “old friends” as in previous lifetimes

In his broken English,

Trying to make me understand

The connection he felt between us

We’d known each other only a month

But we’d been Old Friends since the day we’d met

I’d felt it too; not in a romantic way

Though he was handsome and virile

But as two who had shared a life

Perhaps siblings or brothers in arms

He told me he meditated about it

Its energy, beauty and mystery

And it started me thinking

Crystal – multi faceted with many rough offshoots

Is that who I am?

It took my Old Friend and 50 years

This poem contributed to
dVersePoets Open Link Week #8

The Same Bird

2011-08-30T21:35:00.001-04:00

A plethora of little gray birds of assorted species

Labeled by man for their various calls, beaks, and plumage

Flitter back and forth to the seeds I’ve laid out

There’s no fear or misunderstandings between them

They know they’re all the same bird

This poem contributed to
dVersePoets Open Link Night #7

Endings and beginnings

2011-08-28T01:54:00.004-04:00

Rick playing at Nordica Auditorium - University of Maine, Farmington, 2010

It’s extremely calm out tonight. We’re expecting Hurricane Irene (my sweet, amazing mother’s middle name was Irene and her birthday would have been yesterday. Much love to you, mother.) The hurricane’s been reported up the east coast, yada yada. . . but tonight you could see a few stars and after battening down the hatches I was drawn outside.

I was sitting out on our lakeside deck, listening to the loons and thinking about the summer we seem to be quickly leaving behind. I was brought back to the night Rick and I spent at Cobscook Bay State Park in Downeast Maine back in July. We had arrived mid afternoon and set up the camper fairly easily though it was our very first outing without the camper experts from The NitPickers Band. We looked at the map of the park and decided to go for a hike. Nice shady trail with interesting sites described in the park map. Got to the top where there were vistas of what I’m guessing were Canadian seas. Saw a couple of kayakers; the water looked pretty calm. Note to self: I think Rick and I would have been fine in them without a guide had we brought the kayaks.

We hiked back to camp and made a dinner of Thai noodles w/chicken and a bottle of Clos du Bois. We dined outside at the picnic table and later Rick pulled out his guitar and played and sang sweetly . . . heartbreakingly . . . Townes Van Zandt, Kevin Welch, his own originals. It was one of those perfect summer nights. There’s no other place I would have wanted to be. I couldn’t stop smiling all night long, even in my sleep, I’m sure.

Anyway, here I am sitting out on our deck reflecting how that had probably been my favorite night of the summer. I noticed I’d run out of wine so went inside to make a drink of some sort (when I refilled the liquor cabinet after having the new floor installed (see previous post) I put all the almost empty bottles of liquor on the top shelf with the intention of using those up before hitting the lower shelves.)

When I got inside I heard Rick upstairs playing the guitar! Baby!! I was just thinking about you doing exactly that!! . . . Come on outside on the deck and keep doing what you’re doing. . . and he did. J I found the makings of White Russians on the top shelf. Made up a shaker; offered some to Rick who declined after having drank the other half of our bottle of wine. This was one of those nights where a half a bottle of wine equaled just getting started for me . . . with help from the caffeinated soda I’d had earlier.

It struck me that this Rick, playing the guitar on this night, was the Rick who wrote those blogs. The one who might quote Alexander Graham Bell saying “when one door closes, another door opens” or more likely a Kerouac quote that conveys the same message.

Anyway, he came out. I enjoyed the loons . . . crickets . . . peepers . . . and Rick’s lovely guitar and vocals, bestowed upon just himself and me, and the loons, which made it all the more special. Especially on this particular day when he made the momentous decision to quit playing banjo after 33 years with various bands in Pennsylvania and Maine. A very tough decision attributed to focal dystonia – a long story – but basically a loss of up to 90% of his former ability. It was just frustrating and unfulfilling for him to play so he decided to walk away from the banjo . . . leave the band . . . . The timing was right in that the band doesn’t have a gig for a few weeks and the rest of the band is at a bluegrass festival – the best place to recruit a new banjo player, with a second festival coming up next weekend.

But on the guitar . . . an instrument that asks for finger movements different from the all too familiar forward reverse rolls on the banjo, he sounds competent, comfortable and happy, if not yet expert. He played several Townes Van Zandt pieces. My favorite – To Live is to Fly – brought tears to my eyes. Some Kevin Welch . . . candles burning on a warm sultry August evening . . . 420 . . . impending storm.

Simplicity and presence, a little melancholy, perhaps a slice of excitement and anticipation, helped it to be one of the premier nights of 2011.

Later . . . was just icing on the cake. J And here I sit, listening to Bonnie Raitt radio on Pandora . . . the rain is pounding . . .Irene has arrived . . .

my cup runneth over. . .

this 27^th day of August, 2011 . . .

Home renovations

2011-08-27T13:02:00.003-04:00

When Rick and I bought this place we knew there would be years and much money spent before it got to the place where we wanted it to be. I always said it was a "complicated" property, which is why we got it at the very reasonable price we paid. It needed a new well, something had to be done to separate the double wide from the cottage. We initially intended to have the double wide hauled away and renovate the cottage. But when it came time to move in - about 18 months after we bought it - housing prices had gone to hell and my house in Gardiner which had been appraised about five years earlier at $250,000 was now sitting on the market unwanted at $150,000. I had taken out a home equity loan on it to help purchase this place so I now owed about $120,000 and the $100,000+ that we had thought would be available to renovate the cottage no longer looked likely.

So we took another look at the double wide and decided we could make do with that. The cottage has become storage space as we moved from a 14 room house with a huge two car garage into a 7 room house with a small one car detached garage that sits out by the cottage. It will never be a showcase home but it's comfortable and that's what matters. Over time we have put in the new well, separated the water and electric from the cottage, built a two car garage with a great room overhead that we use as my pottery studio, Rick's music studio, an exercise room and an extra bedroom when we have guests. We also had a 12 x 65 foot deck built towards the lakeside of the house. Oh yes, one of the first renovations we did was the master bathroom, putting in a big new shower, tile floors, and a granite counter top.

From the beginning I've always wanted to put down new floors and take down the strips that hold sheet rock together in mobile homes, have them taped and mudded, and repaint. Well, having to do so much infrastructure work, the cosmetics have taken a while to get to. But we just finished phase one yesterday - new floors in the tv room, living room, and kitchen. Huge improvement.

Next week our handyman, Todd, is scheduled to come and take down the visible beat up skirting and replace it with a brick look product, which should help the curbside appeal some.

We still have lots of work to do: paint the kitchen cabinets (or replace them?), replace counter tops, take down the strips, tape and mud them and repaint throughout. Maybe a new window or two, maybe redo the second bathroom at some point. And we should probably replace the one-hour bookshelves we put up in the den with something a little more stable and aesthetically pleasing.

Like I said . . . a work in progress.

Cleave Poetry

2011-08-22T22:10:00.001-04:00

Have you ever heard of Cleave poetry? Check it out: http://cleavepoetry.wordpress.com/

Cleave : is a contranym, a word with 2 opposite meanings:

verb 1) split or sever along a natural grain or line. 2) divide; split.

verb 1) stick fast to. 2) become strongly involved with or emotionally attached to.

In its most basic form it is three poems:

two parallel ‘vertical’ poems (left and right)

a third ‘horizontal’ poem being the fusion of the vertical poems read together.

Click on the poem to make it big enough to read.

This poem contributed to
dVersePoets Open Link Night #6

April Camp

2011-08-16T08:44:00.003-04:00

Another gray day breaks over the April marsh

if you weren’t vigilant, you might think the morning held only bleakness

but for brief moments the sky roils in pinks and blues

above an army of gliding eiders

A magnificent bald eagle is perched sentinel

hoping to discover what Mother has lain before him this day

Then, as suddenly as it came, the marsh has turned bleak once again

the dead branches protruding from the water’s dusky surface

reflect black on black in perfect symmetry

The drab sky blends with bare branches of birches and alders

still bereft of any semblance to July’s verdant greens

or October’s vibrant reds and yellows

Even the drab colors of the osprey that has taken over the eagle’s hunting ground

meld into the muted landscape

proclaiming their rightful place

in this somber spectacle of slate colored scenery

Posted for dVerse poets open link night.

Glazing - aargh!

2011-08-08T22:27:00.002-04:00

I just emptied the kiln from my latest glaze firing. I've been hesitant to do a glaze firing because the last one I did was terribly unsuccessful. The chun glaze came out whitish/cream colored and totally blistered. The other glazes were blistered as well but not nearly as badly. I realized that I had kind of rushed the firing - not waiting a full hour between turning the switches on. In fact none of the witness cones (4, 5, and 6) even bent. So this time I waited a full hour and even an hour and 10 minutes on the last 3 switches. I put the chun pieces back in hoping they might cure properly, to no avail. The chun glaze actually flaked off to some extent. The other glazes, mostly royal blue which has always been the most stable glaze one could ask for, even blistered. I noticed it had done that previously but mostly when using porcelain clay.

The first few times I fired, pieces came out nicely, especially the royal blue. I don't know why it's changed. So now I'm Googling and trying to figure out what the problem might be.

More vacation 2011 in photos

2011-07-22T13:08:00.000-04:00

I took Tammy Trask out on The Cobb for her first kayaking paddle. Gorgeous, hot day! We hung out in the shade on the deck for a nice lunch and long chat after our expedition.

The view paddling back to camp.

The flowers are starting to fill in nicely.

Geraniums.

As always, come July, the wild rice and duck weed are in full bloom

The marsh begins to look more marshy now that it's July.

The NitPickers playing at White's Beach Bluegrass Festival.

Rick and I on a hike in Cobscook Bay State Park where we camped for a couple of days.

At the vista, looking east towards Canada I believe.

The easternmost point in the USA - West Quoddy Head Lighthouse. I asked the clerk in the little store why it's "West" Quoddy Head but still the most "eastern" point in the US. She said because East Quoddy Head Lighthouse is in Canada.

The view from Lubec. You can see the boat we chartered, The Lorna Doone, for a whale watching tour.

East Quoddy Head Lighthouse with sardine weirs in the foreground.

East Quoddy Head Lighthouse. You can actually walk over to the lighthouse during low tide. The tides there run between 20 and 50 feet!

The wind was blowing madly at Liberty Point on Campobello Island so we thought we'd try to recreate the Cadillac Mountain photo I took of Rick a few years ago.

Me at Liberty Point, Campobello Island.

Me picking rocks on the very rocky Raccoon Beach on Campobello Island. I camped at this location as a senior in high school. It was great to see it again.

Returning to the USA.

Downtown Lubec. We had dinner at a nice little restaurant overlooking the bay called Cohill's Inn.

Popham Vacation 2011

2011-07-10T21:13:00.000-04:00

We just returned from a very nice week at Popham Beach. This is our third year of renting a little one room cottage overlooking Popham Beach. We decided that next year we will bring our camper and use the campground like the rest of the NitPickers. We only had the truck camper when we started going there and that's just not someplace we wanted to spend a week. However, with our new 18 footer I think we'll be pretty comfortable. What I'll miss the most is the great view (which we won't have from the campground) and the nice deck. However, the campground is about a third of the cost of the cottage so there's a lot to be said for that.

It was a little overcast and foggy on Sunday and Monday but it didn't rain and it kept the heat down a little. Robert and Ame came down to visit on Monday, July 4th, and stayed for the fireworks.

Crystal and Rick - July 4, 2011

Robert, Ame, and Rick - 7-4-11

Robert - the Buddha

Sexy man coming out of the sea.

It was a pretty laid back week - spending days on the beach or the deck, reading, sleeping, a little swimming, walks, hanging with friends, and then most evenings spent with the NitPickers playing music. We had dinner one night at Spinney's - not the greatest food or service but the only restaurant in the area.

June 17, 2011

2011-07-10T20:23:00.000-04:00

I left work at 3:00 on Thursday and went directly to camp to kayak for a couple of hours before meeting up with Eddie to go to 223 for a benefit and then we went across the street to Cafe Bangkok for dinner. We made a short stop at Hattie's and I got back to camp around 10:00.

I was woken early - like 4 a.m. - by several red squirrels chattering at each other over the seeds they discovered I'd put out yesterday. If I'd been smart I'd have just shut the windows but instead I let them keep waking me up every half hour or so for the next 2 or 3 hours. I finally gave up trying to sleep around 7 and took my tea and breakfast to the deck and enjoyed the sun. I decided to forego a morning kayak paddle in order to run some errands so I went to the gym, stopped by Hannafords to get some groceries, and went to Harvey's to get some flowers but they were so unhealthy looking that I decided to wait. I got back to camp and prepared all the planters and read for a couple of hours before Rick texted to say that he was on his way out. So I took a quick shower and when he got there we went to The Fat Toad for a drink with Robert and Amy and then to The Mad Dog for dinner. We made a quick stop in Hallowell and then went back to camp.

Saturday we went into Longfellow's Greenhouse and picked up the flowers and took them back and got them all planted. Rick had also brought the lawnmower out so he mowed the lawn and things looked pretty nice. We just hung out and read and Rick fished a bit.

We made barbecue for lunch but got a massive downpour just before dinner so had to improvise and make some baked spaghetti.

Pottery and Lilacs

2011-06-01T21:40:00.000-04:00

Here's the fruit of the kiln from Monday's bisque firing. I used underglazes on some of the pieces. I've got a lot of glazing to do.

I cut some lilacs from a tree out front of Chris and Sara's new apartment. I'd been jonesing for some lilacs and the minute I saw their tree, knew I'd found a way to satisfy my craving. I love lilacs! We planted a couple of bushes last summer but only one flowered and I wasn't sure if I should cut the flowers yet as the bushes are still so small. However, when I got home today I noticed one of the major branches of the bush had broken off - probably during the hail storm we'd had earlier, so I finished the break and cut the flowers and added them to my bouquet I'd gotten last night. Our lilacs are a much brighter purple than the typical lilacs. They are so beautiful and they smell so great when you walk into the house!

Memorial Day Weekend - 2011

2011-06-01T21:24:00.001-04:00

I got home from camp about 10 a.m. on Friday to help Rick get the new camper hooked up to his truck, backed down our driveway, and packed up. I anticipated the hooking and the backing part to be more difficult than it turned out to be. It all went pretty smoothly and we got it all packed up and drove it out to Glen and Holly Bowman's in West Gardiner for their annual Memorial Day Weekend picking party. No hired bands - just 50 or so campers, tents, etc., and lots of people hanging out and playing music all weekend, predominantly, though not exclusively, bluegrass music. We had dinner plans with Lance and Regina - (Lance is new faculty at UMF) so our plans were to just set the camper up on the site with the rest of the band and head back home to get ready for dinner. The weather started out drizzly but by the time we got to the site it was very hot, sunny, and humid.

We got it set up and everything was go except the water didn't work. There was water there, the pump was running, but the water just drizzled out of the faucets, at best. We messed with it with help from Woody for a while without great results. We knew if anyone could figure out what the problem was it would be this crew as they all have a great deal of experience with campers but we figured we'd bring back enough water for the weekend in case we couldn't figure it out.

We were hungry by then so decided to make a short stop at The Fat Toad to visit with Robert and have some lunch. We were out of there within an hour, made a stop at The Evil Empire to get a new camp table (Rick stole last year's camp table for his music equipment in the new room) and some other things. Got home in time to take a short snooze and showers and headed out to Hallowell about 5:30.

We met up with Regina and Lance at The Liberal Cup and had good conversation and a nice meal. It was the first time I'd met either of them and it was fun getting to know them. They were in town to find a home before heading back to Illinois on Monday. Apparently they found a nice house on a small pond in Weld that they took a year's lease on.

After dinner we took them on a tour of Hallowell, walking down to the river, pointing out all the pubs along the way, showed them the interesting artistic display of junk down beyond The Wharf, stopped into The Wharf to briefly check out the early show, then walked back to Hoxter's and listened to Pat Pepin's band for a couple of beers. We then went back to The Wharf for the later show with Stevie Jones' Dirigo Band and some more conversation. We parted about 11 p.m. I think they quite enjoyed the night out, as did we.

We were back at the campsite Saturday about noon and after a bit of tinkering, Richard discovered a plugged filter in the water line, removed it, and our water was working fine. He's a genius! They picked most of the afternoon and evening with lots of people stopping by, many with instruments, many just to listen. We slept well in the camper and repeated the events on Sunday, making a nice dinner of spaghetti and Italian sausage and a bottle of Clos du Bois. Somehow managed to stay up until about 3 a.m., slept well again, woke up Monday morning and headed back home. Again, we were worried about having to back the camper back into its spot off the driveway but it went in there much slicker than anticipated. Even the dumping of the poo into our septic system wasn't nearly as gross as we'd expected. All in a day's work.

Rick mowed the lawn and then we watched Black Swan and the latest episodes of Treme and Game of Thrones we'd taped while away, and I ran a load of bisque in the kiln.

Chris and Sara got the keys to their new apartment Tuesday afternoon so we took a truck load of their things up for them Tuesday night. A nice college student's apartment - a little dingy, but spacious and a great location just a quarter mile from campus.

Friday, April 27th

2011-06-01T20:28:00.001-04:00

I came out to camp Wednesday after work and a trip to the farmer’s market on the Gardiner Commons where I picked up some greens, fresh new baby carrots, fresh baked rye bread and a sweet zucchini bread. Unpacked and put my things away, refilled the feeders with the last of the seed, and brushed down all the kayaks, some of which had been setting unused since fall. It was very windy and the stream was fairly rough. I went for a quick paddle across the stream to the marsh that is only accessible during early spring. The water was much calmer there but there was little wildlife other than the red winged blackbirds singing and flitting around.

Justin and Keeley texted me they had arrived to kayak with me so I paddled back. I was a little worried about Keeley going out for her first time in the windy conditions but we decided to give it a try. By the time they got all sorted out with paddles and life preservers and got into the water the wind had died down some. She caught on very well after a few tips. We paddled downstream into the wind, keeping close to shore until we got to the narrower part of the stream and crossed over. Not a lot of wildlife about still except for a pair of loons playing further down the stream and a few of the other usual characters – red-winged blackbirds, swallows, etc. On the way back there was a bald eagle overhead being harassed by a couple of osprey.

We returned and the mosquitoes and black flies became very aggressive so Justin and Keeley headed home and I went inside and toasted a slice of rye bread, piled on some greens and cheese with a little mayo, the fresh baby carrots, and a Beck’s made a lovely dinner.

I read for a while but the music from peepers and other unknown night critters serenaded me to sleep fairly early, waking to a foggy morning but a brightness overhead that promised some sun. It became very windy by mid morning and stayed that way throughout the day. I took another paddle around the osprey island and down to the early spring marsh returning to camp and my book for the reminder of the day and into the evening. The poor little red squirrels are sitting on the squirrel box, empty of seeds as I only had enough to fill the bird feeders. Occasionally they’ll jump to one of those but caution doesn’t let them remain there long. I suspect Cobby (who was by last night) has been terrorizing them and keeping them on their toes.

So it’s Friday morning and it feels like Sunday morning as I’ve been here for what feels like two days, not seeing a single person yesterday. Nice. I woke up a little before 5 and had to take some photos of the stark beauty. I would love to stay a couple more days but other plans call. We’re to load the new camper this morning and drive over to Glen and Holly Bowman’s for a weekend of bluegrass jamming. It’s only a few minutes from camp so maybe I’ll escape back to my fortress of solitude here if the need arises. I completely understand Rick’s love of bluegrass picking but it’s quite another thing if you have no musical talent and remain but a spectator. I need to remember to bring my djembe out to camp where I can drum with only the non-judgmental critters as my audience.

A heron video I took last Friday on The Cobb

2011-05-15T22:54:00.000-04:00

A quiet little video of a heron out on The Cobb, on Friday the 13th of May, 2011.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lAVDLNT3p_8

And here's a still of when he finally did take flight.

Here's another photo of him perched in a tree.

I got up early on Friday morning and cleaned up the studio from some glazing I'd done several days ago, wedged up some porcelain balls and threw six tumblers. I then took a short nap and threw some stuff together and drove out to camp, stopping in Augusta to buy a Brita water filter pitcher.

Got to camp and filled the feeders and then jumped in the kayak. I paddled for about 2 or 3 hours; went over in the cove across from camp and then down to the Route 126 bridge, and then back around the back of the islands where the osprey nest used to be. That's where I took the video. I came back to camp and put things away and headed back home to shower and get ready to go to Guthrie's.

I slept in late on Saturday and then spent a few hours cleaning, sweeping and washing the kitchen floor, vacuuming, dusting, laundry, etc. Rick had to go up to campus for graduation. Sara graduated but the ceremony was held inside and tickets were scarce so I didn't attend. It was nice to stay home alone, even though I spent most of the time cleaning. Once Rick got home we spent most of the afternoon and evening watching movies.

This morning I got up before 5 a.m. and went up to the studio to trim the tumblers I'd thrown on Friday. I also put up the rest of my pottery collage posters.

I thought we had a graduation party for Sara today but found out about 10 a.m. that the party is next Sunday. That was a big relief because I really just wanted to vegetate, which is basically what I ended up doing. I did actually get around to painting these tumblers I'd made a couple weeks ago with underglazes.

Loons, Eagles, and Assholes

2011-05-08T20:54:00.000-04:00

Discovered Friday morning that our neighbor somehow managed to get a building permit to build a house on a beach front lot to which 40+ families in the Tobey Development have a right of way. We dealt with this issue two years ago at the Planning Board and they agreed that the ordinance did not permit a home to be built on the lot. Somehow, under the cover of secrecy, he managed to slither back in this spring and get the permit. We'll be consulting with an attorney tomorrow to see if there is recourse.

Friday was a beautiful day but I couldn't stand to sit on my deck and listen to the construction noise as they further raped the beach front lot with more tree cutting and digging. So we decided to take some supplies to camp so that we could go back out there Saturday afternoon to spend our first night.

We went to Danielle and Shawn's adoption party Saturday and headed right out to camp afterwards. Unfortunately it started raining just as we left the party and was still raining when we got to camp. We hung out for a bit and by 5 p.m. the sun was out and the wind had died down. So we unloaded the kayaks and went for a paddle.

As soon as we got to the other side of the stream we saw this beautiful juvenile eagle perched high in a tree.

We explored around the area for a while and noticed some dark clouds moving in so headed back to camp. About half way there we came across a couple of very vocal loons and I took this video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g7PYrfBD3L4

Deck furniture returns

2011-04-10T20:48:00.000-04:00

I enjoyed a nice Sunday around the house, cleaned the studio and then had our first barbecue of the season. Rick brought the table and chair set from the cottage and Jared helped him with the grill. Justin and Keeley came over for hot dogs, hamburgers, and salad. Keeley made a delicious chocolate and vanilla pudding pie.

I don't think we had the deck at this time last year. It makes spring feel like it comes earlier because it's so much warmer up there off the snowy ground.

There's still more than 2 feet of snow off the front of the deck. It had been in the high 60s or low 70s earlier in the day but got pretty chilly by the time we finished dinner. Came inside and lit some logs in the fireplace.

Yesterday I did a bisque firing using a cone 04 in the kiln sitter. It fired for about 6 hours before the kiln sitter shut it down. The bottom witness cones were 05 06 07 and the 05 and 06 bent fairly well. The witness cones on the top two shelves practically dissolved, leaving parts of the cones on the shelves. Guess those two shelves are hotter than the bottom one.

Pottery Notes: Second Successful Glaze Firing

2011-04-03T20:34:00.003-04:00

I had been having trouble with the kiln. I tried to fire it twice last weekend and neither worked properly. I foolishly discovered that I had mixed up which was off and which was on for the switches, so I was starting with it completely on and gradually turning it off.

I figured it out by opening the lid and and starting from scratch and watching the elements come on as I turned the switches. We also used it to heat the garage up so that we could work out there.

We cleaned the garage and then built shelves for the new kitchen pantry. I love how much it holds and it really helps in decluttering the kitchen.

So after we finished working in the garage I loaded the kiln and started it about 5 p.m. and it was done firing by about 11:30. I think the pieces came pretty nice, mostly.

Left is brown clay with true celadon and underglazes; center is porcelain with true celadon;
and right is also true celadon on porcelain.

Tumblers with oil spot glaze.

Two tumblers on the right are seaweed glaze. They look rather
metallic - much like a raku firing, but more controlled. The tumbler on the left is Vert Lustre outside, shino inside with shino dripped on outside. I really like that combo and think I'll use it for the teapot I made Charlie.

Royal blue with chun plum and true celadon. Really nice combo.

These all have true celadon. Much darker on the dark clay. I'm not
sure why the two porcelain pieces look so differently.

Various underglazes with blue rutile glaze inside.

Teddy bear brown underglaze with colored underglazes on top.

Royal blue and root beer glaze. Definitely not my favorite. This royal blue is so much lighter than the royal blue on the small mug above. I usually do a full 3 coats but I may have dipped the mug. . . hmmm... I really liked the way that came out better.

Teapot I finished building today. The Chinese
letters are supposed to say Life

I made it for Charlie and got the Chinese letters from his book which in full
is called Life Lines but I decided to just use Life.

These are 4, 5, and 6 cones. There was a Cone 8 in the kiln sitter and it clearly
got up to Cone 4, and just touched on Cone 5 I'd say.

Perigee Moon

2011-03-22T22:35:00.000-04:00

Last weekend was a "super moon." The moon orbits around the earth in a slightly eccentric circle, resulting in it being a little closer sometimes than at other times. When it's closest, it's called perigee. So anyway, I heard from friends at pottery on Saturday that Reid State Park would be staying open late in order for people to have a good site from which to view it. So Rick and I decided to take a trip down to get some photos. We went to JT Maxwell's in Bath for dinner beforehand, and then arrived at Reid about 8:00. I wish we'd gotten there earlier, as the moon was rising, because that's when it was at it's most impressive. It didn't look much different than usual by the time it was high in the sky. However, I wanted to get some photos so that's what we did.

I wanted to get some classic moon photos - where it appears someone is holding it or whatever. Rick was very cooperative - move a little to the right, back to the left, up a little bit, hold it right there! click. It was much more difficult than I'd imagined to get the angle and the spacing of the fingers, etc. just right. But I was fairly happy with the results.

Step one - lining it up.

A little closer . . .

Ooops - too far to the left . . .

A little frustration creeps in . . .

Voila! Close as we could get.

Pottery Notes: Sunday, March 13, 2011

2011-03-13T20:49:00.001-04:00

I've been having fun with underglazes and carvings this weekend.

Here's a piece that's ready to go into a glaze firing. The outside is done in various color underglazes and the inside is a glaze called Blue Rutile, even though it looks red unfired.

I had planned to go to The Liberal Cup with Rick for a performance of the NitPickers but I decided at the last minute to stay home and play with clay. Three hours of bluegrass would have been great, but the three hours it takes for set up and breakdown gets a bit tedious. I made a cover for a bowl I'd made a few days ago.

Tuesday at home

2011-03-08T20:45:00.000-05:00

I decided to take a personal day after all the overtime I'd been putting in getting ready for legislative hearings on the budget yesterday. We had a good turnout - maybe 200 people at the rally and at least 8 clients testified at the hearings.

Betty w/Maine Can Do Better sign, and Tammy in red.

So today I rearranged the studio, moving the bed over into the corner and bringing the weight bench out where it can be more easily used, swept and washed the floor, glazed three pots, and then made lasagna for dinner.

A lot more room to get around.

I moved the bed from behind the sofa to the corner.

I also put in an order to Big Ceramic Store online: several glazes and underglazes, kiln posts and stilts, a pair of tinted glasses to look into the kiln holes, etc. Oh yes, and a box of Cone 8 to use in my next glaze firing. I'm hoping if I want to get to Cone 5, if I used a Cone 8 in the kiln sitter, it will get to temperature.

First Glaze Firing

2011-02-26T10:47:00.000-05:00

This is the sum total of my first glaze firing. I wanted to do a test run, rather than fill it to the brim. The first bisque firing went fine but didn't get as hot as it should have which is much more forgiving on a bisque firing than a glaze firing. To accommodate for that I'm using a 7 cone in the kiln sitter though my goal is to fire to cone 5 or 6.

Kiln wash on the shelf

Bottom shelf

Second and third shelves. You can see the witness cones sitting there in front of the peep hole.

Loading in the last piece.

Ok, next day . . . emptied the kiln this morning. Again, it appears from the witness cones that it didn't get as hot as it should have but the pieces seem to have cured fine.

first glaze run

These two tumblers were a bit disappointing. I really dislike the colors (rose and medium blue underglazes with a clear glaze overall) - or maybe it's just my brushing technique (or lack thereof) but I also must have gotten some wax on the rim where the glazes didn't take.

These two tumblers are done in true celadon over porcelain. I like them; the carvings show through well and the color is nice.

I used all my new underglazes on this so I could see what colors they fired. It will come in very handy.

You can see the cones didn't bend like you would expect. They are 5, 6, and 7 cone packs and the bent cone is a 7 which was in the kiln sitter. I had hoped to fire to cone 5 but from the look of the witness cones, it appears I didn't get there.

Latest Pottery

2011-02-19T21:28:00.000-05:00

An udu drum done in underglazes and stains.

A couple of tumblers, carved, stained with Spanish iron oxide and 3 coats of clear glaze.

Mug. I think the bottom is very thin celadon froth but not sure what's on the top. I like the shape of this.

"Quilted" tumbler with painted underglazes, stained and then covered with clear glaze.

The kit 'n kaboodle. The front bowl is chun over cappucino.

Working on pieces for my first glaze firing. The white is a clear glaze and underneath are varioius underglazes and stains. These pieces and the ones below are from my first bisque firing.

Pieces waiting for glazing.

waiting for glazing.

First Kiln Firing

2011-02-15T22:28:00.000-05:00

Malley came up on Saturday, February 12th, to help me load the kiln for the first time. We figured it would take about 10 or 12 hours to fire so we loaded it on Saturday and I was to start it up early Sunday morning when I'd be around all day.

The first shelf

Filling the kiln.

Second shelf

Third shelf, which is a half shelf

It's full and ready to fire

So I went out on Sunday morning and flipped on the first switch at 8. I flipped on the second switch at 10 a.m. and the third switch at 12 noon. I then just waited one hour between switch number 4 and another hour for switch number 5. So they were all on at 2:00 and at about 3:30 the kiln sitter shut the kiln off.

This was much faster than we'd expected - just 7.5 hours. I was a little worried when I looked at the cone set on the bottom shelf and could see that none of those cones had bent, indicating that it hadn't really gotten up to the required temperature. However, the kiln sitter cone had bent and turned the kiln off so I was still hopeful.

The cones after firing

I had to wait until Monday to let it cool off enough to empty, so Monday morning before work I opened it up and the kiln was still warm. I pulled out the piece below and could see that it had turned fairly pink as they should when it's bisqued.

A bisqued piece - it's actually more pink than it looks in this photo.

More of the fired pieces. The white ones are porcelain.

I think the kiln should have fired for a bit longer than it did but I think the pieces will be okay to glaze and fire again. I'll try to do that soon, for the experience.

Rick had to pick up a faculty candidate from the airport tonight so he stopped by Portland Pottery to pick up supplies for me. I got a bunch of glazes and underglazes, some kiln wash, some more cones, etc.

February

2011-02-04T10:10:00.000-05:00

Inside

Outside

Latest glazes

2011-01-14T23:32:00.000-05:00

We took notes as to what these glazes were but I don't have them so I'm going by memory. Gotta compare my guesses to the notes.

Plum chun with Tumoko (sp?) on the top rim.

cappucino with oasis blue on the rim.

Tumoko(?) with plum chun on top?

Royal blue over wax resist on porcelain.

Celadon froth with new green on top?

Cappucino with really red and chun on top?

Dueling Banjos

2011-01-08T18:40:00.000-05:00

I made up some posters of Rick's instruments for his birthday and Christmas gifts last month. I went up to the studio early one morning while there was bright light still streaming in and carefully removed all his instruments from their cases, arranged them in various positions around the room and took photos. I tried to create shadows and interesting combinations.

This first poster is of both his old banjo that he's used for the past 20 +/- years and the new banjo he bought just a few months ago. I called it dueling banjos - kind of a double entendre - the song of course, as well as an implication of the banjos dueling for his attention and use. I had it blown up to 24 x 30 and framed it with the title across the top. I really liked the way it came out. Here's the photo I used and below is a picture of the framed poster.

Dueling Banjos

This is a photo of just the banjo head of his new Nechville banjo. I liked the shadows. It reminds me of a suspension bridge. I framed it in a 17 x 17 square frame.

This one and the one below were supposed to be printed as 24 x 36 but came out more like 18 x 36. I still put them in a 24 x 36 poster frame and they look fine. They are just posters, not fine art.

I think this is a photo I took of Rick at Blistered Fingers Bluegrass Festival. I framed in a square 17 x 17 inch frame.

We arranged them all on the wall in the stairwell to the studio. You can see there's a rather large empty spot still remaining where I'm planning to make up a poster of his Martin guitar and hang it. I just haven't been able to decide on which photo to use. I'll post some of the candidates below.

Maybe this one with both the Nechville banjo and the guitar . . .

Or this one with just the guitar done in a sepia tone . . .

Or this version of the same photo done in a cyan tone. I kind of like how stark it looks.

Any thoughts from my readers . . . all two of you? :)

I do like the way the posters really warm up the once blank wall. My next photo project will be to do the same thing with some of my pottery photos. Only instead of framing them I'll just use tacks to put them up cause they'll be on a slanted wall.

2011-01-07T13:00:00.001-05:00

Set of four porcelain tumblers, etched with my Dremmel once they were dry.

This is the majority of what I have so far for my first kiln load.

Malley came up last weekend to guide me through my first kiln firing. It turned out I didn't have some things I needed, like the cone sitter prongs but she taught me what I'd need to do and I'm feeling pretty comfortable with it. She'll come back when I have everything if I want. We'll see.

I've been procrastinating on getting my order together for Portland Pottery. Mostly just can't decide on what to get for glazes. Need to decide today so it will be ready when Malley goes down on Tuesday.

My list so far:

Kiln wash

Cones: 07, 4,

1 extra shelves – 15.5 inches hexagonal (square side to square side)

Wax resist

Cone sitter support prongs

Underglaze: Black, brown, yellow, blue

Cone 6 clear glaze

Coyote Cone 6 Glaze Mottled Blue 016

Coyote Cone 6 Glaze Hazelnut Satin 081

Coyote Cone 6 Glaze Celadon Root Beer 105

Clay Bag Clips - Set of 6

Laguna gallons: royal blue, red chun, cappocino,

Pottery Studio

2011-01-01T20:25:00.000-05:00

The new studio space, all set up with shelves and the wheel.

The Pitchers - so far

2010-12-27T10:11:00.001-05:00

Just brought this one home on Thursday so he missed the parade above.

Christmas 2010 is over

2010-12-27T09:54:00.002-05:00

It's one of those perfect days when the "weather outside is frightful" and it's nice to cozy up inside with the fireplace blazing and let the day just develop as it may. Maybe I'll start my book I got for Christmas, or throw some pots or watch a movie or make a big pot of soup.

After getting home from our Bond's Christmas get together at Jeff's house yesterday, I spent some time in the studio. I really liked where this piece was going until I blew a hole out its side and had to crash the whole thing. I think I'll blame it on the effects of the wind and snow howling outside the studio.

We've gotten about 8 inches so far I'd guess. It's hard to tell because the wind is blowing pretty hard and moving the snow around quite a bit.

I decided to try some carving on a piece I'd thrown a few days ago. The best tool I could find was a kitchen paring knife until Rick brought me up a rather nice woodcarving knife after I was done. I'm eager to try it with another piece.

Here are a couple of pieces I made a while ago and are waiting for the first firing in my new kiln.

The lighting wasn't very good here to see the hand made roses and leaves on this piece.

Here's Rick trying to shovel a path one handed. He can't get a glove over the brace on his right hand which is still recuperating from wrist surgery, so he keeps his hand in his pocket, holds the shovel with his left hand and kicks it to break a path. He managed to feed the birds and squirrels but didn't bother to blaze a trail all the way down the driveway to the newspaper box, assuming he would find it hadn't been delivered. (I hope newspaper delivery people don't risk their lives delivering our local rag on a day when the biggest news is the storm raging outside.)

I'm glad that I'm still on vacation and don't have to even think about the things I "should" be doing.

Christmas 2010, Monmouth & Belgrade Lakes

2010-12-25T16:59:00.000-05:00

Relaxing in front of the fire Christmas night

Justin trying to show Jenika the new head massager. It's wicked nice!

Chris and Sara - first Christmas together.

The Bond/Dale household

The "kids."

Christmas 2010 with Jason and Adriana

2010-12-24T10:09:00.000-05:00

Stockings all hung by the chimney with care

Opening Christmas Stockings

Rick, me, Adriana, Jason

Adriana and Jason

Playing Apples to Apples: Rick, Jared, Sara, Justin, Chris, Adri and Jason

We had been hoping for a snowstorm while they were here but it held off until the day we had to drive them to the airport in Portland. Being from Los Angeles, they don't get to see much snow.

It was the first time Rick and I had met Jason's girlfriend, Adriana. We really liked her and we had a great visit. We had a big family dinner with all the boys, plus Sara and Keeley on Sunday. On Monday I gave her an introductory less in throwing on the wheel and later we took a trip up to Farmington and showed them around UMF where Rick works, shopping at Reny's and Liquid Sunshine and then dinner at The Dugout. On Tuesday we played a few rounds of Pictionary (Rick and I won the playoff round by the skin of our teeth!) and had dinner at The Liberal Cup in Hallowell.

Recent pieces

2010-11-22T00:01:00.002-05:00

This piece has little feet under it so can be used as a serving platter for h'orderves or such. This piece was part of a benefit raffle for Grace and won by Sarah Strunk. She seemed very pleased!

Some recent pieces - pre fired. You can see them glazed and fired below.

I just made this one tonight. Hope to bisque fire it in my new kiln I just got yesterday.

My bounty from Malley's kiln last week. Mostly done in spameraude.

A couple of the pitchers seen unfired above.

This is a piece that August made and was going to throw out because the bottom crumbled a bit. However, I grabbed it and thought I'd try some glaze combos on it. I quite like how it came out.

Stock

Last morning at camp for 2010

2010-10-26T21:37:00.000-04:00

There are bluejays, chickadees, woodpeckers, - hairy – all flittering about. I put out piles of sunflower seeds earlier – on top of the altar, logs, stumps, and built a little cairn by the fireplace and loaded that with seeds. I even put some on top of the mushroom that grows off the altar. I couldn’t unscrew the top of the actual birdfeeder so it is empty as is most of the squirrel feeder that I am unable to reach. There have been nuthatches also, as well as mostly gray squirrels with an occasional exception for a couple red squirrels. A flock of 4 very large crows (or ravens?) have been swooping in and landing on the altar to feed, but then flying off again realizing it’s only seed. I see some creature ate the little mouse that I found dead inside the camp. Perhaps Cobby who was here early this morning.

A big fat turkey just walked right through the front yard. I’m surprised he’s all alone but I don’t see any others. Damn! Didn’t even get a photo. First time I’ve seen a turkey here though we used to get visits from some fat white geese that live on the stream. They were about the same size as this turkey and it was entertaining to watch them interact with Cobby.

Then there’s a still. One or two birds flitter around the perimeter but all is pretty quiet. The dracaena is still thriving and an sporadic blossom on a geranium. But mostly there are colors of autumn – yellows, reds, oranges, browns, and a definite chill to the air. It was nice waking up to the bright sunrise shining on the colorful trees across the stream this morning. The water was very calm and reflected the reds and yellows beneath a thin layer of fog.

The propane level is at 80%. If we turn off the pilot light, we should be able to relight it in the spring and go for several nights before needing a refill.

A gray squirrel found the seeds on the cairn and then moved onto the next stash on a stump just a few feet away.

And then the activity begins again with the bluejays swooping in, the chickadess shortly behind them, the nuthatches, crows, a hairy. Bird tv. Gotta love it.

We got camp closed down for the winter. I still need to go back out and pour some antifreeze down the shower drain because we ran out before we got that far. Hopefully the mice that come and go won't decide to nest in the bed or anything.

"Columbus" Day

2010-10-11T18:27:00.004-04:00

I slept in till about 10 this morning, got up to a nice fire in the fireplace and coffee waiting for me. Enjoyed a leisurely breakfast and then we went for a little hike up French's Mountain

Came home and enjoyed some grilled cheese sandwiches on the deck and then went down and hung out in the hammock swings for a while. Won't be long before we have to put them away for the winer.

Gorgeous fall day!!!

Getting ready to glaze

2010-10-09T12:30:00.004-04:00

I'm afraid the big easter egg falls into the category of "just because you can doesn't mean you should." I glazed it with chun in hopes of toning it down a bit. It's intended to be a plant pot. In the far left corner is a large pitcher with which I was very pleased. A small pitcher, a couple of covered pieces and some mugs, oh yes, and the large platter in the back round out the collection.

My newest piece

2010-10-04T19:42:00.001-04:00

I love this piece I made the other morning when I couldn't sleep. Yesterday I put some little round feet on the bottom. I rather like it in the gray that it is right now but when it gets bisque fired it will turn to a flesh color. I don't really have any glaze that would equal this gray. In the past I've glazed these in different colors for each section but then the glaze kind of takes over. I think I might try a single, subtle color glaze on this one and see if it brings out the detail work more. I'll post a photo of the completed piece when it's done.

I love having the space to do handbuilding at home and can't wait till I can afford a kiln and a wheel!

I really kicked butt on throwing during this class session. I must have 10 or more pieces - some quite large pieces - to glaze this week. I find glazing the most difficult part of the whole process as you just don't know what's going to happen. The glazes can be fine one firing and the next firing they'll run or turn icky shades. The chun has turned a really icky mucus green in the past. Last firing apparently the spambo ran terribly. The cappuccino turns white instead of brown if you get it too thick. And when you've worked really hard on a piece it stinks to have it ruined at the final step with crappy glaze results. But I guess all we can do is hold our breaths and hope for the best.

Update

2010-09-15T20:55:00.002-04:00

90210 – 4^th day straight of hot humid – high 90’s.

90310 – slept in till about 8, made coffee, puttered around in the kitchen – actually swept and washed the kitchen floor which feels like such a big chore in this house – perhaps because of the big kitchen, perhaps because even AFTER you wash the kitchen floor, it still looks dirty. That’s another thing on the list that needs to be upgraded. Maybe next year. Anyway after washing the floor I sat in the shade on the deck for a few minutes, noticed there wasn’t a soul at the beach, so went down for a nice long swim. So refreshing. Came back and enjoyed my hammock swing for a while, reading and drying off in the warm breeze. Last I knew we were supposed to get some high winds and some rain today as a result of Hurricane Earl. The air is very heavy and there’s a gentle, almost imperceptible breeze. I went out to camp yesterday morning on my way to work to secure things at the camp in case we get hit but as things look right now, it certainly doesn’t seem to be a problem.

Rick had to go up to campus for a while for meetings. I guess we should take the kayaks off the car when he gets back. I was kind of hoping to go over to the boat launch near Castle Island sometime this weekend for a paddle on the lower side of Long Pond. I also need to change the kayak rack for Rick’s kayak to the new set we got that folds down, so that when there are no kayaks on the car I will be able to drive into the garage.

Last Saturday we drove up to Bangor and had a wonderful time at the American Folks Festival. Saw a wonderful jazz quartet from New Orleans – twice, an excellent bluegrass band – Linda Lay I think her name was with a banjo and mandolin player from a couple of rather well known bands. Also Dale Watson from Austin. Apparently Dale had asked Mark to tour Europe with him but Mark turned him down. They would have kicked ass together I think. We saw SandyT., Peaches, Pam and Jeff, and Chris and Bobbie (though they were a way off and we didn’t get to talk with them). Rick also saw a couple other faculty members from UMF there.

On Sunday, Linda, Glen, Jared, and I all went up to Justin’s house and did a little makeover on his kitchen. He has pretty limited cupboard space and was storing half his food and dishes on his countertops. Was pretty messy. Plus their sink had been back up for a few days and they were still in the process of catching up on the dishes.

We brought a bunch of stuff with us cause we didn’t know what we’d want to do and ended up turning the closet in his dining room into a pantry where he was able to store most of his food, leaving plenty of cupboard space for his dishes. I bought him a tall round table with fold down sides to use as a table/island in the kitchen. Brought him a nice tablecloth to cover up his scarred up dining room table. We put his tall skeleton candles back on the table afterwards to be sure it still had that Justin flare. J

Keeley helped us quite a bit and she seemed pretty pleased with the result.

End of vacation

2010-08-15T12:22:00.005-04:00

I have been very negligent in posting recently. I see my last post was my second week of vacation. We ended up going to Stonington instead up Cobscook Bay. Spent two nights down at The Old Quarry Campground; a nice place right on the ocean, great docks, nice people.

Here's a picture of me hanging out at the campground . . . and hanging out . . . and hanging out.

Bill, the owner took us out on a guided kayak tour of the islands one day and Captain Steve took us out the next day in a lobster boat tour to Isle au Haut and around the archipelago.

kayaking around the islands

Isle au Haut

He dropped us off on Green Island, a deserted island where the only other visitors left in a sailboat just as we were arriving.

There’s a fresh water quarry where we went skinny dipping while Steve took his only other passenger back to Stonington.

The freshwater quarry

Rick taking the plunge

Me, enjoying the water

The other passenger was the owner of another island, one of the potato islands I think. Steve had arranged to pick her up and bring her back to Stonington. We met up with her out in her dory about 50 feet offshore. The dory shot out from under her as she was boarding our boat and Rick and Steve had to pull her up out of the sea and get her into the boat. She was very good natured about it; not that unusual an event on the islands perhaps.

After retrieving us from the island we went to see some nesting ospreys, then a circuitous route back to Stonington. We had to head right back home, take quick showers and drive up to The Granary in Farmington to celebrate Christopher’s 21^st birthday.

Chris enjoying his first legal drink

I returned to work on Monday where my office was torn apart with stripped walls and floors. So I worked through Wednesday out of Sara’s office and Rick and I left mid morning on Thursday to go to the Podunk Bluegrass Festival in E. Hartford, CT. Nice festival grounds and nice people. It was very hot but the band played well though they only earned 4^th place in the band competition. Don placed 2^nd in the songwriter’s competition with his song, Ice in Your Veins. Ken Irwin of Rounder Records was very interested in Rick’s original song, Highway to Your Heart so they’ve been emailing back and forth and he’s trying to get a national band to record it. He’s also interested in other songs Rick has so he’s started recording some demos to send him.

Rick playing at Podunk

The NitPickers

I went back to work on Tuesday at which time my office was ready for me to move back into with newly painted walls and hardwood floors laid. They also bought me a nice new desk and it was good to get things set back up after purging a shitload of old files.

Still boxes to unpack

Jared’s 25^th birthday was on Wednesday so we had a little party for him here at the house with Justin and Keely, Chris and Sara, Auntie, Donnie, Glen, Tom, Lisa, Chelsea, Bill and his girlfriend Frederique who had just arrived from France the night before.

Bill and Frederique

Bill and Frederique stopped over again on Friday afternoon and accompanied us to The Depot for pizza and beer after which we strolled through the Gardiner Art Walk. Bruce was have an opening at Mad Dog. He and Bill had known each other 20 years ago but of course he never knew we were brother and sister.

Today Rick went to play at a pig roast and I went up to Aristo and had Justin do my hair. I stopped by his house afterwards; it’s coming along nice and he’s been taking good care of his yard. He’s got some delicious blackberries growing out back.

Tomorrow the NitPickers are playing at The Village Inn. Eddie and Michelle, and Bill and Frederique are supposed to be joining me up there for dinner.

Summah Vaca Continued

2010-07-22T10:06:00.000-04:00

So I hung out at camp reading, kayaking (two days in a row - a (pathetic) record so far this summer), and chillin. I went over 36 hours without speaking to another human being - nice. Doesn't seem that long but having never lived alone it's quite unusual for me to go that long. Some year I'd like to try to go a whole week!

I returned home Wednesday night and Thursday we took the camper down and set it up at White's Beach in preparation for the bluegrass festival over the weekend.

We purchased a camp table and a quickshade which was an excellent investment; made our campsite much more spacious and homey. We stayed up until 2 a.m. Saturday morning and had a huge crowd picking around the band's campsite. At one point I counted at least 15 pickers.

On Saturday we ended up taking an emergency run home to fix the water at the house. The boys called to say that there was no water pressure. Sure enough it was just the filter. However, why the filter would have plugged so quickly I'm not sure. We left shortly after the NitPicker's third set on Sunday at noon.

By Sunday I couldn't stand it anymore and made Rick take down the top half of the wall blocking the new addition. There's still a half wall and still a bunch to do but it feels more real being able to actually see it.

Tuesday I went out to camp and finally planted a couple of perennials the boys had given me for Mother's Day. Decided not to spend the night and returned home and pulled out my clay and started playing. I'm really jonsing to get my hands dirty with it but I'm pretty limited in what I can do without a wheel or a rugged table to throw slabs on. So basically I've been making some stamps that I'll be able to use for some handbuilding projects once we build my table.

Of course they'll need to be bisque fired before I can use them. I'm thinking I should go ahead and get a kiln asap which will allow me to do handbuilding right away. I can wait a while to get a wheel as I want to continue to take lessons with Malley anyway. But it will be great to have a space where I can spend time doing the time intensive detailed work that I don't like spending class time on.

I'm now almost at the end of my 3rd week of vacation. I'm certainly rested but I don't feel like I've done anything very eventful, which in fact I haven't. I'm headed up to Stratton this weekend to see Cindy, Grace, and the rest of the girls and check out the Plazapalooza on Saturday and maybe the East Benton Fiddler's Convention on Sunday. Next week Rick and I are planning to take off in the camper and head up towards Cobscook Bay State Park, maybe Campobello, maybe come back via Moosehead, depending on weather and whatever. Unfortunately, we're unable to take the kayaks with us on the camper but maybe we'll be able to rent some along the way.

The Beginning of Week 2 of 2010 Summah Vaca

2010-07-12T16:54:00.003-04:00

Got to camp about 7 last night after a stop for some supplies from Hannaford: sesame chicken with brown rice, broccoli and raisin salad, grapes, yogurt, cheese, butter, and raisin bread. I knew there were crackers and plenty of beer and wine already here. Jared left the camp in very good shape after his party last night. I put away my groceries and made the bed with the fresh sheets I'd brought, ate dinner and banged on my djembe for a while as the neighbors weren't around it seemed. The feeders have been empty for the last few days so the critters have moved on temporarily. They'll discover the supplies have been replenished quickly enough. In fact the flying squirrels showed up after a few hours but the reds didn't discover them until well after I was up out of bed this morning so I didn't have to listen to them fight over it starting at 4 a.m. like I often do.

I woke up and made a pot of coffee, ate a yogurt and went for a paddle on The Cobb. The prediction was for hot and humid so I wanted to be back before mid afternoon. A nice breeze kept me cool enough and I enjoyed rediscovering all the familiar landmarks. Very few swallows under the bridge this year. This purple flower that looks like some sort of water lupine is more ubiquitous than usual it seems.

Upstream about a half a mile I saw a sweet little kitten on the screened in porch of one of the rickety camps nestled at the very edge of the water. I had never noticed it in use previously but this little guy looked pretty content to be there.

The only other person I saw on the paddle was my neighbor and his daughter who were apparently there after all.

It's always nice to see camp come into view on the return trip.

I love seeing all the flowers in bloom.

I took a quick shower and sat on the deck in my towel and let the warm breeze dry me off. The broccoli salad and a couple slices of toasted raisin bread made a delicious lunch. It's great being able to get internet out here through my blackberry. The deck is shaded enough that I can see my screen and with the sun sparkling off the flowing stream, an occasional osprey or heron stopping by to fish, and the flowers dancing in the wind that has picked up some, I realize it's one of those perfect days where I have absolutely nothing I have to do and I'm exactly where I want to be.

Vacation - Week #1

2010-07-10T21:08:00.000-04:00

Just got back this morning from a week at Popham Beach. It's the second year we've spent the week of July 4th there. We rent a little one room cottage with a deck that overlooks the ocean. I love hearing the constant lapping of the waves all night long. If we leave the curtain open we can see the ocean right from bed.

I took an early morning walk down the beach and sat in the lifeguard station and drank my coffee. That island you can see in the distance is accessible via a sandbar at low tide.

On Friday Rick and I did the short hike up to Fort Baldwin and climbed the tower hoping for some fantastic views. Unfortunately, the trees have grown up so much in that area that the views are just of foliage.

We probably wouldn't have seen much anyway as it was a fairly foggy day.

The first five days the weather was sunny with temps into the 80s and 90s. The fog didn't move in until Thursday and Friday though it gave us a brief break on both days. I read two books: The Girl With the Dragon Tatoo by Steig Larsson and Pocketful of Names by Joe Coomer. The latter takes place on an island off Stonington, Maine so it seemed particularly apropros.

Lots of music around the campfire at night with the NitPickers and others who happened by. And a great fireworks display for the 4th. We thought we put on a pretty good show but was matched by one other group on the beach and actually outdone by another. I think between the many parties shooting off (illegal) fireworks we got as good a show as any I've seen in recent years.

This part of the coast is not great for kayaking. I tried it there last year and found it very difficult to maneuver due to the shallow water and breaking waves. It's been a couple of years since I really had a good ocean paddle. We talked about whether to look for a different location for our oceanside vacation for next year - perhaps around Stonington where the kayaking is good - but decided to go ahead and book the cottage for another year. Maybe we can go to Stonington for a day or two and do a guided kayak tour around the islands. Rick has never ocean kayaked and doesn't have an ocean kayak so he'd need to rent one. And I'd feel better if I wasn't the most experienced person in the group.

Overall a nice week but it will also feel great to sleep in our own bed tonight.

Saturday on The Cobb

2010-06-20T17:52:00.000-04:00

We took a paddle out on the Cobb on Saturday; a gorgeous sunny day in the 80s with a nice breeze. Found this little guy right where we put the kayaks in. He wasn't very timid; stayed right there until the kayak practically bumped him.

We have a bumper crop of water lillies on the stream this year. As well as a large number of damsel flies - also not very timid.

It was a beautiful day to sit on the shady deck afterwards and enjoy the warm breeze.

Camp renovations

2010-06-13T21:50:00.000-04:00

Rick and I just finished painting the main room at camp and laying peel n stick tiles on the floor in the main room and the old porch area. The sheetrock had been put up about 6 years ago. A guy named David and my friend Tom had put it up and taped it and done some mudding but was badly in need of some finesse work. My brother Bill had been staying out there the last three weeks and redid the mud and Jared went out and sanded. So Monday I painted one wall and on Tuesday Rick and I finished painting and on Thursday, Saturday, and Sunday Rick finished the flooring.

I had originally planned to get a darker color tile but when I got to the home store they didn't have what I was looking for so grabbed a "stone look" light color. I wish I'd stuck to my original plan. I don't like the white look for camp, plus it shows the dirt big time. But it's staying and I'll get used to it. We're kind of wondering whether we'll come back in the spring and find that it didn't survive well. We'll see.

We've got a bunch of trim work to do still. Maybe during my vacation we can stay out there a few days and get that done. Our handyman Todd is staying out there this coming weekend - Father's Day weekend. He'd done some free work for us last summer and we'd offered to let him and his family use the camp in exchange. They never got around to it last summer and now that he's built the deck, he's pretty psyched about a weekend there. He'll be surprised to see all the work we've done.

The Bumper Sticker Anthology – Part IV – Howl If You Heart City Lights Bookstore

2010-05-25T22:13:00.000-04:00

Howl if you heart City Lights Bookstore. The first thing that comes to mind when I think about this one is that we were scheduled to go to California two summers before we actually went. Christopher’s accidental fall off his Segway, requiring immediate surgery at Boston’s Children’s Hospital caused us to cancel our flights and reservations the night before we were to leave. So instead of strolling around San Francisco in early June of 2007, I was spending the night in his hospital room at Children’s. The plan had been to fly to California and drive back across country. We had looked for a Westphalia to buy while we were there but decided to just rent an SUV to drive back. In the end it didn’t really matter obviously as we cancelled the trip. So two summers later we decided to give it another try, only this time we’d just be there for 10 days – fly into San Francisco, spend a few days, and then take two days to drive down the coast – through the Big Sur area – to Los Angeles and spend some time with Rick’s son, Jason.

Our first full day in San Francisco we spent riding the trolleys, visiting Chinatown, Coit Tower, Vesuvios Bar and City Lights Bookstore, famous hangout of the beats. Rick left one of his books there, The Beat Handbook, 100 Days of Kerouactions. A reverse shoplifting or guerilla marketing kind of thing. A year later he was offered the opportunity to review Helen Weaver’s book about Kerouac for City Lights and he asked them if they’d carry it. They declined. But little did they know that they did in fact carry it for some period of time. Probably ended up in the trash but who knows, maybe some person bought it and City Lights sold it to them, not quite understanding their snafu with the inventory as he/she checked the book out.

It’s a cool little bookshop, more polished and sterile now I suspect than at the time Ferlinghetti first co-founded it and Ginsberg, Kerouac, and Cassady hung out there. I bought a couple poetry books, a t-shirt, and the bumper sticker. The reference to Howl was kind of a double entendre for us as just before we left Maine we’d volunteered with the Wolf Inquiry Project to go out into the woods in western Maine in the middle of the night and howl like a wolf and record any responses we got. And of course, the obvious reference to Ginsberg’s poem.

That had been my first, and so far only, trip to CA so I’m a little sad to no longer have a bumper sticker on my car in memory of the trip

Perhaps I’ll order one from their website for the new Forester though that’s not quite the same.

Sunday, May 2nd

2010-05-06T22:28:00.002-04:00

I hear the occasional splash from a fish jumping or an osprey diving for his prey. It’s humid today, temp about 75. Pretty nice for early May. The water level in The Cobb is very low due to repairs being made to New Mills Dam in Gardiner. The leaves are starting on the trees but the lack of foliage and water makes everything look brown and dead, especially on this slightly overcast day. Yet there’s plenty of wildlife: there are probably 6 or 8 red squirrels within sight, running through the trees, coming to the feeder. Many people dislike the little ninjas but I’m kind of fond of their chattering and the way they vibrate with life most every moment of their existence. I spied one sitting for an hour in a notch in the tree out by the stream this morning. I seldom see them still for that long. There’s birdsong all around, red wing black birds, goldfinch, the hairy woodpecker, as well as the ubiquitous osprey. I saw four of them flying overhead yesterday while sitting on the deck.

An occasional boater passes lazily by, sometimes with poles cast. The monkey like sound of what I’m guessing is the pileated woodpecker joins the scene. I wonder sometimes if it’s a flaw in my character that I can sit here for hours just taking all this in. “Shouldn’t” I be doing something? At least pretend to be reading a book? There is a list of things I should be doing: getting ready to go to Jim Lunt’s 90^th birthday party, finish cleaning up after my paint job on the doorway, pack stuff and get ready to leave, but . . .

I did write a poem today.

They greeted her with smiling faces

their prickly thorns and petals of love

she went about her chores

while the flowers sang their music

Raku Firing April 2010

2010-05-02T14:24:00.000-04:00

We did our raku firing last Thursday night at Malley’s house. It starts out on a base of lightweight fire brick which you pile your pieces on, and then set and load up two more layers of shelves using regular spacers between them. We put the asbestos lined chicken wire “kiln” over the shelves and torched it with a propane fired weed burner. I’d never seen a weed burner before but it’s a pretty big sucker and puts out quite a flame – fifty bucks at your local hardware store. We let it heat up the kiln for about 45 minutes and very carefully lifted the kiln off the top of the stacked pieces. Using very long tongs we took each piece off the shelves and gently dropped them into a large tin trashcan filled with some type of combustible material – leaves, sticks, shredded paper. After each piece goes into the can we threw in more combustible material to give the next piece some cushion. The various materials make unique colors against each glaze. After they smoke in this for 20 minutes we put them in water.

We used special raku glazes and left parts of the pots unglazed. The bottoms of the pots turned out a really nice, almost shiny black, just from the charcoal of the fire. Each glaze has a range of colors it might turn, depending on the temperature of that part of the pot, or what combustible materials it sets against in the smoking part of the process. It’s a very unpredictable process but with very quick results. We fired two kilns of pots in about three hours – very different than using an electric kiln where it takes a good 20 hours to heat, fire, and cool down.

The raku process is not meant for dishware that you’ll be eating from so it has a limited usefulness. But it makes a very interesting metallic like finish with various colors and patterns in each piece. Here are some pieces:

Weekend at camp

2010-04-26T20:06:00.003-04:00

I had planned to take some vacation time last week after the long weekend and spend it at camp. Then we got a call from some friends from PA who wanted to come to Maine for the weekend so we offered to let them stay there. I sometimes feel very guilty about having two nice homes while some people go homeless and it helps abate my guilt to generously share camp. Many of my friends know where I keep the keys and know they're welcome to go out and use it when no one is there. So I was happy to change my plans and let Keith and Beth stay there. They stayed Saturday through Tuesday and left for Acadia on Wednesday. I left work early on Tuesday and we all enjoyed a paddle and a campfire.

Keith

Beth

This wicker chair had seen better days so we decided to make it part of our campfire. Later, looking at photos, we discovered what appeared to be some evil spirit enveloped in the flames. Look at the top of the flames. Scary. I tried to convince myself it was benevolent but in reality it does look pretty evil.

So I took Tuesday afternoon off work to spend with our guests and Wednesday afternoon off to spend solo and stayed the night at camp and woke Thursday to a beautiful morning. It was tough to wake up to such a gorgeous day and leave camp but I did.

Even with all the rain we'd been getting the water on The Cobb had been going down and became extremely low this weekend. This time of year the water should be high. The loons and ducks count on knowing where the high water is in choosing their nesting sites. I emailed the Cobbossee Watershed District to find out what was up and discovered that the water was being lowered to allow for some emergency repairs to the New Mills Dam. Apparently the repairs should be done early this week and then the boards will be put back in place and allow the water levels to return to normal. I think it's still too early for the birds to have started nesting so I think they'll be ok. This is how low it was on Sunday:

Thursday night I woke briefly about 3 a.m. and found this little guy peeking in the window. Actually he wasn't all that little but he was definitely cute.

Sunday Rick and I were sitting on the deck and saw this heron land in one of the dead trees in the marsh. I was able to get this photo of the heron about to launch just as the osprey flew into the frame.

I love that you can see his little rat tail thing (there's probably an official name for it) and the hair on his neck.

Easter day kayak paddle on the Cobb

2010-04-16T10:57:00.000-04:00

Some photos from our Easter day paddle. It was sunny and 70s - a very unusual event for Easter in Maine.

Here I've stopped to listen to a chorus of frogs.

The turtles were plentiful, albeit a bit lethargic after their winter hibernation. I'm guessing we saw over 30 of them throughout our paddle. Normally we see just 3 or 4.

The Bumper Sticker Anthology - Part III - my other car is a Segway

2010-04-16T07:51:00.000-04:00

My youngest son was born with a physical disability known as arthrogryposis. At birth we didn't know if he'd ever be able to walk. After a some surgeries on his feet and legs, and about a year of serial casting, and several years of physical therapy, he is able to walk, albeit with difficulty. When he started at middle school and had to begin walking distances around the school to change classes, he began falling quite a bit. The school asked him to start using a wheelchair because they were concerned that he would bang his head on a desk or something when he fell and really hurt himself. So with some hesitancy, we ordered a wheelchair for him. He had started playing wheelchair sports with a great group called Youth in Motion, so the idea of a wheelchair wasn't as disheartening as it might have been. In fact, we made sure to order him one that had cambered wheels for better maneuverability on the basketball court and a wheelie bar to help prevent tipping over backwards when he did wheelies. He always felt weird about using a wheelchair in public because when he'd get up and walk the few steps to a car or whatever, he felt like a fraud; like he didn't really need a wheelchair.

We had been following the development of the Segway for quite some time. If you don't know what a Segway is, check out this link:  http://www.segway.com/individual/models/index.php

I had told Chris that when it was available I would make every attempt to get him one. It appeared to be a perfect tool for someone with his disability who can walk, but just can't walk distances.  So sure enough, come Christmas 2002, I discovered the Segway was now for sale to the general public. The only place you could buy it at the time was on Amazon.com.

I ordered it and they sent me a poster of it in a long cylindrical tube but it wouldn't actually be available for pick up until March of 2003. So for Christmas that year, I wrapped the tube and both his brothers and I kept remarking about how much he would totally love his Christmas gift. Of course, the poster tube sat there wrapped and Chris had no idea what could possibly be in such a package that he'd be so excited about. Needless to say however, he was totally blown away when he opened the gift and realized what it meant.

We were required to go to the company headquarters in NH to be trained on the Segway prior to it being shipped. And they would not train Chris on it as he wasn't their minimum age of 16. So Justin and I drove to NH and got trained and while we were there, they gave us the bumper sticker, "my other car is a Segway."

Chris has now had the Segway for about 7 years. We lived about a half mile from the high school so he rode it to and from school whenever the weather permitted and then left it at school during the winter months so he could use it to get around between classes.  It's taken some spills and has seen better days and he may be getting a new one soon. For a mere $5,000+/- investment, you too could have the Segway sticker.  But the boost to his self esteem and the confidence the Segway gave him during high school was priceless. Instead of some unfortunate child wheeling around the school in his wheelchair, he zoomed around the school on his Segway, with a grace that he could never acheive in his usual lumbering gait.  Talk flew about why he got to use the Segway. "He has no kneecaps" was one of his favorite rumors he'd overheard. Teachers and students alike begged to be allowed to try it, sometimes to their own detriment. The school insisted on a strict rule that he not allow others to use it inside the school but when a favorite teacher asked, he was hard pressed to say no.   I think the teacher later wished he'd refused after running into a wall and wiping out. Chris made it look so easy and graceful but it had become second nature to him from constant use.

Though other times after weeks of straight pain he perhaps felt differently, I was very impressed when he told me once that if he could wave a magic wand and make his legs normal he's not sure he'd do it. I believe the wheelchair sports through Youth in Motion, learning to snowboard through Maine Handicap Skiing, and the Segway had a lot to do with that.

We've been through a lot of changes in the last seven years, with Chris going from age 13 to age 20. If he gets a new Segway this year, I guess the new "my other car is a Segway" sticker should go on his own car.

The Bumper Sticker Anthology - Part II - Everyone's an Artist

2010-04-02T09:49:00.001-04:00

My friend Mark Miller gave me this one. “Everyone's an Artist” it proclaims. It meant a lot to me that it came from Mark who is a master guitar player. We became dear friends in late 2004 just as the first relationship I’d been in since my husband’s death a few years prior was ending. Mark and I decided to be friends. A very good decision for so many reasons. I love Mark dearly as a friend but I knew from the start that I had to be free to make an immediate exit whenever he'd start up his neurotic Mark bullshit, and I didn't hesitate to do so. But when Mark was being his true self, he was such a beautiful and sensitive person and a joy to be around. It often involved him having a guitar in hand, taking us on soft and elegant musical journeys while we talked. His guitar wept . . . and then danced with ecstasy . . . beautiful . . . soothing . . . He would finish a gig at 1:00, be completely wired and needing to stay up until 4 or 5. The schedule worked well for me at the time as I had become an incurable insomniac, staying up that late with or without him, especially on the weekends.

And I can't think of Mark without thinking of Tom whom I met shortly after Mark and whom I dated for about 5 minutes - another very good decision for so many reasons. I introduced the two of them and we would spend evenings at my camp on Cobbossee Stream, them playing their guitars, with bullfrogs and peepers screaming in the background. Betty and others joining us at times. Starry nights with a campfire crackling. The music and friendship was very healing and rejuvenating for me.

My friend Maya left a djembe at my camp after spending a weekend once, and Mark encouraged me to beat on it. Solo nights at my camp I'd thump away on it, wildly at times, and gently for hours. I think it called in some critters and scared away others. Being a positive person I chose to believe the loons and tree frogs were voicing their approval, not screeching at me to stop. And during that beautiful summer Mark gave me the bumper sticker, “Everyone's an Artist” it declared. . . . Mark at his sweetest.

The Bumper Sticker Anthology - Part I - Evergreen Sudbury School

2010-03-26T11:37:00.000-04:00

I love bumper stickers. My car windows suffer the consequences. When it was time to trade in my car earlier this year it broke my heart to bid goodbye to my old friend, and the stickers. The car had served me well but it needed substantial work. It came at as good a time as possible. I could afford a new car, but it felt like saying goodbye to an old friend who held many sweet memories within the bumper stickers it wore.

One of my oldest stickers was from the little school in Hallowell where all three of my sons attended at one time or another. “Self directed learning in a democratic setting” was their motto - a beautiful place that every child should experience at least for a while. The kids ran the school through Business School Meeting, dealing with issues of budgets, hiring staff, purchasing supplies; and Judicial School Meeting, dealing with disciplinary issues. They chose what to study and when to study it within availability of the staff, their mentors.

“Who are you?” the school asks, and the kids answer, with books . . . often choosing to start off looking for their intellectual side in their search for themselves. And art - working with clay Jared created elaborate scenes of a forest with cowboys sitting around a campfire , their horses, nearby. The landscape and inhabitants changed daily for weeks.

And then comes the music, heard incessantly with the thump of the bass reverberating through the walls until the other kids convene a Judicial School Meeting to air their grievance and consensus is reached that bass free zones would be honored - democracy in its truest form. Later however, the musicians prevail in their motion before the Business School Meeting to purchase a school guitar that could actually be tuned and some of them are never to be seen again, though heard softly practicing with sweet and not so sweet melodies emanating gently from the music room. Well at least not until the winter comes with a bountiful snow and they're free to bring their sleds and snowboards to school and enjoy a full day of, hmmmm, let's call it phys ed, the conditioning of public school still tugging at them. Snow always leads to forts and elaborate tunnels which inevitably lead to snow ball fights - and the teachers (ooops, mentors) are right out there with them.

Winter wears on and long conversation abound about the philosophy behind the movie Fight Club, (the book is better cry out the avid readers) or moral and ethical issues surrounding the new video game one of them wants to bring to school, Grand Theft Auto.

As spring nears my oldest, who's never been good at fractions, understands them intimately within hours as he decides he's going to learn how to sew in order to design his own clothes; he's always had his own style but he takes unique to a new level, and my husband cringes when he appears for church decked out in his new outfit and hairstyle. Yes he says, I realize people will see me as a freak but when they meet me one on one they'll see I'm not scary or weird and maybe it will help them overcome preconceived judgments about people.

hmmm, how can I argue with that logic. Damn school.

So goodbye Evergreen Sudbury School, self directed learning in a democratic setting. You'll always be in my heart, if not on my car.

Squirrels

2010-03-06T20:36:00.000-05:00

Our squirrels are so well fed they look more like prairie dogs

Some new pieces

2010-03-06T20:32:00.004-05:00

Here's a few new pieces still in the rough. On this one I threw a bowl and then cut out a notch to put the first spiral coil into and added more coils to the top

I braided some coils to make the handles on this one.

Added some decorative coils to the outside of this one:

Some interesting handles - similar to one I made a while ago:

A small platter:

One I finished a while ago being christened with some flowers from Rick.

The Playboy Rant

2010-02-21T15:41:00.003-05:00

Rick's very good friend Keith sent him a subscription to Playboy as a Christmas gift. The first issue arrived on Friday. I was not pleased. Buying Playboy for someone is kind of like buying them a puppy. It's a lifestyle choice that one should only make for themselves. I'm no prude but I've always felt that Playboy's attempt at legitimizing the objectification of women by couching it within bona fide interviews and articles makes it much more insidious than a magazine like Hustler, which is at least authentic about what it is and the message it's promoting.

It just so happened that Friday was also poetry night at A-One with a theme of bitter love poetry. I didn't have anything new to read and the feelings that the magazine evoked seemed like good motivation for a poem.

I call it my Playboy Rant.

Stepping from the shower and standing before the evil mirror
I see an old woman standing there
A dismal array of sags and bags and bulges everywhere

Just yesterday I saw her as a well aged woman
whose smile radiated passion and love,
worn but sensuous, with plenty of life left to live and give

But now that the scantily clad lass in her provacative pose
with the Playboy title emblazoned overhead
has taken up the table top real estate where my card to him once set

"You're fabulous it declared - as a friend, lover, partner" I'd added
an effort to keep the romance and passion alive
but my effort feels feeble and fallacious peeking out from

beneath her sumptuos breasts that even I want to embrace
and that figure in the mirror has gone from vintage to
downright grotesque

causing a visceral repulsion that I can't help but think
would be shared by anyone whose memory holds both images
Who knew that perfection could be so depressing

or that a collection of interesting interviews
adulterated with the latest selection of
nubile salacious and seductive females

who in all their beauty are still unable to attain
the flawless perfection that every man feels is his equal
and with a little lengenthing of the torso here

some airbrushing to remove a blemish there
ostensibly intended to offer pleasure and gratification
has the opposite effect on me, evoking

pain and bitterness and overwhelming feelings of inferiority.
even with full knowledge that I'm falling prey
to our male dominated society's plan for me.

How's that for bitter? : )

More pottery

2010-02-21T10:12:00.000-05:00

The tea set is finished and I'm pleased with the finished product. Teapot, creamer, sugar bowl with spoon cut out and a teacup. I decided to glaze it in celadon froth and not use any over glazes because I was worried that with layers of glaze it would run and seal the lids.

A couple of coffe mugs. Mottled blue (left) is my new favorite glaze. I did a little swirl on

it with pippin (I think).

This started out a pretty boring little dish but after adding the imprints I think it's pretty cute.

A casserole dish

I've finally got enough relatively similar coffee mugs to fill my mug tree.

The pottery stock is starting to fill up again and Christmas is very far off.