department of silly walks

f

Silly Walk

dragooned

It's green peanut season. And that means it's dragon fruit season too, and time to go to Chinatown for exotic foods—congee and roast duck and dragon eyes—before heading to the ocean in another world.

new life

"It's in the DNA," says Chris. He opens the door of a property they saw, bid on, landed and had just signed a purchase and sale agreement for. All within a couple days. When the Donalds move, they move fast. The landholders will retain their rental property in Woonsocket—renting rather more of it than before—their land in Foster with architectural drawings for the woodland home, and move to the East Side of Providence in a camera-ready house in a walkable neighborhood.

birthday girl

Surrounded by some 50 friends and relations, Camilla Imogen celebrated her third birthday with balloons, bunnies, a pony and, as requested, purple butterfly cakes.

city squall

before the lightening

during lightening

 

 

Today is Camilla's birthday! En route there to celebrate. Party pix tomorrow. Meanwhile, the storm before the calm.

proof

Despite many complaints that I don't travel, I have been to Brooklyn. See?

where were you?

 Lina decided not to fly back to Rio today, 9/11. Just as well, since she still has a lot of shopping and packing to do. I told her she could not leave "just one  shootcase" at my house for another year and a half.
  On that day I was painting on the beach with  Kate Knapp and her class. Ed called me from Fox News to tell me what had happened. I didn't believe him at first. And then everybody in the painting class borrowed my phone (was it only a dozen years ago when everyone didn't have a cell phone?) to call their near and dear in the city. You should have heard my answering machine (yes, we had those!) when I got home. Wish I'd  saved the tape.
Where were you?

all over but the shouting

Ixnay on einer-way.

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Location:Broadway,New York,United States

not keeping up with the joneses

photograph by Catherine Scarlett Lauren Durett Andrews Jackson

Ahem. The house next door proceeds apace. Looming rather? Alas, my poor viewshed! Actually, it's fine from Hannah's Hideaway. Sort of hovers over the front porch at Claudia's Surf City. It does give certain people more confidence that The Big One isn't coming to wipe us off the map if aspirational Block Islanders are willing to build a mansion on the beach. And what will it do to my property values?

on a clear day

New Jersey looks like heaven on a day like this. It's ten degrees cooler in New York than it is in Block Island, but I'm sure even there it's clear the seasons are changing. The off season people move in today. Prices go down and we supply linens. Doorknobs are falling off and things are getting generally shabby—it's off season for a reason. But it's this time of year I like best in Block Island.  No traffic, no people, just the blue fall sea. Unless, of course, there's a hurricane.

news from all over

My friend Bill (left) initiates a pal into the red sock society. Lately, the purchase of such socks has become an obsession—an affordable one as collections go.
    This morning on NPR,writer Dan Woodrell (Winter's Bone) put our Missouri town on the map. You can listen or read about his latest oeuvre here.
     In other Ozark news, my crepe myrtle finally bloomed and, Bear having quit, the kid next door is mowing the lawn.
     More news:
   The Block Island Times printed Isaac Bright's birth announcement, penned by Douglas. 
    An old friend, Hollywood screenwriter and director of horror movies Wesley Strick, put up a trailer for his latest.
    Another friend, photographer Lynn Johnson, narrates a short doc about one woman's work in Kenya.
     There's Chien-Chi Chang's multi media soundscape  on You Tube.
     And Wear Your Music is selling a peace bracelet that likely won't sell in Syria. All we are saying. . .
Oh, and Happy New Year! It means I don't have to move my truck 'til Tuesday!

tomato jones

On my endless quest for heirloom tomatoes (which apparently runs in the family, see my daughter's tomatoes as crack entry), I headed for Phoenix Rising horse farm. It's just a klick from Woonsocket, RI, but definitely another world. Dan showed me the special beans from France he grows for one chef's cassoulet, the zucchini for squash blossoms, the fantastic lime basil and, of course, the tomatoes. They grow mostly for restaurants, so much of the produce is exotica for this area. The plants were triple the usual size, mostly because of horse manure. They have a lot.
    "It must take many workers to keep this garden," I said.
    "We have a lot, and they all live here," said Dan.
    "What is this, some kind of hippie commune?"
    "More like child labor," said Dan. "If you can believe it, I have one high school student who loves picking tomatoes."
     Doing my due diligence, I found the place on line, and discovered that it's a major horse boarding/training/showing scene, with lots of people living and working on site as they all do various horsey things. (Dianne? Maybe you have some gaited horses at Crow's Nest they'd be interested in?)
     Me, I only  care about vegetables. And now I'm on the mailing list!

PS Two dollars a pound. Eat your heart out, New Yorkers! About six bucks here!

late bloomer

Every spring, with hope in our hearts, we plant a few flowers and vegetables in Block Island and in Missouri, prune and drown the plants on the windowsill in New York—and hope for the best. Typically, in the fall, we return to find nary a trace of our spring plantings. This year, however, one of the sunflowers given to us by by Ms Oceanluna appears to have thrived at Claudia's Surf City so successfully that Ana had to prop it up with her old broom. She sent us this picture, which we're glad to have, for it will be a month til we're back on the Island, and it's proof that something grew.
 

me and the mansion

The home of the President of the Garden Club

I have been left in charge of The Estate for the weekend. Les Animeaux: The Dog, The Dudes (gerbils). The LEED silver certified systems. Speaking of which, energy savers, there were lights on in Eva's room. Fluorescents, ok, but still. And where is the switch for the kitchen lights again? The Internet is off. Oh, no, it's back on. And by the way, you left your perishables. Milk, half and half, cold cuts, bananas. Who doesn't travel with bananas? Fortunately, the President of the Garden Club did make arrangements for rain.

nightlife

 It was wild in Woonie, but not as wild as pictured on the news —talk about bad press! Apparently the town should not have hosted a party while virtually bankrupt, never mind that all the money was donated and everyone had a great time.
   Main Street looked great in the dark. Skate kids showed off, bands from bluegrass to psychedelic played, the Marines recruited, the school paraded, the classic cars opened their hoods for admiring crowds and we joined thousands of strollers, some with strollers, including us.

another birthday

Today Woonsocket, RI turns 125. Rock bands, country bands, funk bands, rappers! Peter Tork of the Monkees! Antique cars and motorcycles! Skateboard demos! Dell's Lemonade! Weiners! Fried dough! Food and fun! All right here out our front door on Main Street, where they've built an arc de triomph. Bienvenue! Hope it's not too loud for some very new ears. . .

the crew

At home with two kids, two dogs and a cat, the issues are who's been fed and who's been toileted and who's napped and when. Pretty much in a continuous feedback loop. Definitely down to basics.

picture perfect porch

Have been hanging out with the hummingbirds on my sister's porch to give the new family a day  without company. Headed back today to take walks with Camilla and prepare food. Don't know as I'd go so far as to call it cooking. . .

the gift

Isaac Bright met Camilla on the 23rd of August, and everybody got home from the hospital, happy and healthy, to begin another chapter in the great story.  

house partay

Making a moue

In the leadup to last night's trip to the hospital we had a houseful at Hannah's. Cousin and auntie and uncle and grandmothers. Labor progresses, and we'll let you know the details later today.
OK it's 9:45 and all is well. Labor progresses, but slowly. Still looks like a Leo. 

birth day?

Let's see. Suddenly last night Hannah decided she had to start making a quilt. And brownies. What will the day bring?

the big score

Now those are some nice tomatoes. We called all over RI looking for heirlooms only to discover two fab sources in our own back yard. Got these beauties—Cherokee Purples, Black Seas and others I don't know the name of for a dollar a pound. Eat your heart out, New Yorkers!

regression

A touch of reanimated interest in baby toys with an addition to the family fast approaching. We are sticking close to home as we await the Big Event.

dogging the sunset

Meanwhile, back in Alabama, Sir Wally Walter (a.k.a. Godfrey) keeps a weather eye out for intruders in the garden.

a woman of parts

The vacuum cleaner in parts

Posing for a part

Our own CBA is multi- talented. She repairs watches and appliances. And apparently she can masquerade as a prominent journalist at an awards banquet for some movie in the making. And then there's eBay, and cab driving and her various alter egos that appear on this blog—Mr. Li, Nose Bite Kitty Esq., Paris Hilton and so on. A continual source of amazement and amusement.
PS Do journalists typically look this jaundiced to you all?

home sweet home

Here just long enough to put on the slipcover I shipped home from Missouri. To the Bronx this afternoon, then off again to Rhode Island manana.

you can't go home again

First H & H bagels. Now this. Alas, gentrification levels all. . .

Roadkill

Went from armadillos to possums and, alas, a sad Luna
Moth.


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missouri floods

Not far away from where I was sitting last week, this bridge was swamped. As far as I know, the Eleven Point remains within its banks. A good thing for the siiting Goose.

The North Fork typically is about 20 feet beneath this bridge.

sire

Living proof that a person can survive on beer and ice cream.

name that baby!

As you can see, there's not much time left to enter the high stakes game: Name that Baby!
Just so you know, given that big sister's name is Camilla, Charles is definitely out. Also, Archimedes has already been suggested, as has Elvis Presley Garrison.
Let your imagination run riot!
Winner gets to name the baby!

the advocats

Catticus Finch, Esq.

Many of you know that of recent date I have been, well—I hestitate to say hounded—stalked, rather, by an AdvoCat styling himself Nose Bite Kitty, Esq. Come to find out, he is only one animal in a consortium known as Felines Pour la Justice. The nonprofit also has such legal stars as Furry Mason, Clarence Sparrow and F. Miaow Bailey.
Sacre Bleu! How can I get these animal rights nutcases off my tail?

a nerd wedding

Or that's how the groom characterized it, and he should know! In lieu of rings, the couple exchanged cards from the role-playing game Settlers of Catan, and there was a reading from The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy. The bride baked a cake topped with (of course) origami and a fine time was had by all, including many MIT grads. (To see my story about  these kids before the age of consent see my story from Discover mag.) It was our own little Sam who Got Hitched! May he and Heidi happily explore the galaxy in tandem for light years to come!

cotton fields

Talladega, Alabama. About as far from Jeff Bezos and the Internet world as you can get. And yet the Amazon packages arrive here regularly and have made it possible for people to have the accoutrements of culture in the backward backwoods around Rendalia Motorway.
   And the Internet also made it possible for me to join the stir around his purchase of the Washington Post yesterday. The Times will probably be a changin' soon, too.

that's no scarab!

The itsy bitsy spider went up the—oops! For those curious about the final pink selected for the Goose, it is called Poetic Sanibal [sic] Sunset. Those three words make so little sense to me together that I had to write them down.  As for the spidy finery, I forget the name of that turquoise, purchased some time ago. There's still a lot left if you'd like to go out and apply some to other arachnids. Door's open.

sweet home

Here is the administration building of the Alabama School for the Deaf and Blind (Helen Keller was from Alabama, remember?) which my father's family lived in (second floor left) when my grandfather was president of the school.

goose, before and after

The final paint color was subtle, and close to the original. Peachy!

ozark garden

Wild Bill Dugan's sculpture "Gumby" anchors a sort of garden in his back yard. Hmm, guess this post should have gone on The President of the Garden Club instead. Ah well, frantically packing and painting today. Rusults to be displayed anon.