artists or con artists?

My Craig's List ad for the Goose entitled Artists' Retreat has fished up a couple of keepers, but most of the responses have been from scammers.
Clues:
Multiple email addresses belonging to the sender
English that is so slightly off: "Hello, i want to know if me and my husband will be able to spend seven days at your place,the days start from (September 9nd - September 16th), Get back to me with the total cost for the seven days..Thanks"
And the ever-popular cashier's check from abroad which turns into a request to send out ticket money or some such after it clears.
People from Australia who would like to visit Thomasville, Mo., for a weekend! I mean, it is delightful, but hardly reknowned.

rain rain

One minute bright sun, then thunder and then, in a very short time almost an inch of rain and several tree branches fell out of the sky.  Now it's sunny again, like it never happened.
That's Bear's house across the street, which I've never been inside of. And on the left is the cafe with a new paint job.
PS It's 105 right now at 4:30.

back from work

The lumber mill where he works burned down a month ago or so, but it's getting ready to open up again, so he's back on the job. Ten bucks an hour, on the books, taxes taken out and social security credits earned. Most of the money goes into the gas tank of his truck, since the job is half an hour away. He lives rent free in the house he grew up in across the street from the Goose.
  People around here make and scrape. He told me that his daddy dug roots to sell.



Check this out on Chirbit

the road home

It is dry here, and hot, hovering near a hundred in what shade there is. The cattle are scrawny, and prices are low. Grazing is poor, and as feed prices rise farmers send their stock to market before the creatures get even thinner. Rumors of rain are the currency of the day, not devalued by the disappointments of cloudbursts in neighboring acres.
Supposed to get some rain today, but I don't know.

the best farm stand

Is it worth going a couple hundred miles out of the way for?
Definitely.
The first place I ever bought Honey Crisp apples was here. Their crop will not come in this year because of drought.
But the heirloom tomatoes were just starting to come in. They had varieties I've never heard of—Abe Lincoln, Box Car, Green Zebras, White somethings—sorry, not home, will correct tomorrow or whenever I get Internet access at the Goose.  And scored my fave Brandywines. Probably should have bought more but couldn't face buying white ones.
I tracked them down on the interweb and called to ask them to save me some. They did, and were very happy to see their New York-Missouri client roll in.

the open road

. . .and I'm off!

family hour

The cousins spend some quality time. Alas, we have all gone back to our separate homes, but it was great there for a week.
   Me, I am in New York and off to Missouri in a couple days, carefully calibrating a stop at the best farm stand en route, in Greenup, Il. After some research I was even able to call them and ask them to stockpile some of the season's first Brandywine tomatoes.

The blues

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

lazy hazy crazy

. . .days of summer. With somemores, bluefish and beer. . .

spogga lives

The beach attracts all sorts on 80-degree days.

verge

The rose hips are out, the Queen Ann's lace, the chicory, the hydrangeas—oops, wrong blog! Must have meant to post on the President of the Garden Club!

beach time

Last night I slept in a hammock. The refrigerator door is open so much it won't stay cold. We switched it to see if that would help. Some 15 of my closest friends and relations sit down for dinner of a night, and tonight it's my night to cook. We'll have the stripers Ricky caught yesterday made with his recipe, which includes onions and milk. And whatever else I can convince the gang to prep for me. And the waves are fab! And that's all I have to say because it's hard to finish a sentence with 15 of your closest friends and relations in one house.

off to block island!

Same kid, same car, maybe six years ago?

the reason

You may have noticed that sometimes I don't write much here. The usual reason for this is that I am either writing a lot elsewhere or talking a lot. Yesterday it was both, and today it is mostly talking. In fact I can't hear myself think right now due to the nevvy's visit, so i think I will call it a blog entry.

mother-daughter acts

Your Picture Caption Here

things to do in Block Island

Admire The Real Estate Lady's roses.

under new management

There was a shock awaiting at the nail salon. The woman who had run the place, the one who knows my daughter and sister and nieces and friends, was no longer there.
  "What happened to the previous manager," I asked the new one.
  "She fell," he said.
  "Oh no!" I said. "Is she okay?'
  "Not her fell. The business fell."
Fell or fail, I guess it has the same meaning. The place was surely buzzing under the new management.
  But I liked the empty store and the women who used to help me with Chinese.

pattern recognition

These photos were taken by a recent guest (who I would credit if I knew her name) at Claudia's Surf City.
Can you identify these items/locations?

things not to do in block island

This picture was taken in 1930 by Martin Munkacsi, I don't know where. I think it is incredibly beautiful. But don't try this at home.

In other photo news, ma Donna Ferrato has her domestic violence work up on the Lens blog of the New York Times today, including her appeal for funds for a film/road trip. remember what I was saying recently about supporting artists? A week left to donate.

independence night

independence day

Independence Day fireworks from Hannah's Hideaway, 2006

I wish that certain people I know had independent means.
There are people who deserve to be paid just for being in the world. Most of them are bad with money.
There's the motelier who saves old dogs and old kitsch and has a genius for creating outrageous environments that bring disparate people together (and we're talking really disparate).
There's the writer who's always in debt because he gave his time away to the old lady next door and his money away to the loser he met on the street.
There's the musician who will serenade you and fix your computers for free.
There's the photographer who wants to end violence against women and sexually liberate everyone in the world.
There's the humorist who spends her days devising elaborate and hilarious stunts to amuse her friends.
   And it seems like every day there are more foreclosures and title pawns and other desperate circumstances among my friends, particularly the artists.
    Some kazillionaire needs to set up a coolness grant for people who live lives that are works of art, people who have the gift of being happy and who make others happy.
We need our independent thinkers to be independent.

things to do in block island

Eat on the porch of the Narragansett.

afternoon in the country

It's been hot in the city (though not as hot as in Madison, Ga., where it was 111 or Peace Valley, Mo., where it got up to 104), so I took a day trip to the country. In furthest Queens I sat on the screened porch in cooling breezes and talked about old times and new lives all afternoon before heading back into the hot town.