AUTUMN JOY

All summer long these beauties wait for just this moment when they do their best to keep the gardener from giving up entirely.

HARVEST MOON

I have no painting today as the painting I did is awful.  Not sure why, it just is.  Do to technical difficulties, as they say, I don't have any canvas panels prepared - I made a batch, left them out in the sun to dry and it rained, warping all.  They are presently under some heavy cement blocks but I have little hope they can be saved.  Meanwhile it is too wet outside to make more. So...no paintings for a bit.  We did have a wonderful harvest moon last week which got me singing 'Shine on Harvest Moon' and looking for some interesting versions of it on Youtube.  Here is one that I think you will enjoy.  It is a part of an old Laurel and Hardy movie.  Laurel and Hardy always made me uncomfortable because of the deep sado- mascochism driving their partnership but there is none of that here, and there is a really delightful dance that shows Laurel to be unaffectedly light hearted even after all his bashings by Hardy.   Keep watching past all the marching in the beginning.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=72qZZapTHFo&feature=related

ARBOR

Every year in September this arbor blooms.  One of the joys of living in the same place for a long time is that you look forward to the recurring gifts of nature and enjoy the echoes from the past that each succesive blooming evoke.
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HOME GROWN TOMATOES

Finally I am getting some wonderful tomatoes. I checked out UTUBE for my favorite version of this tune.  This one reminds me of an old movie... and you can believe these singers raise tomatoes.


"Home grown tomatoes, home grown tomatoes
What would life be like without homegrown tomatoes
Only two things that money can't buy
That's true love and home grown tomatoes."

 'Home Grown Tomatoes' Jay Ungar, Molly Mason

UNION AVENUE

Home again.  Now, instead of the wide open spaces of the seashore there is all the rich foliage of late summer.  Around the corner a gardening neighbor has planted orange cosmos next to the street, so as I take a walk I am greeted by their cheery faces.

SAILING BY

There is something about a simple sailboat that says 'freedom'.  Watching one glide by while you are swimming in the ocean is like icing on the cake.

WALKERS PASSING

Beach etiquette is an intersting, unspelled out phenomena.  We find ourselves semi clothed toe to head lying about on the beach and rarely do we interact at all with strangers.  I have found beach goers to be extremely polite to each other.  Here two walkers pass very close with no acknowledgement of the other's presense.  Each takes it for granted that a walk on the beach is for solitary contemplation.  Is it the great natural wonder of nature that brings out our respect for each other?  Or are we simply happier here and not interested in disturbing that tranqility?

DIGGING

It isn't only the ocean itself that is the draw at the seashore.  There is that vast expanse of sand to dig in, curl your toes around and build drip castles with.  I love to watch kids endlessly engaged in their own fantasies on the beach.  No computers or TVs necessary.  They throw themselves into their imagination with such enthusiastism it is a joy to behold.
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YELLOW RAFT

Where else can you take off most of your clothing, lie down in public and feel safe enough to go to sleep, except on the beach?

MORNING SWIM

While Pop-Pop is gazing out to sea, the kids are gazing at the next wave and wondering if they have the guts and the skill to ride it in.   In the morning the sun lights up each wave with sparkling intensity and seems to be the embodiment of joy.

NFS

GAZING OUT TO SEA

One of the most satifying occupations of any shore vacation is staring at that big horizon and contemplating our place in the world.  The tides are a palpable connection to the whole universe and whether we make that conscious or not, we can not help but being swept into the magnitude and majesty of existence at the beach.
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DOUBLE RAINBOW

On the second day of our vacation it poured all day.  I was content with the pounding surf as a back drop to my reading, as I was in the middle of the GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO TRILOGY.  Just as the day was about to end, the sun came out, and through a soft drizzle the most beautiful double rainbow I have ever seen appeared over the ocean.  It was an entire rainbow, very clear with its echo just a tad dimmer.  It lasted for quite a while and as the clouds moved through it, created a beautiful light show.  A small crowd gathered near our front row seat overlooking the ocean and even a police car drove up and joined the spectators.  What a thrill!  This is just a small piece of the action.  I wish I had had a panoramic movie camera.

CLEARING SKY

There are two things I love about the seashore.  The first is the wonderful light that exists because of the huge horizontal skyline that changes all day.  The second is the human joy exhibited by people of all ages as they bathe in the ocean.  I will be exploring these phenamena in the next few paintings.
The first day we arrived at the beach it was cloudy, but as we were driving home from our fish dinner the sun came out and this beautiful sky appeared over the bay.