At Last...

I can hear Etta James belting the song out in my head...not only because it was what my sister Barbette and her newlywed husband Nathan chose as their first married dance at their wedding, but because it has become my theme song for hope. Please tell me we are hitting the outside edge of the repercussions of the October Surprise snowstorm! Each time I began to put together a newsletter or blog piece about upcoming art events and such I was set back by technical problems. After a 3rd visit in as many weeks by technicians for Cox our internet and phones both seem to be working better and I was able TODAY to finally make some updates to my ArtFire Studio. Our network is finally working so I can print again. All of this AFTER "Black Friday" and "Small Business Saturday". Broad Brook Art missed both of those boats....in port due to storm.

I rely on my computer and other technology objects even more than my art tools, and when I look at the big picture they cost more than my canvas and pencils and such~ although you might be surprised at how often art materials are "updated" or "upgraded" for the better...meaning the old stuff just might not do anymore. That new set of intense pigments I have my eye on? Exorbitant! CUH-razy! We have stayed away from relying on a second car and smart phones for now, but we have found the thrifty choices are not always worth the money OR the time. And ooooh those paints are soooo cool.

For now we will continue our economic insecurity...give me a mild winter and we might yet join the ranks of consumers. First I need to rejoin the ranks of operational business owners. Horse then cart.

Settle in to Monday

Galileo's moon phases

And of course the name is derived from "Moon Day" and countless other references, but considering my penchant lately for the moon and night landscapes I think I will tag this day as my MoonDay.

I haven't sketched a single night landscape since the end of August, when storm Irene robbed us of both daylight and night light...closely followed by storm Lee with torrents of rain. Somewhere in there we headed to a new berth on Cape Cod and found that portion of the Cape was not dog-friendly until October...so we had less night moon on sand, water and beach grasses to look at. I suppose we could have snuck Rosie onto the night beach, but these same places were pretty strict about staying away after sunset as well. I will figure it out~ I must have my dose of moonlit beaches every year.

For years Donna and dog and I have headed off to North Truro for Halloween. This year we knew we couldn't renew the rental. When it was time to place our deposit Donna was still unemployed and we are both grateful she is working now, but common sense told us our lives had changed more than "same time NEXT year". We made a new plan and lo and behold when we would have been moonlighting on national seashore we were digging out from under the storm of the century here at home. 

from THIS October 30, 2011

To THIS November 20, 2011

What is typical for the month between these two photos is my father mowing the back acres one field at a time and the autumn colors creeping into the grasses and glowing gorgeously in the moonlight on my night walks with Rosie. This year relentless weather literally flattened the grasses and the fall colors just greyed out as the snow melted away and the green grasses kept staying spring-like.

And, spring like, there was and still is water water everywhere. Donna and I wondered when we went into as kind of storm coma. After a tense few days we finally figured out Saturday that we had been collectively holding our breath all of November. I had to admit that I had frightened Donna and my folks pretty badly by having the stupid seizure when they had no phone service and couldn't reach 911. Not only did I not want to hear about their experience, I had no interest in discussing the ramifications for me. I was supposed to have the busiest show season EVER. I had a big fat old 50th birthday coming. I also was not interested in a new neurologist and his demands and a new medication and its side effects. Hence my storm coma. I just grayed it all out and moved forward.

During Open Studio we heard some other storm-related traumas. Everyone has at least one story and it is surprising how many of them include explosions. Really. Explosions! As we packed up to head home last Sunday night the block of ice around our experience began rapidly melting into a new edginess. Other people began to speak their continued fears. Did we have any?

Refusing to be inconvenienced is one thing...denial of the facts is quite another. Somewhere my graying field grasses demarcated the line between  staying positive and staying delusional. And delusion is not to be nurtured. So here is my Moonday morning. Reality is shaping up pretty well~ into a new normal. Still here, but a little more real.

What is your Moon Day reality?

Banned from city hall....doesn't stop the art!

Things have been just plain crazy. Part of the reason I haven't written sooner is the world is simply puzzling at the moment, but one thing is straight-forward as can be: if you want to see good art for a good cause you will head over to Manchester Memorial Hospital between 6 and 8 pm tonight and have a gander at the male and female torsos transformed into art to raise breast cancer awareness. Yes, this is the show that was banned from city hall and city hall has realized it is art...not gratuitous nudity. This was a fun thing to do but who knew it would have the power to dissolve an art organization! The real power this "Celebration of the Ta-Tas" show has had is it did EXACTLY what it was supposed to do extremely well~ remind both men and women that regular screenings for breast cancer are essential to the defeat of this disease! And we will have some fun in the meantime...

Full Storm Ahead!

Despite the obstacles we are moving forward. For two days we have had no need to go to a shelter to charge computer or phones and our power has been on consistently and long enough to have caught up on laundry and dishes. The ambulance company tracked us down for billing and my parents now know for sure their oven, coffee maker, surge controls, phones and various lights are blown by the surge that happened when power returned. This time we unplugged our refrigerator (new due to the last big storm) and other expensive appliances and seem to have emerged minus additional power complications. I can still see crews working to restore power down the street and when we drive toward the center of our town the devastation is still too real. School is still not back in session and this is day 6 of 180. With Irene school didn't start on time so most north central schools have already used their allotted snow days and then some...and we are nowhere near the end of winter.

Legislators have been wandering through the public spaces (shelters) and I have received some e-mails that attempt to demonstrate intervention on our behalf. Each local community is allowed to do their own thing, which has left many of us without essential services. Thursday Don and I passed through our municipal buildings and found MREs (meals ready to eat) provided by the National Guard or someone and no plans to distribute those resources to people stranded. I was horrified to pass a house with a grill set up INSIDE the house...sure, the door and windows were open but there have been so many carbon monoxide poisonings (including deaths) that it was hard to believe people would take the risk.

Bottom line? We need some serious distribution of disaster preparedness info...and our communities should be better prepared to inform people of what is going on. I would have gladly gone house to house as a volunteer...I am sure others would have also been willing.

Now the worst is over what was most distressing? The fact that my parents, who happen to live next door, were not willing to leave their home even for a short time. We kept our fireplace going and the temperature near the fireplace was well above 60 degrees...far warmer than the rest of the house and surely far warmer than theirs. Our neighbor with a generator, Justin, was generous and shared his shower facilities as well as electrician information. The electrician is practically a member of the family at this point. He hooked up the old generator to my folks' furnace and pronounced their power and appliances unsafe. I could have done the same thing even as a layperson, but my elderly parents wanted that expert opinion and we were grateful to have it.


Each time we say "lesson learned" but this time...two devastating storms in two months...perhaps we actually have.