The call of the Siren...

It seems like everyone is going somewhere. Janet of the Tangled Web is in Switzerland for three months; Ann of Mason-Dixon Knitting has been in Estonia and Mary Anne from Dispatch From LA has been in Portugal. My to-the-right neighbors are packing to go to France for a month, and our preacher and his wife just returned from there. Our across-the-street neighbors are on their annual month-long+ backpacking trip in the mountains. I meet many people from all over the world who have come here to Colorado when I work in the gallery, or even at the Farmer's Market.

It has been a while since I have gone 'on vacation,' but I too have been hearing the call to pack my bags and seek adventure, to re-fill my visual bank as I empty out my literal one. I have traveled several times with a couple of artist friends. We first went to Whidbey Island, Washington (that is where the video is from), then to Santa Fe, then to Boston. The Washington trip resulted in several paintings, though no tapestry yet. The Boston one also yielded several paintings, and the "Rockport Skiffs" tapestry, which was stolen.

My relationship with the mountains is a strong one. I had never, though, felt any relationship with the ocean, having only seen California beaches peopled with tan, thin, surfers - something I have not ever related or aspired to. But when I saw the wild unpeopled oceans of the northeast and northwest, I felt that I was watching the heartbeat of the earth in their surf. And I do now sometimes long to hear that pounding roar, and to feel that spray; to race the waves up and down the rocky shore in search of her treasures.

So... my artist friends and I have booked a vacation to Maine in October. Already I am flipping through the travel guide, planning where we can go to make the most of our short week there. The land of the Wyeth's and where Edward Hopper painted! "The Country of the Pointed Firs" that Sarah Orne Jewett wrote so beautifully about! Rugged shores and rugged people. And L.L. Bean, to boot! Oh, I can hardly wait!