I don't think life has been so sweet as it is this summer. Our family seems to be in sync. Chris and I are motivated and productive. We had a blow out party to celebrate our new deck. Chris' new music project played and it was so amazing to see him making music again.  These are the times to savor, like a ripe warm blackberry from the garden or a fragment of a dream that is particularly sweet.

 

I blog less frequently in the summer because all of that "free" time gets filled up with potlucks, trips to the pool, park, play or the track. Oh, and I've a got a new job. I think I've mentioned before that I have a love affair with coffeeshops. I'm tired of resisting it. I'm tired of being down on myself for not having pursued that Master's degree and gotten a so called "real" job. The facts are this. I love coffee. I love cooking and feeding people and I like coffeeshop culture. It suits me. So, the fine owners of the Globe Hopper (mentioned here and here and here) saw it fit to hire me about a month ago. The shop is MUCH closer than my previous corporate coffeeshop/bookstore gig and the coffee is 100 times tastier. They also have a space that feels inviting and good people abound. I feel right at home and so happy to be working 2 minutes from where I live. Work life is good and I'm excited to be in the kitchen again.

Note to self:get bike wheels converted from ovals to circles again.

My son (nearly 9) had a visitor from Flagstaff,Arizona for the last week and half. His bestfriend moved away a few years ago and we were delighted to have him come for a long visit. Lots of activities ensued including a trip to Jamestown, seeing WALL-E, a puppet show, a trip to the Horseraces where I placed (and lost) my first bets, and various visits to parks and nature centers. It was a busy busy week and a half and fun was had by all.

 

Speaking of puppet shows, we saw one yesterday at our local library. I don't know how many puppet shows you've seen in your life but I've seen some really amazing ones and I've seen some that were horrendous. The horrendous ones were characterized by blaring obnoxious music, condescending, poorly written storylines with crappy ass puppets to boot. However, the one we saw yesterday was so lovely. The children and grown folks were engaged and laughing heartily.The show was called African Trickster Tales and featured 2 stories about Anansi the Spider. The company that performed this well crafted, entertaining, aesthetically pleasing and comical show was Barefoot Puppets. Barefoot Puppets was created by Heidi Rugg. She, her husband and 2 daughters work together taking their show all over the east coast. They also homeschool and belong to one of our co-ops. They are a wonderfully creative and mindful family and I suggest you try and see their shows if they are ever in your neck of the woods! Here's their schedule for this summer.

I'm also working on some writing that is not blog related...yet. Two pieces I'm tending to now are related to my cancer experience and to neighborhood violence and community. Yesterday I listened to Talk of the Nation. Ted Koppel was talking with Leroy Sievers and Elizabeth Edwards about living with cancer (listen here). After the broadcast there was a live online chat with Leroy Sievers and I participated in that chat. The discussion was personal and very intense for me because while I am in remission from stage lll colon cancer; I'm realistic. Realistic that my colon cancer will return and while I'm not considered a cancer patient today, I probably will be again in the future. Living with cancer can feel very isolating but reading Leroy Sievers blog and hearing him speak makes me feel less alone. He is currently struggling greatly with his disease.

He said something yesterday that really resonated with me. I completely empathized and related to many of the cancer patients that were chatting online especially about the "being brave" part. Lots of folks said I was brave OR when I was feeling low would say, "You need to be brave." I never felt particularly brave and , at times, I resented it when people said I had to be brave.

What Leroy Sievers said yesterday was that,"People are stronger than they know," and I think this is true on many levels. When you are tested. When meaty, challenging parts of life are sitting in front of you and glaring you down, you can do a few things. You can sink down into your personal abyss (which happens to all of us sometimes) or you can rise up and meet the challenge with the love and lessons you've learned throughout your life. We are stronger than we know....

 

The neighborhood violence piece is a direct result of some incidents in our neighborhood and the reactions people have to our neighborhood in general and all of the good people who are working to make change here.

I've got lots on my plate. How about you?

Well, summer is calling and I'm compelled to answer her.

 

 

 

 

 

Our star party turned into a rainbow party.  
The magnolias were not cloying as we tromped in the wet grass. 
The clouds were gilt with golden light.

 

After a lot of work and planning the last weeks of learning co-ops is finally over and summer "break" has started . We know this because we camp every Memorial Day weekend in Tappahannock .  We walk through the marsh on a long boardwalk listening to the bracken click against each other and watching the red wing blackbirds dance.

We swim, splash, laugh, wrestle, drink, eat and dig our feet in the sand. Our hair smells like smoke and our skin changes color.

We play rousing games of Big Bootie, drink, tell stories, listen to friends play the Ukulele and are awakened to a new camper playing classical guitar. Pure Joy. 

The children become a tribe. The dogs attempt to form a pack.

The sun and wind molded us and we knew we were alive.

Thank you River.

Thank you friends. 

 

 

 

In the interest of art here is the new Ed Trask mural on 21st and E. Main that I mentioned in a previous post about The Globe Hopper ( a new coffeeshop in Church Hill) and art in Richmond. Dare I say it is now my favorite Trask  piece now? Not only because of the sheer fact that it is of Nina Simone dammit, but it is also quite lovely. The palette and the painterliness of it makes it a pleasure to see. I'm fortunate enough to pass it daily. Thanks Ed !

Science and art belong to the whole world, and before them vanish the barriers of nationality.

~Goethe 

Richmond is home to all kinds of public art. We have a good deal of monuments, especially ones dedicated to civil war veterans. There is one of Bojangles that I always liked, Arthur Ashe (by Fulton Hill artist and neighbor Paul Dipasquale)and a new one called the Reconciliation monument that went up last year. If you've been here in Richmond for a while (I've been here since 1990), you will likely be familiar with the mural paintings of Ed Trask along with his musical inklings and regular ole paintings to boot. Ever since I've lived in Richmond, I've lived with Ed Trask art. I can't tell you how many folks, including my children and I , who were taken aback by the whiting out of the Princess Diana mural that used to adorn Club Velvet, a local strip joint on E. Main Street.

In my last post about the new Globe Hopper coffeeshop here in my part of town, also on E. Main Street, one can see the concentric circles in black and white that were painted by Mr. Trask. I was happy the coffeeshop had kept the circles but when I drove by the very next day I saw that they were being painted over. It seemed like a bleak day for Ed Trask paintings on E.Main Street.

My eight year old son, feeling pretty down about the disappearance of art, asked me "Mom, why does Ed paint them if he knows they are going to get painted over?" I told him he should ask Ed :) 

Fortunately, I spoke with Mr. Trask last night while I dined on crispy duck and foie gras mac & cheese at Millie's Diner for my birthday celebration. He confirmed that he is painting a new mural on the Globe Hopper coffeeshop. It will be of the High Priestess of Soul,Nina Simone. I already know  I'm going to love it, it is Nina Simone dammit !

 

In other news, after dining out with friends and the incomparable Millie's, we headed to Toad's Place to see Benevento Russo Duo. Chris and I have been enamored with these guys for a while now and we were "like totally psyched" when we saw they were playing Richmond. I don't think I've been to a show since before our girlchild was born. We were not disappointed! I really don't think I could describe the music. Describing music is like trying to draw how something tastes...ya know. However, I will say that Russo's drumming was dumbfounding (AND he wore a blazer for most of it) and Benevento's overlapping melodies are not only mesmerizing but so fucking catchy. There is nothing like watching to consummate musicians enjoy having fun. I love how , at times, they both looked like they were having out of body experiences. They were doing what they love and I'm thankful they were!

Happy Birthday to me, I was spared over for another year :)

 

*Special Thanks to Ed Trask, Chris Bopst and Russell Cook for making my birthday so tasty and cozy! 

That goes double for Cat, Clint, Daisy, John and John !