Wexford Girl

Home Run 756

Congratulations Barry!

It feels good tonight to be in San Francisco! We can almost hear the cheers from the ballpark all the way out by the beach.

The Rest of the Year

The rest of the year is going to be more home-bound. This year I have been to Yosemite twice, Mendocino, Los Angeles, Toronto, New York, and the San Juans. They have all been fairly short trips but it seems like we've been gone a lot.

I am looking forward to some home time now, weekends spent working on our house, gardening, painting, seeing friends. I don't expect us to get less busy; I have to prepare for the next show at The Salon (I am taking the Candy Store show down tomorrow), and I decided to do an Appel and Frank event in December, because I think a show at Hotel Biron will probably be January, not December. Then there is Open Studios in October. But I will be in my house, in my city, doing what I love, and seeing dear friends. All of the trips this year, without exception, have been wonderful, but when I hear people say, "wow, you're going out of town again?" I know it's time to slow down.

My Dad is coming in November, and we will probably take him away for the weekend to show him more of the California beauty he loves, but that's it. Oh and Amy and Randy's restaurant opening in Portland.

But that's definitely it!

Here's me and Dad a few years ago in Yosemite:

Island Living

Our trip was amazing: 75-80 degrees every day, no bugs, no bears or other scary beasts, freshly caught crab every day, excellent company, and lots of boat action.

A colorful display in Friday Harbor:

Our haul of crabs. Every day we caught four or five. Well, we caught more sometimes, but you're only allowed to keep five.

We busted them open right on the dock and cleaned them in the water. You have to hold the claws down or they'll take your finger off. Here I am killing a live creature (take your pick; it's this or boiling water):

The pool at our friends' family property on Blakely Island. What a lovely place:

Me and Ryan (16 years old) on the boat. Cool kid. he loves video and music, and one of his YouTube vids has been viewed 67,000 times.

One day we found ourselves surrounded by a pod of about 8 orca whales. They were gorgeous - tranquil and immense:

This is the life: