An accident...

Most of you know by now that I totaled my beloved Chevy early Friday morning. My daughter Faye and I were in the car and are both alright. Bumps, bruises, some black and blues and stiffness but we will heal.
The car, however, is totaled. A complication I certainly didn't need right now.

We were on our way to a farmers' market convention in Belfast. The hotel room came with pool and hot tub and I offered Faye a little getaway from her role as wife, mother and restaurant owner. But Route 1 in Jonesport was ice covered and not sanded. Luckily, we were going only about 35 mph. I'm convinced that slow speed and our seat belts saved us.

As we approached a curve, a school bus came around the corner with yellow lights flashing. They immediately turned red and I barely tapped the brakes. We began fishtailing and for just the tiniest of moments, I really thought I brought it back under control. It slipped again, though, and we slid off the side of the road where there was a very steep embankment. We rolled completely over once and then half way again, landing on the passenger side of the car. Strangers who had been following us stopped and pulled us out of the car - they were there instantaneously and we can't thank them enough. They put us in their car to be warm while we waited for the police and a wrecker.

This was incredibly frightening. If I had been alone, I think it would have been easier, but to be responsible for my daughter and possibly hurting her and knowing that I scared her to death (she was so nervous that she vomited repeatedly after the crash - no, she never bumped her head. It was all nerves.) If she had been seriously hurt I could not have withstood it. Even though I have gone over and over the accident and know that I did nothing wrong - I wasn't speeding, we were belted, I was paying close attention to the road and the other cars - I still feel terribly guilty for putting my daughter through that.

We should hear from the insurance adjuster tomorrow about where to go next. Right now I have a rental and that last thing I wanted to be doing right now is car shopping - talk about stress. I have Tuesday off and I guess it will be spent test-driving.

Meanwhile, I will be thanking the universe over and over again for keeping us safe and virtually unharmed.

A few photos from the trip....

Talk about a melting pot! This is the ATM near my son Russell's home. Here in Machias, we get two choices: English and French. I don't even know what all of these languages are!

Jackson Pollack at the Museum of Modern Art. I love his creations and was struck by the sheer size of them...

Diego Rivera...

Pablo Picasso...MOMA had several rooms of Picasso, an amazing, varied collection that really showed much more than just his lines and crazy faces....

And the best of all - the only painting in MOMA with its own guard: Van Gogh. This has always been my favorite painting of all time. I got tears in my eyes standing in front of it, seeing his brush strokes and the movement...absolutely unforgettable.

A view of the whale skeleton from above at MOMA.

How many kinds of omelets does your restaurant serve for breakfast? This was at the Brownstone Diner in Newark, which has been featured on Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives, and other programs on The Food Network. What a great place!


Taryn - what a sweetie!

My Russ - we were waiting in the subway and the lighting made everyone look ill.

This was a fabulous mosaic down in the subway tunnel. Please notice the HUGE dust bunny sitting on Maine.

We exited right through the spot where the World Trade Center buildings once stood. A very emotional experience...

And my last night in Connecticut - my grandsons James and Joseph after dinner and ice cream!

Now let you tell me about my REAL vacation:

It began with a cold - probably the culprit is Miss Kiley, whose poor little nose is always running since she attends day care, a stew pot for germs.
I left home Thursday and by Saturday afternoon the cold was starting to rage.

Sunday it was full blown. I had NO appetite (A clear indication for me that something is very wrong) and a fever.

By Monday, I was back on the train for the return trip from New Jersey and really ill.
I arrived in Connecticut and spent the next two days in bed at my son David's. His wife Lori, herself recovering from surgery, brought me tea and tissues.

By Wednesday I knew things were worse and I had to head for home while I could still drive.
I got as far as Augusta - four hours - and knew I'd never make it to Machias.
I called my BFF Donna and she took me in, fed me cheese souffle and sometime in the night, my fever broke. But I was still really ill. The pressure in my sinus cavities felt like multiple toothaches.
I drove home and finally called Dr. Kathy on Friday. She prescribed antibiotics for my sinus infection but unfortunately it was a bit too late. About 4 a.m. my left eardrum burst.
Let me tell you, this has not been fun.

Excruciating is the word.

I am now on my last day of antibiotics and still congested, my right sinus is still solid and now I am deaf in my left ear. It has been ten days of this.......man I am exhausted. Puffs Plus and Tylenol have been my best friends and I must have consumed 43 gallons of various juices...
What a ruined vacation! At least getting to see Russ and Taryn in New Jersey was wonderful...details and pix tomorrow.

Part of my vacation was by train: the 143, Hartford to Newark

It was a spectacular trip - I boarded at Hartford in darkness - it's a sibling handoff: my oldest son dropping me off so my youngest son can pick me up three states away - and as the sun comes up along the route, I watch the world unfold.
It is like looking under someone's kitchen sink or in a basement closet - this is not the pretty front door that towns show the world.
This is empty warehouses, smiling like toothless men because their windowpanes are missing.
This is junkyards and backyards,
A firetruck graveyard,
Bars on back windows and smokestacks and everything dressed in graffiti: initials, skulls and numbers.
Along the way, as the rails clack and the car sways, there are little glimpses of order:
tidy backyards with now dormant gardens, silent swingsets and small piles of dirty snow.

We stop at the stations: Meriden, Wallingford, New Haven, Bridgeport, Stamford and eventually, New York, and the conducter comes along through each car and announces the stops, just like in every movie you ever saw.

We pass tenements and electrical grids.
There are little swamps with ducks in clusters.
Billboards and litter, litter, litter everywhere - pressed against fences, tangled in webs of lovely orange bittersweet.

It's like each town we pass through has its dirty little secrets, its nastiness, its ooze and slime, and all the secrets are hidden down by the railroad tracks all mixed in with the architecture of the past: fine craftsmanship, impeccable masonry, glorious arched windows.

But it has all be abandoned. Rejected and replaced with cold, utilitarian metal boxes surrounded by parking lots surrounded by razor wire in the suburbs.

In New Haven, the 143 switches from a diesel to an electric engine. I noticed no difference when we start up again.
For a while, then, I95 keeps us company. We pass the Duchess Diner, Desi's Corner and Mario's Place. There goes Wally's Liquors and the Connecticut Food Bank. We click-clack past Eppy Computers, and the Greater Love Temple.
Most of the buildings have so long ago turned their backs on the railroad tracks that they have no signs indicating what they are or were.
We pass the Bonton Fish Market and at a Friehofer bakery, at least 200 tractor trailer trucks are lined up to deliver white bread for breakfast toast.
There are acres of metal drums and a surprising number of cemeteries. Do we think the sound of the trains soothes our dead?
There are squatters - shanty huts in the woods with blue plastic tarps for roofs and laundry frozen on makeshift clotheslines.
We keep clacking, past Firestone Tires and Learn-To-Dive with Captain Sam.

Then, between New Haven and New York, there's a surprise: dozens of large new condominiums and a small pine forest. An Audi dealership. But as quickly as it appears, it is gone as New York City approaches and the debris returns.

New York City doesn't loom from a distance, like spotting the Emerald City from the Yellow Brick Road. It just appears, slamming you in the face with its hugeness, its boldness, its raw presence. And boy, Toto, we sure aren't in Kansas. It's a landscape of buildings - like rows of corn in the midwest, buildings are the crop here. There is no end - they stretch forever.

One last stop: Penn Station in Newark and Russ telephones and tells me to look for him downstairs by the benches "that look like pews.'' He spots me first and enfolds me. I am crying since it has been so long since I've seen him, my baby. He feels like Russell should feel. He smells like Russell should smell. And even though I am a bazillion miles away from rural Maine, I feel so at home wrapped in his arms.

Off on an adventure....

I'm headed to Connecticut, then New Jersey and New York City, then back to Connecticut, a couple of days in Pittsfield and then back home! I won't be posting here but wait til you hear of my adventures when I return!

I survived...barely.

Boy yesterday was rough.

I made three women cry.

Well, life actually made them cry but I stuck a stick in their eye and made it worse.

I interviewed three women: two widows of fishermen lost at sea and the wife of an active fisherman. All for a large story I'm working on. How painful it was to have to ask them about the last hours with their husbands and how they learned their boats sank. And how incredibly painful for them to tell their stories.

The tears were for loss: these women obviously miss their husbands terribly and, at least in one case, aren't sure how to go on now. One couple met when she was 17 and he was 15 - love at first sight. They had been inseparable. "I didn't even get to say goodbye,'' she told me.

"I can't close my eyes. I see him floating,'' the other, who had been married for 28 years, told me as tears poured down her face. She still has a son that heads to sea every day to fish, fishing the same bay where his dad drowned.

This is the reality of life at sea; the life many Downeasters experience on a daily basis.

After the series of interviews, I drove to Eastport for two meetings but the day had drained me so emotionally that as I left Eastport, an overwhelming fatigue took me over. I called and canceled the story I was set to write last night (something I NEVER do) and will write it instead this morning. Now I'll go play with 60,000 salmon eggs and get a much-needed haircut.

I'll write four other stories today but you know those women's voices will still be throbbing in my ears....and in my heart.

I'm in for a rough day, I'm afraid.

Today I start a series of interviews for a large project. It's a profile of Lubec and their fishing culture and how they survive the loss of so many men.

Today I interview two widows and a fisherman's wife, as well as a Dept. of Marine Resource patrol officer...


Wish me strength.

some accomplishments have been accomplished!

YAY!! I finished the kitchen floor. This involved 2,457,097,597,120,345 hours on my knees and an extraordinary amount of horrible smelling, stick-to-everything-including my feet, hands, stove, counter and somehow, the bathroom sink - adhesive. I'm tooooo old to be on my knees! This is a commercial grade vinyl tile in a sand color - and I think it balances the shock of the green walls very well. When I return from vacation (I'm headed to CT, NJ and NYC next week) my dear handyman Terri will put down the newly painted molding.
Next summer I hope to replace that outdated wooden set of windows with a big French door out to the deck - now that will be nice!

Here's what I found at Hannaford's this week. TULIPS!!! IN JANUARY!!! Tulips fill my soul with hope and promise and I am so happy they grace my table...

And, coincidentally, or not so coincidentally, I finished Russ's tulip painting. The camera really washes out the colors but I assure you it has real richness and depth.

And lookie there - across to the end of my studio. See those three glowing rectangles?? That's HEAT baby, yeah! I'm still terrified of the damn thing - it has an open pilot light flame, but I'll put up with it so prevent my paints and my toes from freezing!

Off to Winter Harbor now to a fish industry workshop - the things I do....

an ode to propane

oh toasty toes
oh warmed feet
the gas man came today at eight
he didn't even make me wait
the wonderful man
did a magical feat.
He turned a dial and left a treat!


heat, heat,
oh glorious heat.
the propane heater is glowing,
the warmth in the room is growing.
heat, heat,
oh glorious heat.

heat, almost!

I finally gave up trying to work in my studio/office without any heat except what slithers in from my guest room. Mother Nature and 54 degrees in here have finally defeated me.
Dead River came today to bring me gas (as if I don't already have enough) and hook up the heater in the office.
There were two old tanks out there and the serviceman said one of them was from 1953! And you wonder why this house needs so much renovation....
Anyway, the man was delayed getting here cuz someone else ran out of heat and so I had to leave before he could hook up and test the heater. He was able to tell me, however, in a rambling 10 minute conversation, about how excited he was to see all the deer tracks around my house. Somehow that didn't help me get any warmer...

So...the sun is going down now, the chill is seeping back around my feet and I have to wait until tomorrow for real heat.
Oh Well, I guess I'll go to Eastport. If all else fails, go to Eastport. It is my personal solution for depression, goosepimples, lackluster hair, flatulence, an overcooked meatloaf and unfaithful friends. Go ahead and try it.

The beauty will astound you, even if your feet are cold.

pre-dawn is a good time for thinking

It is just before 7 a.m. and the sun hasn't really risen. Oh, there are some perwinkle-colored stripes on the horizon, some lightening of the bank of clouds, but the for the most part it is still dark. My coffee is hot and good and warming me well.
All the houses on my street save one are still lightless. My closest neighbor, however, is warming up her car and will head out to work soon.

The crows are conversing noisily with each other - it's almost like they feel that since they are up and about, everyone else should be as well.

Yesterday I failed myself on the weight issues so I'm taking some time to regroup this morning. I ate a fine dinner - peanut sesame chicken, with lots of fresh vegetables (not packaged or take out, homemade), had two boiled eggs for breakfast, but fell right in the toilet with a fluffernutter for lunch. YIKES! No snacking after supper and no nibbling in between meals - that part was good. But no exercise either.

One day at a time. Take a deep breath. Refocus. Smile at the possibilities this day holds and move forward.

reflecting...

Doing a lot of reflecting this week. New year, and all. Since I moved here in June, this was my first major snow storm in Sweet Pea Cabin. It was very snuggly and warm, with the wood stove roaring. And with the long windows on both sides of the living room, I felt absolutely surrounded by swirling snow. I slept in Sunday and that sweetheart Matt was already shoveling out my car and walkway.
It is easy to reflect on having Matt, Faye and Kiley next door. It is an incredible gift.
It is easy to reflect on having a new grandson, Karlin. He is precious.
It is the harder thoughts, thoughts about disappointments and letting go of toxic relationships, setting new goals, challenging myself - these are harder to face and deal with.
No resolutions. I don't keep them.
But I have made some "suggestions" to myself.
I spent much of Sunday cleaning out my office and studio. That's one of my suggestions. A cluttered workspace tends to clutter my mind. I need simple, easy, plain.

I painted a bit - another "suggestion" - give myself more time to paint. I'm working on a special one for my son Russell and his sweetie Taryn. I wasn't happy with it - I think I was trying to hard to paint what I thought THEY would like. Now I've taken control back and I'm painting what my heart says. If they don't like it, they can always hide it under the bed....until I come visit!

Dealing with my weight - of course that is a STRONG suggestion - I struggle every day with this. Now I think I'm getting close to really compromising my health. Somehow I have to find a different way, a different relationship with food. How do you feel satisfied, fulfilled without overdoing it, eating the wrong things, making the same mistakes over and over? All year I said "next week" "next month" "after vacation" and finally "after Christmas.'' Getting more exercise and making good choices were put off time and time again. Taking control isn't easily accomplished, for me. I know I need to change not just what I eat and what I do, but how I FEEL about what I eat and do. This is hard work and I'm still gearing up for it....

gorgeous - simply gorgeous...

This is where I live - can you imagine? Head of Harbour Light on Campobello Island....

The same morning, an abandoned weir off the island.

Can you imagine that I get paid to go to places like this??????? Shhhhh, don't tell my bosses!

Projects: completed and under way and yet to do...

Well, I have finally begun the kitchen floor and it is not a moment too soon! I was incredibly lucky that the old vinyl tiles practically popped right off, leaving a clean subsurface for the new ones. Now I can get to my refrig, stove but not the sink. Hopefully, I'll get a bunch more on today. The flash washes out the colors - making that wall look at bit minty - yet I assure you it is very lime green - so the tiles are actually a soft sand color. Gives the eye a place to rest in a busy kitchen....

Bedroom floor has had all subfloor removed and is now painted a crisp white with mild green stripes...they don't look green because again, the color is washed out. Eventually this will be a solid wood floor but that is not in this year's budget....patience!

Remember that dark cave of a guest room with the 1940's wallpaper??? Well it has been painted a light clay color and it brightened it up beautifully. All that is left in here is tiling the floor - not sure if I want to go light or dark....probably light. What do you think?

Coming up: the living room floor. Here is my new rug, a Christmas present to myself! I love it - it is so much fun. The flooring underneath is oak and will need to be sanded. Although I have done all the work that I've showed you myself, this job I think I will hire out. And I'll wait until summer when we can open all the windows!

Christmas was spectacular - still processing how much fun and meaning was wrapped up in the weekend before with my friends, and Christmas with family. Kiley was a joy to watch: when I asked her Christmas morning if Santa had come, she said No, the monkeys came! What goes on in that little head. She has become fascinated with penguins and has named her new fish Penguin...what fun. Her speech has suddenly jumped ahead quite a bit: she is talking in complete sentences and really expressing herself - "Silly Queenie" she says when I do a dance or act a bit nutty. She also has suddenly become very possessive - not wanting to share her food, dollies or toys. But she is also giving the tightest, best feeling hugs in the world!

The most exciting news is that in three weeks I'm headed to Connecticut to see my son David and his wife Lori, my sweet sisters and brothers, and then to New Jersey to visit my youngest son Russell and his sweetie, Taryn. I'll be meeting Taryn's family for the first time (PRESSURE!!!) and then I'll head back to Pittsfield for a little more time with friends. I think I have the right idea - stretch this holiday out for a month or so!

The snowmen have arrived.....There are the traditional little stuffed ones:

There are long-legged, funny hat wearing snowmen...


There are gawky snowgirl angels, framed by Jack Frost touched windows...


I really love those with the 1940s paper mache and glitter ones, like this silly snowman with his ruffle and bells, welcoming winter.


This is my dearest - look at that face. And I die everytime I see his little hat made from music sheets - another 1940s replica.


And of course, what would Christmas be without a tree - or three?

My shopping is done, all are wrapped except to add the ribbons at the last minute, and tomorrow I finish some last minute projects before heading off to central Maine and vacation. There is a cookie party, a bonfire solstice party, some girl-talk time, the annual Goddess Gathering and breakfast with two of my dearest, bestest friends. In between I'm getting new tires on the car, my eyes examined and a tooth repaired...

On Tuesday I head back home for my first Christmas in my little Sweet Pea Cabin. And on Christmas Eve afternoon, we'll all go to Tide Mill Farm and sing Christmas Carols to the cows...and of course drink hot chocolate and eat cookies!

If I'm lucky and get a few projects done, I might have TWO rooms completely finished before the new year. I lovely boy - so nice to look at - removed the old floor in my bedroom this morning so it is just a matter of a bit of paint and sewing two valances and that room is finito - finally.
I'm about eight floor tiles away from completing the bathroom. Got to move the toilet and then reset it to accomplish this one though...need Matt's help. My goal is to have four rooms finally completed by the end of January. And the lovely boy is available to help me tile the spare room and the kitchen...no broken knees for me! It sounds daunting but I've saved most of these projects for the winter because I couldn't help but be outside and at the beach all summer..... ah summer. Hard to feel it tonight, with the wind blowing the pines and the temperature below zero.

I'm so glad I have a hot wood stove to snuggle up to.

Lots of pictures today - First the paintings from the art/jewely show:

Tall Red House - SOLD! (All of the colors in the paintings appear a bit washed out because of the flash - sorry.)

Row of Houses - SOLD!

Pair of herring school - SOLD!

Very large School of Herring - SOLD!

And then there was the jewelry - how many necklaces are too many? You can NEVER have too many, sez Carla....check it out!!! Trudy's jewels are so beautiful! No plastic or elastic here.

The first snowfall was a doozy - Faye shows her little one how to make a snow angel...

And little Kiley was a bit overwhelmed. It was too much for the first one - she couldn't really walk in it. Every time she fell down she said "Again! Help" and her snowsuit wouldn't allow her to get herself back up. So cute...

And another thing...

How incredibly wonderful is it to live in the place where I can buy organic fresh eggs, Sherwin Williams Paint, a cast iron skillet AND Finnish licorice at my local Machias Hardware Store???

I love this place.

my marvelous weekend !

Is there anything cuter in this entire world than baby toes???

These are Karlin's. We went to visit him and his parents Saturday because my nephew David and his wife Cassie drove up from Connecticut. They really surprised me by bringing my sister Robin! I only get to see her a couple of times a year and I miss her so, so much. It was such a terrific surprise!



While visiting Karlin, Kiley got to ride in a miniature horse cart with her "Poppi" who lives right next door.


This is Jonesport Harbor Sunday night - the pink on the water was a reflection of one spectacular sunset! The nearly full moon carefully watched over everything. Jonesport and its sister harbor, Beals Island, are working fishing communities where 80 percent of the population earns its livelihood from the sea, mostly fishing lobsters. For those of you who live away from Maine, those are lobster pots on the pier.

The lighting even colored this collection of dinghies.

And painted the sky with oranges and reds...it was way prettier than the picture reflects.


This was the reason I was in Jonesport Sunday night - a flotilla of lobster boats all decorated with Christmas lights. A woman on one of the boats was singing Christmas carols and the lights on the water, her voice floating over all, was just incredible. Talk about getting in a holiday mood -

I got to ride on the U.S. Coast Guard lifeboat and I must say I was a bit nervous when I discovered that the four young people piloting the boat were just 21!!!! They were very sweet, however, and promised to save me if we sank. (Which we didn't, I'm sure you have figured out.) It was freezing on the boat, which was all open to the weather, but I didn't complain. I have turned into a real boat whore: rev the engine and I'll jump on board. I love the smell and sounds of the sea; the colors; everything about it! And to be out in the harbor in the dark was a special treat. Everything on land looks completely different - the hills, the buildings, the lights. What a great adventure.

pictures! lots of pictures!

Friday with my new little Karlin Thomas was wonderful - he has a sweet disposition, eats like a starving elephant, burps like Roseanne, and has the sweetest smile. We discovered that he really loves "Farmer in the Dell" - !! Today, Faye, Matt and Kiley drove down for the day to get their own snuggle time.

Shopping on Saturday was great - here are my bestest, bestest friends: Kathy, me, Trudy and Donna. We had lunch at a fabulous Mediterranean restaurant and I've nearly finished my holiday shopping. Also got a spectacular new mirror for my bathroom, some kick ass Finnish licorice, and a whole pile of new canvas.

Just loved this door....

The art walk was fabulous - here is the view of downtown Bangor from one of the galleries/studios. We visited dozens of studios and I saw art that absolutely inspired me. My head was swirling all night with ideas, colors.....


This is the chicken at Bohemian Moma Bakery that apparently likes to visit the rosemary!

I got up this morning and began painting and painting and painting....have three wet canvases in various stages and a huge one that I'm very excited about. It is progressing so well! Pictures tomorrow - got to get back to work. It has been so long since I just started the day with a good breakfast and then hit the studio - not thinking about anything else, just blocking out the whole world, and feeling like I am accomplishing so much. Sort of drowning in paint and color. As I type, my hands are covered: orange, lime green, a bit of yellow and one small dot of blue.

Here was the view from my office desk this morning...How does it compare to yours?

She visits every morning, sometimes alone and sometimes with another, smaller female. I'm getting very attached to her and look forward to seeing her each day. Cross your fingers that she makes it through hunting season.....

Today is the first of four days of non-stop fun!

I have been working waaaay to hard - so I had only a half day today and then met with my Writing Sisters of the Kick Ourselves in the Ass Club. We met at the Bohemian Moma's Bakery - need I say anything more???

Tomorrow I head to Detroit (Maine) to play with my newest grandson, Karlin, YAY YAY and YAY, and then meet friends in Bangor for the annual art studio tour and a pub visit! On Saturday a.m., I'm meeting more friends in Ellsworth for our yearly shopping-for-ourselves-while-we-pretend-to-shop-for-others extravaganza!

Sunday a.m. I am beginning to tile the bathroom floor - I'll post pix!
Could this be any better of a line up?
WAHOO! Let the fun begin!

oh allergies! oh allergies!

Well it turns out the very medicine we had all been forcing down Kiley's throat for her ear infection was one she was allergic to - it was actually making her sicker!

Today = new medicine = sleeping 12 hours through the night = a happy baby.

Finally, oh joy!

Well, it will be back to the doctor's office tomorrow.

Look at that poor sick little girl and her fever-struck red lips...how miserable is she?

We seem to just be passing the germs around and around and around here. First me, then Matt, then Kiley and Faye. Then we all seem to get better and then Matt gets sick again. Now poor little Kiley.
Last week's fever turned out to be an ear infection (she told her mom she had a bug in her ear!) and once the meds kicked in, she almost seemed her same old self.
Until about 1 a.m. this morning. She awoke with the fever again and is so listless and sick.
I think it is her throat now as she is visibly cringing when she swallows.
I wish the weather was a bit colder - we could turn off the heat, open all the windows and kill all the rotten germs we seem to be passing around....

ooooooooooo somebody is sick...

Faye just brought Kiley to my door on their way to the pediatrician's office. She woke this a.m. (2 a.m. to be exact) with a 103 degree fever and although there has been some cooling off and on throughout the day, she appears worse this afternoon.

It is so hard to see them sick: she is such a lively, active little girl and she is just so listless with her flushed cheeks and her bright red lips. You can tell it hurts her to swallow and so it has been pedialite frozen pops all day and Tylenol...

Sorry, I got distracted!

Introducing Karlin Thomas Mack - one day old. My son Danny and my daughter-in-law Amanda had him last night at 10:05 p.m. 7 pounds 20 inches long and perfect. I didn't make the birth because she went so quickly. Amanda was put on bed rest three months ago and she has been incredible - no matter how bored or scared or worried she got, she did exactly what her doctors told her to.
And look at the perfect result!!! I spent the day nuzzling and smelling and hugging and kissing him. I got to feed him and darn near kidnapped him when I left......This is happiness. AHHHH.

I'm painting!

Tomorrow I'll post some photos that show a painting in progress...but for now, I'm having so much fun that I'm not going to stop!

Look at this cute little face....but don't be deceived!

Hello. My name is Anthony the Awful. And Yes, I am sitting right inside your bird feeder.

I dazzle you with my good looks - my big brown eyes. My cute little hands. My big bushy tail.
And then I attack.
I tear apart your bird feeders, ripping the plastic apart like it was a Vanilla Wafer.
I fight with my brothers, banging off the side of the house as I drive your dog to distraction, and I knock everything down.

What? You think tapping on the window will drive me out of the flat bird feeder?
HA and another HA
I'm not afraid of you, you silly woman.

After all, I am Super Squirrel. Leader of the Pack. King of the bird food station. I laugh at your attempts to feed the stupid little chickadees, or the sad little mourning doves, and even the noisy bluejays.

You can't stop me. I am an eating machine. And I'm here to stay.
Now get your ass out here and fill this feeder back up. And bring a couple of those apples too.