Proud Gardener

This may be about as interesting as other people's baby photos. (By the way, I love other people's baby photos.) So if you don't want to see INCREDIBLY exciting photos of my garden produce then avert your eyes.

Sunrise at the garden.

My garden.

Cayenne

Edamame

Eggplant

Tomatillo

Tomato

Exploring

I love the beach but I can't sit out there all day. So during our stay in Emerald Isle, NC we went on a few expeditions of sorts. I would call them hikes except that we didn't actually get to hike a few of them. The Great Dismal Swamp, for example, turned out to be difficult to access. We spent at least an hour driving around closed roads and other obstacles (like closed gates) before we found a small hike. At that point we didn't have much time anyway but you get the idea.

So one morning in Emerald Isle I decided I wanted to explore the area around "Great Lake" in the Croatan Forest. The Croatan Forest is home to bears, alligators, and five kinds of poisonous snakes. For some reason Matt didn't want to camp there. Anyway, we drove on towards the lake. Not easy to do if you miss the tiny little sign pointing you towards the lake since none of our maps agreed on the roads. We passed several signs with towing information. That did give me pause as we headed off the paved road and onto the dirt one. I had visions of last years hour of digging the car out of the sand on the Navajo reservation but this time with cougars (I forgot those in the list), alligators, and bears offering assistance. Not to mention the diamond back rattlers. And FOUS. (Flies of Unusual Size)

We made it safely to the lake which would have been great if we'd had a boat. Couldn't see a thing but what looked like lots of great places for an alligator to hide. This is the last thing we saw before we realized we might not have enough gas to get back out.

Look Quick

This is part of a larger work. I love this part but it's really not working. I thought about cutting it out and saving it. In the end I decided I need it's texture to be there underneath. I've been working on this painting for a month and a half now. It would be nice to finish it...sometime.
In the mean time I read a great book. "An Anthropology of Everyday Life" by Edward T. Hall. It's a very interesting account of how all the things Hall experienced in life lent themselves to his understanding of the world. It was inspiring in many ways. He explores some of the varieties in the ways cultures function including Navajo, Hopi, Artists, Hispanic, Military, Government, University, French, German, and basically every culture he encountered in his unusual, complex life. Also, how those differences create communication problems between people. But my favorite of all is the way he used all that he experienced and learned to create his life's work which is after all what an artist does.

Love the Garden

It's time for some garden shots again. I'm not sure what this first plant is. My neighbor is growing it and I love the yellow, not to mention those green crispy leaves. I could grow a whole garden just for the shape of the plants! But then I'd miss out on the tomatoes whose plants are a big huge mess. (Partly because I planted them too close together and partly because I don't have big metal cages to contain them.) I pulled my first ripe tomatoes today. Saturday I couldn't wait any longer and fried up some green ones-yum! This whole tomato thing is very exciting (to me anyway) because last year they all rotted and died.


This big monster is in my garden. It's a volunteer from ancient times. Seriously the stem (at what point is it considered a trunk?) is at least 3" in diameter. A woodpecker was hiding in this one when I arrived but he flew off before I got a good shot.

Chincoteague Nature Trail

Driving around a path on Chincoteague Island I discovered these beautiful silver branches among waves of delicate lime green grass.

American Holly

Hiking around North Carolina last week I took some photos of beautiful trees. These American Holly trees were on the nature trail at the North Carolina Aquarium on Emerald Isle. They have wonderfully colored fungus growing up and down their long lanky trunks.