Freckled with Fall

It's been a pretty kicked back Saturday so far. Penny scooted up to Mike this morning, said "walk," signed horse and said "hat!" - that's as close to fully communicating as she's come so far.

Saturday market was dreamy today. The warm happy sun was shining down on warm happy faces - there are none more devoted sun worshipers than those from Oregon and I do love to watch them bask - the band was playing some old Gram Parsons tunes, we got our Bangkok Thai food craviings satiated, and we thought we had a sighting of the Flat Mountain Girl band but now we don't know who they are but they were great - here's the 6 second video clip I got before my camera ran out of batteries so if anyone knows who they are we'd love to know.

Afterwards we drove up to Skinner's Butte in the Volvo - which to me is such a happy driving experience compared to our gas guzzling grociery getter whose windows don't roll down - Penny fell asleep just on arriving so we parked and basked on the flagstone like true Oregonians and looked out on the city freckled with fall. Pretty spectacular.

Yesterday's Sun

Milestones to report:
Penny signed squirrel and tiger, and made her first drawing.



I love this time of year in Eugene, there's a kind of momentum to these crisp sunny autumn days - something in the wind that pushes us along to squirrel our little projects away before winter sets in, and still, a bittersweetness as the shadows grow long to stop and enjoy the color of the day.

Yesterday, we got to meet Jun(-bug), just returned from China with newly adopted doting parents Ben and Meagan. I remember how odd it seemed to us when we had just joined the parent-club, how people we'd kinda stopped seeing around since they had kids started eagerly coming out of the woodwork, with an unspoken understaning in their underslept eyes - like how fellow volswagon drivers wave to eachother with that wave that speaks vollumes. Funny to be in those shoes now, hopeful to know more hep folks that get it when you have to excuse yourself without much warning cause you can see the baby meltdown clock a-tickin, folks that will vallidate your ugly moment confessionals, and congratulate you when your kid fiinally slept through the night, and you can unabashedly discuss the intricacies of your diapering system without pausing to ask yourself if you're boring anyone by talking about poop so much. Hope I didn't seem too eager and scare them off, I never really know these days between lack of sleep and painting fumes what it is I'm talking about so much.

We took advantage of the sunny day and went for a bikeride to the park yesterday with Stacy and Avery. Of all the neat-o things to play with at the big park they seemed most interested in the concrete stairs - at least that made it so Stace and I got to stand near eachother and talk rather than chase after the kids in different directions. After we went to meet Mike and the Hills at Sam Bond's for beer and pizza. The moon on the ride back was huge and orange and spooky - we shouldn't have talked about ghosts on the ride home, my imagination is too vivid it seems and I kept identifying ghoulish faces in my bathrobe hanging on the door before bed. This is why I can't watch horror movies.

Back in the swing

It's been a super week back. I got settled in last Friday, unpacked, stocked the fridge, etc.... Mike got back Saturday - we were so excited to see him I drove to the airport two hours early - Penny totally walked again for Mike and has done nothing but ask about him while he's at work, pointing inquisitively at his photos. She is still waking up around 4 or 5 in the morning to happily slap him on the back and say "Hi! Da-deeee!"
Sunday we got together with the Shula-Grooves and the Hills for some family fun out at Thistledown Farm and went for a horse-drawn hay ride to the pumpkin patch - it doesn't get any more wholesome than that I tell you. Came home and made apple pie and caught up with Erin - learned a thing or two about making your own pie crusts.

Had my pre-pre-show meeting at the Jacob's Gallery yesterday. We settled on the name of the show: "Reliquary, The Everyday Sacred" and it sounds like everyone's work will jive with it. I did feel a little vulnerable being the only one to bring photos of the work I'd finished so far and also the sketches I've done for future work, showing just how far I have to go - I got the feeling from the other artists that I wasn't alone on the last minute train however.

Today I spent five hours doing all the touch ups I needed to on the three large pieces - maybe it's the full moon, maybe it's that pomegranates are back in season, but some things got done, I tell you what!