The Art of Family

Usually I have at least one art project to write about here, but this month is all family...we do tend to attract guests on the Peninsula, especially in Summer, and this apparently the only cool spot on the continent.

Steve and Linda (the only set of our sibling group who still live outside WA) took a car tour west after both of them retired in May.They're both younger than I am, but each worked steadily at the same job since college, so they deserve a break.


Linda's sister, Mary Jo, and her husband, Dave, live in an idyllic setting on Whidbey Island...a land of even more beautiful light quality than here. Reminds me of Cape Cod before it got over-populated, croquet game above.

Doug, Steve, and Doug's son, Thayer, to the right. One of the first kind of summery days this year, and a big craft show in Langley. We explored while the ladies shopped...I guess I'm not a Lady...maybe too many years of doing craft shows myself, although I still look for red glass items for my art yard (I am getting Art in, after all!).







Steve and Linda came up to Port Angeles and on my Tuesday off we took a trip west...not a bad NW day, a little rain, cool enough for layers.






We stopped to photograph the alpine beauty of Lake Crescent, a glacial lake, deep enough to hide the trucks and cars that have fallen in.

This is an Art shot, with my hands reflected twice in the mirror, as I photograph Steve.





Lake Crescent was so calm, it offered a perfect reflection of the clouds, making it look as if Steve was sitting on the edge of the sky.








Ruby Beach in fog, Steve imitating a land-locked sea stack. This is now one of my favorite beaches...and as we were leaving, the sun started to peak through.





On the very edge of the continent--don't I look happy? I love beaches!

There are also some pretty significant trees out here. I think this one was billed as the biggest cedar, although there was another that might have been the world's Tallest cedar, and then just another of the many Very Tall Trees at the entrance to the rain forest.






Now Steve and I both have Golden Eagle passes and can go to the National Parks as often as we like.



The Rain Forest is dark and mysterious, and it actually started raining when we were there. Unfortunately (?) I did not find any banana slugs to photograph, but I've seen them and they're at least 6" long...pretty impressive.

One small piece of ART, I'm hoping that I get back to painting in August...sometimes there just isn't enough time for all I love to do. The days are still pretty long, and I've been working on my Art yard...where the lack of rain, yes, actual lack of rain in the summer on the Peninsula, has made my succulents look very phallic in their urge toward procreation.



I must have been feeling my farming roots, because this year I decided to try tomatoes one more time...in spite of long, cold winter/spring/summer, I have eaten my second Sungold tomato from the plants on my back deck, staked to rebar that I bought for an Art project. The tomato is the size of a large pea, and tasted delicious

There will be more Art, although not my own, in the next installment of The Art of Family.

If you look very carefully, you'll see the second pea-sized Sungold that I ate today....Yum!

RIP 7/22/11: Winnie the dog, friend to David and Brian. I was there from the beginning, and even though I'm not a dog person, she was a good one, and brought out the best of David's large mothering potential.


April (?) 2010, Love at first hug.