(I had a hell of a time getting out to these rocks in a howling wind and drenching rain while Maria prowled the tidal pools searching for shrimp and snails and crabs. I came close to getting blown off the rocks, and the wind got my hat. It was worth it.)

I remember a time not too long ago when I was anxious and depressed when my vacations ended, I didn’t quite realize it, but I didn’t want to return to my life.

This was different.  We had the best time, but we were also happy to get home.

We were greeted by joyous dogs, braying donkeys, baaahing sheep, purring barn cats, and the greening grass of our beautiful farm. I even brought home two perennial plants for my raised garden beds; they are hardy and can be planted this weekend.

And it is great to have Zinnia, who howled and screeched when she saw me, lying at my feet again while I write.

(The stratocumulus clouds put on a show for me.)

We had a wonderful time on this vacation. We loved our time off; we love our work and our lives. How lucky we are,  we never forget it.

I did get home to some sad news. Some of the Mansion residents have fallen in with Covid, and I need to stay away for weeks. I’m trying to figure out what I can do from a distance. I’m thinking about sending some art supplies.

The vacation was a great success, terrific from start to finish. We rested, ate some good food, talked for hours and hours,  slept and slept, plunged into some books, and got to the ocean in the cold but enchanting wind. It was perfect, is the best way I can describe it.

I’m reading some wondrously written and grave literary books but was h happy to come home to a copy of Tina Brown’s juicy new book The Palace Papers: Inside The House Of Windsor. I admit it, I love that stuff. If I wake up early in the morning, I’ll be downstairs reading it.

We stayed in a roomy, neat, comfortable motel in a small New Hampshire town close to the ocean. We ate breakfast in the room, then took two beach chairs and found a spot on the beach to sit until early afternoon. It was bliss. I took some photos.

Every one of the four evenings, we went out for dinner – lobster three times, a Thai restaurant once. It was all great food.

(I loved the image of a dog running across the beach through the mist coming off the water. My lessons are paying off. I could never have captured this kind of light and movement before.)

Maria, who is constantly growing and learning, has been researching and reading about the tidal pools in the ocean, which are brimming with life.

(Tuesday, we sat and watched the surfers.)

She crawled around for hours – we visited a half dozen tidal pools at a low tide – rescued snails, took photos and videos, and dragged me down to rocky pools to see the treasures she kept discovering. I love Maria’s enthusiasm; they are contagious. She could very quickly have become a Marine Biologist, and an artist had she not been raised by wolves.

I loved to watch the people and their dogs go by; I had the Leica and the tripod with me, and I got to practice what I have learned and experiment.

I also got some gorgeous sky photos; the clouds came out for me bless them. I loved eating lobster almost every night, despite Maria’s  disturbing habit of thanking them – many times –  for giving their lives up so we could eat them.

I asked her only to thank them only once; I was feeling guilty. She agreed, reluctantly.

 

(I loved watching Maria kneeling and squatting down to the water to see the teeming life in those pools. I could have watched her for hours. I did. It’s amazing what she has learned about life between the tides. She’ll write about it tomorrow, I am sure: fullmoonfiberart.com.)

She never really got cold; I was frozen.  We got home late this afternoon, and I’ve got a ton of work catching up, unpacking, helping with the farm chores, paying bills, and checking messages.

Beauty is all around me if I look for it. I loved this Seawood that the tide brought in. It seems there is a message in it.

I’ll post more photos and write some more Friday; I don’t think I’ll have much time or energy tonight. I did pick out seven images I like; I’ll post some more tomorrow.

The clouds put on quite a show. I am loving their beauty and grace and figuring out how they happen and whe what I can learn from it. I’d never seen some of these before or perhaps was not paying attention.