High & Dry!

...Abandoned, neglected, jilted, ignored, alone...

That's what Cowboy's been saying, whining about, complaining, moaning, etc as only a male can. It's even worse when he's not feeling 100%.

Why?

'Cause I'm out of town, away, gone, absent, and geographically elsewhere.

I'm on a multi-city gallery tour with other fiber artists. We're zipping into a city, displaying some of our works in galleries, zipping to the airport to fly to yet another city, and repeating the whole process all over again. Originally, we had 7 cities on our tour; the tour producer just added 3 more so I'll be away a little longer than originally planned. We're covering a few spots across the North American continent including a few Canadian cities, crisscrossing back and forth from west to east and back to west coast. It's exhilarating meeting new audiences but tiring as well. After a day and evening on my feet I'm ready to order room service and hit the sack before doing it all over again the next day.

The perks are spending time with other artists whose ideas are very inspiring, sort of like going on a creative retreat. Also, I accepted a couple of commissions that are extremely large and will probably take about a year to create and finish. That's exciting.

Meanwhile, the giant squid had complained that I'm away during the peak peach harvest and he's missing out on his favorite food baked in numerous ways purely for his enjoyment. Groannnnnn

I suggested he could stuff his mouth with the pure fruit and get all emotional over that.

His response was lacking in couth.

Of course, he could have gone on the tour with me and/or met me for a few days in one of the cities where he could sight see or eat in wonderful places. He declined the invitation because he'd get hassled into doing some of the labor (hanging art), packing, unpacking, fetching, etc. I thought that would be better than sitting in a corner pouting... but that's just me. When I mentioned this in a phone call home, he said he was jotting down all these non-sequiturs and would make me pay later. Yeah, yeah. Promises, promises.

Bottom line: He misses me and is getting a tiny taste of what I went through when he sailed off to the wild blue yonder all those years I waited for him at home.

He takes the ferry out to the San Juans to David's house about once a week. He needs Glory's cooking, Vi's fussing and the company of Max and Bull. Also, the smell of the Pacific Ocean is a constant for his peace of mind. He generally hauls all the critters with him although he says the cats continue to ignore him. The three Rotts will go anywhere and David's house is their 2nd home. The Dobie pups are growing by leaps and bounds and utterly fascinated with Torty the giant tortoise. The tortoise is not at all fascinated with them and stays hidden in her shell house for hours on end. Harpo, the male Dobie barks at Torty to come out and play. Lucy Ricardo, female pup, insisted on going nose to nose with her. Torty lost her tortoise demeanor and nipped the pup. Lucy leapt on Bull's lap and cried Doberman puppy tears. The cats still fight over which one of them gets to nap on her back. Cowboy relayed all this and said "See what you're missing by going off and leaving us alone?"

Rollin me eyes here.

Not long after I get home, the giant squid will be off to the east coast to take care of some personal business. If he has time, he'll check out a few houses in Virginia (where we lived when we were first married), the Carolinas, and I don't know where else. On the way, he'll escort Max and Vi and Glory to New Orleans and take a peek at Gulfport, MS where they still have numerous friends who survived Katrina. When they're settled, he'll go onto other ports of call.

Max is almost back to 100% from his stroke. Not only has he had excellent nursing care and therapists who really worked to help his muscles relearn their duties, he's had great incentive from Vi and Glory. Both ladies were determined that Max keep a strong and positive attitude about life and both ladies displayed some very creative ways to maintain his interest. Enough said.

I had all kinds of checkups before I left home. Have a couple more appointments when I get back - dental work. UGHH I do not like people poking around in any part of my body, and certainly not in my mouth. Cowboy warned me not to have a mouth full of salt water taffy when I see the dentist. Tsk. That's so much more visually esthetic than a mouth filled with unswallowed chocolate. I wonder if I can find strawberry or cherry taffy to make my mouth look like it's bleeding? That ought to shake up the dentist (who has zero sense of humor.) The last time I went I brought the Mastiff. The only problem with that is he kept goosing the dental assistant. Apparently she didn't find any humor in that. However, if I bring the Rott, he'll sit in a corner, watch (actually stare and glare) and intimidate everyone. Hmmm... goosing Mastiff or intimidating Rott? Decisions, decisions.

"You could leave the beasts at home!" declared the giant squid.

Tsk. What fun would that be?

I'll be home in time for Passover and Easter. Glory will do all the cooking. I love the meal preparations but it's okay to let her take charge; she loves bossing everyone around. And it's possible David will be home in time for the holidays. He's been away too long and eating Marine food isn't quite as satisfying as eating Glory's cooking.

Speaking of Marines... Cowboy said Bull has a new lady friend. He's been seeing her about 4 months now - off and on - and the girl must be smitten because she's taking cooking lessons... I suggested Cowboy tell her to take lessons in "restaurant - size" portions if she's going to cook for Bull. Cowboy said there's a swat or two in my future.

Tsk.

~Sar~