Foggy Dawn on Clear Lake

Foggy Dawn on Clear Lake

Months after Ike
cold air descends at night
onto the warm, still water.
Lakeshore homes become faint shadows
wrapped in a silver-tinted blanket of cozy humidity.
Silent, calm, ominous
remnants of past destruction
hide beneath the surface.
Sea birds echo the fear
that possible repeats approach with time.
Tossed from anchored slips,
recovered boats line the shore.
Slimy green brown growth covers shattered hulls,
a graveyard of tattered dreams and sails
headed for a dumpster.

Beams of sunrise break through the fog.
People stir from trailers parked in driveways
waiting dollars from insurance, FEMA.
With hopeful eyes and hearts
they stare at their blue-tarped empty shells,
pray that this is the day
they hang sheetrock, lay tile, glimpse the time
they can once again
call this house home.

Masks

We collect masks of all kinds. While in Bali, we were fortunate enough to meet with the Master mask maker in his village and collect a few of his fabulous masks. The Balinese use these masks to play different characters in their dramas and the artist invited us to try on different ones and get the feel of each. On a return visit to him he had arranged a group of men to drum and chant for us and then play for us while we danced wearing the masks. It was an extraordinary time, one of many such events in our visit to that country. When an artist becomes very successful, it is tradition that he/she give back to their village. This artist shared his wealth by building a large community building in his village.

Artists are very honored in their culture and is an integral part of their every day life. Frequently we would come across fresh flowers or fruit placed on a bamboo leaf weaving out near a tree or other plant...an offering to the gods in gratitude for their blessings and prayers for more. Sometimes these offerings would be outside a cafe or a home. In the compound where we stayed in Ubud, the house women would make these simple but beautiful offerings all during the day. Bali is an interesting mix of Hindu and Islam with all sorts of rituals to gods and goddesses so much of the art forms are rituals of faith.

Maya Angelou says...

'MAYA ANGELOU'S' BEST POEM EVER



A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE ....

enough money within her control to move out
and rent a place of her own,
even if she never wants to or needs to...

A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE ....

something perfect to wear if the employer,
or date of her dreams wants to see her in an hour...

A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE ..

a youth she's content to leave behind....

A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE ...

a past juicy enough that she's looking forward to
retelling it in her old age....

A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE .....

a set of screwdrivers, a cordless drill, and a black lace bra...

A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE ....

one friend who always makes her laugh... and one who lets her cry...

A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE ....

a good piece of furniture not previously owned by anyone else in her family....

A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE ...

eight matching plates, wine glasses with stems,
and a recipe for a meal,
that will make her guests feel honored...

A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE .

a feeling of control over her destiny...

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...

how to fall in love without losing herself..

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...

how to quit a job,
break up with a lover,
and confront a friend without;
ruining the friendship...

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...

when to try harder... and WHEN TO WALK AWAY...

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...

that she can't change the length of her calves,
the width of her hips, or the nature of her parents..

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...

that her childhood may not have been perfect...but it's over...

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...

what she would and wouldn't do for love or more...

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...

how to live alone... even if she doesn't like it...

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW.. .

whom she can trust,
whom she can't,
and why she shouldn't take it personally...

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...

where to go...
be it to her best friend's kitchen table..
or a charming Inn in the woods...
when her soul needs soothing...

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...

What she can and can't accomplish in a day...
a month...and a year...


Being happy doesn't mean that everything is perfect.
It means that you have decided to look beyond the imperfections

Latest of a series

 
This is one of a series I'm working on inspired by the fall foliage I saw in NC last fall. My timing is a little off I know being as spring is beginning to pop around here but the memory is still strong. We so seldom get a real fall here on the Gulf Coast the whole experience was a great one for me. Right now there are three in the series but there may be more.

But still there is the question...

what to do with all the "stuff" I am creating? I have a cupboard of journals filled with writing and drawings, closets full of painted and collaged canvases, more drawings, a flat file full of more drawings. I give it away and create more. I recycle and paint over old art work but there is still more. Yes, this is a God given gift to do all this and what I do to fill my soul, to heal myself, to place myself in the universe but God didn't tell me what to do with all the products of all this. My house is pretty funky as you can well imagine.

I think God says "Build a warehouse for all that stuff and let your kids worry about how to burn it when you are gone. Or maybe my great grandchildren will look at it and think geez, didn't she know how to do digital art? What was she thinking?

 

What am I doing here?
This is one of those days where I question what in the world am I doing? I've been painting and writing and painting and writing which I love and it feels wonderful most of the time. But then I hit days where I question whether the world really needs more "stuff" and more "words". And closer in does my world need more "STUFF" or more "WORDS?" Is it enough to just like creating all this? Chances are it ain't gonna sell...poetry rarely sells (I take it back...I just sold 3 poems for $5 each). Most of the time the poet has to pay someone to even read their stuff, much less pay for it. So what am I doing here? And what would make it seem like enough? Affirmations help, for sure. What else? Most success seems to be measured by money so that would be nice. But since that ain't happening, what keeps me keeping on? What keeps any artist keeping on? Is it egocentric of us to blog and hope that someone will read it or do we do it just to keep track of our thoughts and lives? For me, mostly the latter but I do love it when someone comments. Like, wow! Someone noticed me. Maybe for the same reason I read other blogs...to find the common ground and relish our shared humanity.

What a sky! Can you see the hint of a sun dog? It was much more colorful through my dark glasses but I had to stop the car between LaGrange and Columbus to soak up this glorious sight. We were on the way back from Austin and my annual reunion with friends I have known since grade school. We went all the way through UT together and one was a sorority sister. I packed my giggle box and it got good use. It always feels like going home for all three of us even though none of us has lived in Austin for over 50 years.

The first night we stayed at the Barton Creek Resort...not a great experience. Beautiful setting, crappy room, unhelpful staff...won't go back. It has a gorgeous view of the hill country but they could improve their management. All we wanted to do was visit anyway and we are all pretty laid back and didn't let anything bother our laughter and sharing memories.

One I had forgotten happened in high school at a slumber party we all attended at another friend's home. Our dates for the night were invited in and we played some card game or spoons until it was time to say goodnight. Dates were invited back for breakfast the next morning. We all trooped upstairs to don our baby doll pjs to sleep in a row in a big room upstairs. After a late night of gossip we all shut our eyes and slept until time for breakfast. Our dates returned and at breakfast our friend's little brother played a tape of all the things we had said about our dates the night before. He had hidden a recorder in the light fixture. Oh geez...we could have killed him, of course. Her parents thought it hilarious but we didn't and ask ourselves now as parents would we have let one of ours do that to a sibling and her friends? I don't know.

Wooohooo! I'm gonna be a groupie!

I'm gonna be a groupie for Jerry Jeff Walker when I grow up. His concert last night at the Galveston Opera House was once again such fun with a combination of old stand-bys like LA Freeway and Back to the Armadillo with some beautiful new love songs. And he's sober or at least appeared to be. He had a great back-up band with an awesome lead guitarist. What a guy! We saw him a gillion years ago in Kerrville at the first Kerrville Folk Festival. It was held in the Kerrville City Auditorium before the Festival moved out to Quiet Valley Ranch. He was on with Willie Nelson. Wow!

And the Opera House celebrated its reopening after Hurricane Ike when flood waters ravaged the place. It looks great. Still work to be done but they got it open for the first time for this concert. Walker has played the Opera House the first Saturday in Jan for the last 15 years and his foundation presented the Opera House with $7500 toward repairs. Really sweet!

Anyway I sang along and danced in my seat and reminisced about previous times with Jerry Jeff. What fun! And so grateful I was well enough to go! He's just so damn cute!

Wait a second

Wait a second


Wait a second

Look here,

You’re telling me

I get an extra second?

2009 is a Leap Second Year?

News to me.

I can see it now,

Times Square on New Year’s Eve

Thousands waiting, counting

down the brilliant ball

10-9-8-7-6

Wait a second!

Now,

5-4-3-2-1

Happy New Year!

My recliner is my Times Square if I’m awake.

May I grab my second from those New Yorkers ?

Even better, from Sydney way down under?

No, wait til midnight I am told.

What to do with this magical gift?

Kick the cat?

Sip some wine?

Blow my nose?

Write a line?

I will put mine in a bank, I think,

A bank of seconds for future use

To shoot the finger

throw a kiss

add one last breath

or take a piss.

Wait a second!

Hear me now!

Don’t forget!

I want those old seconds I have missed.

I’ll bank them like found money that

gathers interest every day.

Watch them grow into minutes, hours, days

Until at last it will be time

to say goodbye to 2009.

Happy New Year!

Kay L. Cox

12/08

Best Movie in years

Doubt

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[Meryl Streep]This movie will leave you talking and questioning for days to come. Academy Award wins for the whole cast. Magnificent screen play. Meryl Streep and Philip Seymour Hoffman's finest acting ever.

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas! And it has been and still is. What a great week of parties and family and friends. My daughter and I looked at each other over the big breakfast she cooked this morning after opening gifts and thought "How could we possibly think of eating another big meal?" We have been eating wonderful Mexican food for three days....two yesterday. It is traditional in our family to have tamales on Christmas Eve...sure beats the oyster stew my grandmother always fixed (not that it wasn't good but the kids never liked it). So after another big lunch with my niece and partner at Ninfa's we had company again last night for tamales, beans and rice. You have to understand, being born and raised in Texas one grows up as a chili belly. Tex-Mex is a staple in our diet and we are indeed a family of chili bellies.

Tuesday was cookie decorating day when my friend, Susan, came over to teach us icing 101. Above picture is some of our creations. It was so much fun we will have to make this an annual event. The desserts are piling up...cookies, pecan pie, apple pie and soon pralines.

SOOooo we looked at each other after breakfast today and said, "Let's have Christmas dinner tomorrow when more family is coming and go to the movies today." So there we are and I'm even going to get a nap.

Slick and Peanut are just exhausted after a hard day of wrapping packages. They had to jump in empty bags, snatch ribbon, crumple paper and unroll the wrapping paper. Whew! They are just pooped.

The sisterhood of the traveling jean jacket

Well, sadly, the jean jacket was entirely too big for my grandaughter (what was I thinking? it had belonged to her mother in a previous life). By the time she would have grown into it, she would have a brand new idol. SOOOSSOO.....grandaughter opted to share it with my friend, Nanci, whom it fit perfectly with encouragement to add on if she wished. Thus there is now "The Sisterhood of the Traveling Jean Jacket." A happy ending for all with the agreement from Nana to work on one of my grandaughter's current jackets and "please, Nana, no lace."

The jean jacket

This is the jean jacket I am recycling with added embellishments for a grandaughter's Christmas. She is a fan of Taylor Swift so that is her picture on the back. There may be more additions but my fingers are needle sore right now...hand stiching through denim is tough.
It has been a fun project...I just hope it isn't too big for her.

Christmas down under

Christmas in Australia

Nuytsia floribunda Loranthaceae

When I was living in Western Australia while teaching at Edith Cowan University, I was charmed by this Christmas tree (it is actually called Christmas tree). It is a parasite and only blooms at Christmas time...big, clusters of yellow flowers. It has roots that tenaciously can grow for yards and yards underground and pop up a new tree a long distance from its mother.

Christmas season seemed alike but different in some ways from the USA. Santa Claus showed up in the mall and stores were decorated but there never seemed to be the prevalence of crass materialism that prevades the States. Stores would have a small display of cards and ornaments and lights but not racks and racks of glittery stuff which was really nice.
What was really fun was the big parade in downtown Perth with bands and fire engines and of course, Santa but what a difference in the crowd. We were all wearing shorts, sunscreen, sandals and Santa hats. Fun with the spirit of Christmas no matter what the temp.

Here comes Santa Claus

One of the fun things about living in a small community is the annual neighborhood rituals and events. On the second Saturday in December each year Santa Claus rides through the streets of El Lago on a fire truck while firemen throw candy to the onlookers. His potential arrival is announced by the sound of the fire siren and horns approaching from blocks away. Kids and grown-ups alike race to the curb to wave at Santa and get their share of candy. This year some yummy pieces of chocolate were included...a sign our neighborhood is aging.

Meet Lurlene

This is Lurlene. She is getting ready to order at Cuisine of India. Lurlene is a house-warming gift to my dear friends, Ann & Dennis, who had the nerve to retire and move to north Texas. They made an all together too brief a return but it was great to enjoy dinner with them and a few of the Violet Flames on a snowy night. I found Lurlene at our church garage sale months ago and snapped her up in anticipation of their move. What else to give to the couple who has everything and more? The group went together on a Lowe's gift card which I tied around Lurlene's neck with a big gold bow. Dennis seems to be quite taken with her...not sure what I think about that. She is charming I'll grant you and looking forward to being in the land of Billy Bob's Texas, Ft. Worth's renowned honky-tonk.

Unbelieveable!

It is snowing! Yep, right here in Seabrook, Texas it is snowing. For all you folks up north please don't laugh at me. You have to understand that I have lived here 46 years and this is only the 4th time it has happened. I had dinner at a local Indian restaurant with my Artist's Way group and when we came out, our cars were covered with snow and it has been coming down every since. My grandaughter called me so excited...she is 11 and has never seen snow before. I may just have to stay up all night to watch it. I want to make a snow man but nobody in the neighborhood seems to be awake. I hope it doesn't all melt quickly in the morning but it most likely will. But in the meantime let it snow, let is snow, let it snow. I'm going for the hot chocolate. Yippee!

Welcoming Amelia

Yesterday I was privileged to be part of a welcome to the planet party for a blogger friend's new baby. It was so delightful to be among all these young mothers and some new babies. Amelia is just so beautiful and I got to hold her for a while...hold her and smell her, nothing like the smell of babies. Obviously I miss having babies in the family as all my grandchild are way past the baby stage. And what a lovely group of friends had gathered to celebrate reminding me of my old neighborhood where my children grew up and the fast friends we made in that group. And I got to meet Amelia's adorable sister and dad and dog, Henry so now when I have a image in my head when I think of her.

It took me forever to travel the 75 miles to the party as I got lost in their town. Never trust Map Quest! It left out one important street totally and sent me in circles. But two calls to the hostess set me straight. Good thing I didn't throw out cookie crumbs as they would have led me into circles of unwanted territory. Fortunately thanks to Amelia's mom's great directions I was able to find my way out easily. She even called to make sure I made it home okay.

I left with a lot of hope for America's future. These young women are strong and going to work balancing kids and jobs with amazing hope and optimism and are great support to each other. They have built strong ties within their little part of the world that I think will see them through the good times and the hard.

All in the name of beauty????

I never ceased to be amazed at what is marketed telling us we are never enough. This is hilarious and yet disturbing with its message that our physical bodies are never quite right. Too weird. Auburn with pink and black dots?