Artwala Road

Hello, my dear readers! Here I am, however fleetingly. I want to say hi and that I hope you’re all well and enjoying sunshine, fresh strawberries, lemonade, a fine novel, walking outside and eating the occasional bowl of ice cream. All is well here and the summer blogging hiatus, in which I report only at the beginning of each month, has given space for me to be a bit more mindless, a good thing! At least I think it’s good to have a time free from goals and industry even as we try to stay present and do the things we do. In this open space many things have happened.

First, I turned sixty! Wow. I seldom think of age but this one crept up on me and really couldn’t be ignored. Several months ago I considered just shoving the whole thing out of my mind but thought that really wouldn’t do. It’s something to be celebrated! Sixty years and all the people and places, all the phases of good and what seemed like not so good but was good all the same, everything with its purpose to bring us a little closer to ourselves, to real life and laughter. I thought of throwing a big party to celebrate all of those years only to discover that several friends would be away traveling at the time. I didn’t want to postpone. A birthday must be celebrated on the day, don’t you think? Anyway, I’m not really a thrower of big parties. I’m a thrower of many, many little parties so that’s what I did. I was very happy that my brother and his wife could join us from New York—so good to have them here with us. We all celebrated with a few fine friends in a fabulous South American restaurant, Casa de Pedro—the band played, the food was great and the wine flowed! A great night! And my beautiful children gave me a brand new bicycle and a helmet! It’s great to be sixty! To know who I am—who you are, that we’re all so fine. Onwards!

We’re just back from Montreal where we visited my dear old Mom who is still laughing at the age of eighty-nine. I think she’s laughing more than ever, truth be told—the bright side of senility, if you do it right. God bless her. She grows sweeter and sweeter. We had dinner with my childhood friend and her husband—many, many laughs as usual as well as crazy memories of our childhoods. I like to live in the present but with an old friend like this the past jumps in once in a while—so long ago but part of who we’ve become. I had lunch too with another old friend, aged 85, who was spry enough to come out to eat after getting out of hospital only a couple of weeks ago. Here’s to friendship in all its permutations!

We saw Leonard Cohen in concert at Place des Arts—truly, truly great and he’s 73! He’s from Montreal and expressed his thanks to that wondrous city which has been, he said, such an inspiration for him. It’s a city that loves art and artists, a very fine thing and not at all common, I have to say. It allowed those of us who came of age there to conceive of lives that might not otherwise have seemed as sublime as they actually are! Anyway it was one of the best concerts I’ve ever seen—so interesting to see him in the awareness he has now performing songs he wrote many years ago which are still brilliant, sharp and moving. His voice was strong and clear and the band was superb. Tears streamed down people’s faces when he sang Hallelujah. And did you ever think you’d see Leonard Cohen skip on stage? There was a big smile on his face the whole night. He was one happy man and we were happy too. I’ll never forget it.

And now home. The wee garden is bursting with life—lilies in bloom alongside nicotania, impatiens, geraniums and all sorts of other colorful things. And my five big pots of herbs and vegetables are surprising me everyday. Tomato plants are well over four feet tall, beans and peppers well over a foot and herbs all filling out. We’ve already had several salads with our own city-grown lettuce! And we installed a compost bin. It’s black plastic which holds the heat and composts matter more quickly than an open pit—very good in the city on a small plot. Between that and our town’s newly expanded recycling program we’re hardly putting out any trash at all now. Another hallelujah.

Just before we left for Montreal I got the inspiration that I need to get a studio. I’ve worked as a graphic artist and done a lot of writing for many years. I’ve also made paintings and been in numerous exhibitions. Curiously I sold a painting last week to a Boston collector when she saw it on the site of one of the venues where I’ve twice shown my work. I love it when things happen like that, without effort. It was a wee kick in the pantaloons! Not that I will change what I do. I will continue to write but a studio will give me more opportunity to do art too. No reason we can’t do both. So we’ll see if I can find one soon. Meanwhile I carry on.

So, my friends, wishing you happy summer adventures! I’ll be back here August 1rst after a trip to New York City. In the meanwhile please take good care of yourselves and don’t forget your sunscreen! And happy Canada Day! A fine and gentle country it is—another birthday to celebrate! Canada is now 141 years old. Just a baby as countries go but a wise one, precocious really. One day ll the countries in the world will take care of their people. They’ll see the baby had it right.

July 1st, 2008 | Category: Dear Reader | Subscribe to comments | Leave a comment | Trackback URL