Loose Ends

Clarification: Gilbert Landre, whose cabin we hope to visit in Skagit, Washington, next week, was my grandfather's GREAT grandfather's brother, not his grandfather's brother. Had to clear that up.

I stopped going to art class, which is why you haven't seen any new pieces in the last couple of weeks. It was slated to be an "Introduction to Media" class, but the teacher had changed the class to a "workshop" after the catalog came out. It turned out to be a loosely organized and chatty watercolor session with some dear but elderly ladies. One very very frail lady was wheeled in once or twice by her equally frail husband to work on a collage. Not very focused on instruction, though there were a couple of talented painters there. The teacher would set up a bland still-life in the middle of the room, and maybe one other person would paint it besides me. The others worked on whatever they felt like working on. Since I had signed up for the media class, she'd half-heartedly offer me some charcoal or pencils or a piece of scratchboard and let me go. I felt bad quitting, since there were really only five people attending the class regularly, but in the end I decided that my time was valuable to me, and if I wasn't getting what I wanted out of the experience, it could be better spent elsewhere. Like blogging.

Here are some photos from the trip I took with my mom to Santa Cruz on Tuesday, as her belated birthday present. The blue house once belonged to my grandfather's parents, and sits at the top of Depot Hill in Capitola. The railroad tracks run parallel to Park Avenue, near New Brighton beach. My mother and I used to walk along them to the beach when I was very little. On the way back, we spotted a flurry of birds in the ocean near Pacifica, and pulled over to see what was going on. There was a peppery smear of smaller birds along the surface of the ocean, and flocks and flocks of gray-black pelicans flying formations overhead to join the action. It was some sort of small fish run, anchovies or something. We stayed for a while to watch the spectacle, which included a small pod of dolphins whose fins we could barely see arcing out of the water. Then we had some cheese and crackers in the car and drove home. All in all, it was a lovely and relaxing trip. Into the fog, out of it, back in, and back out again.