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My Beautiful Bride

52 Years Together

Woody's Blog
June 2016

Royal Princess - April-May 2016

2016 Blog began March 2007
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Our Mountain From Our Backyard
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National Watercolor Society 6/28:
I decided to enter the National Watercolor Societies International Exhibition - I know it's a long shot but then I buy lottery tickets too. The entry deadline isn't until July 15 - the exhibit runs Oct 22 - Dec 18 in San Pedro , CA. Tou can download the prospectus at http://nationalwatercolorsociety.wildapricot.org/2016-International-Exhibition-Prospectus

National Watercolor Society
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Van Gogh in Arles 6/25:
Looking back on our recent cruise - we were fortunate to visit Arles, France on the Rhone river. I took a photo of the spot where Van Gogh painted his Night Cafe scene.

Visiting Arles, France
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All Three Accepted 6/24: I just received notice that all three of my watercolors were accepted into "The 2016 Human Experience vs. the Abstracts" Show in Overland Park, Kansas. It opens August 6th at the Tomahawk Ridge Community Center 11902 Lowell Ave. Overland Park, KS The hours are M-F 5:30 am till 10 pm Sat 7 am - 8 pm, Sun 10 am - 8 pm the exhibit closes Oct 2
....	Painting Again: This morning, I was able to finish my newest watercolor of a French Quarter Clarinet Player - it's on a 1/2 sheet of 300 lb Arches Rough. I also gt a good start on a new watercolor of White Peonies.
Summer Roses ...	Summer Roses 6/23: I have several roses surviving the summer heat - thanks to the loving care my bride gives them.
	Waiting 6/22: Next Monday, I should hear if any of my watercolors were accepted into the "Human Experience" show in Overland Park, Kansas. Then I can decide if I'm rolling the rejects into another juried show.
My Diet 6/21: I've been on my diet for 8 days now - I lost 7 or 8 lbs eating nothing but protein for the first week. Yesterday I added some veggies and some fruit. Sugar free jello & pudding are freebees but that footlong hotdog and a cold beer at the baseball games on Sundays is not. I make a mean omelet for breakfast eat low fat cottage cheese for lunch. The real hardship is doing without bread, potatoes and dairy products. I'm laying off my wine and the daily ice-cream for at least a month - Time will tell. I sure miss my hearty breakfast of french toast, bacon and hash browns.

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Father's Day at the Ballpark (6/20:
Yesterday, we enjoyed the game even though the Topes lost 6-2. It was Father's Day so even Orbit brought his dad to the game. The temperature was a balmy 102 at the start of the game but dropped to 96 when the fireworks started following the game were set off.

Orbit Even Brought His Dad to the Game
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Cherokee - Gift of a Written Language 6/19:
A good friend gave me a gift of a wonderful piece of Cherokee Art depicting their alphabet. It proudly hangs on our wall now - Thank You Mary Jane Milz-Harlin. Perhaps, people will realize why Cherokee's avoid $20 bills if they read the history of these proud people - Jackson is on the Twenty. The best-known episode in Cherokee history was also the worst: the Trail of Tears, which was the forced relocation of the Native Cherokee Indians from their ancestral home in the southeast to Oklahoma. The Cherokee people were an urban, Christian, agricultural, intermarried society who had supported the United States against other tribes. In the end this was all for nothing. Though prominent Americans like Davy Crockett and Daniel Webster spoke against Removal, and though the Supreme Court ruled it unconstitutional, President Andrew Jackson sent in the army. Fifteen to twenty thousand Cherokee Indians (along with Choctaw, Creek, and other tribes) were rounded up and herded to Oklahoma in the winter of 1838-1839. Driven from their homes without being allowed to collect their possessions first, even their shoes, the Cherokees were no better equipped for an 800-mile forced march than people today would be. Between four and eight thousand Cherokee people died of exposure, starvation, disease, and exhaustion along the Trail of Tears. If you understand this, both the extent to which the Cherokees had adopted American standards of civilization before the Removal and the ultimate futility of it, you will go a long way towards understanding the Cherokee mentality today and also the attitudes of other Indian peoples towards us.

Cherokee--more properly spelled Tsalagi--is an Iroquoian language with an innovative written syllabary invented by a Native Cherokee scholar. 22,000 people speak the Cherokee language today, primarily in Oklahoma and North Carolina. Though it is one of the healthier Indian languages of North America and the one in which the most literature has been published, the Cherokee language is still in imperiled condition because of government policies as late as the fifties which enforced the removal of Cherokee children from Cherokee-speaking homes, reducing the number of young Cherokees being raised bilingually from 75% to less than 5% today.

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Happy Fathers Day Barack 6/18: The first family made a visit to "the land of enchantment" yesterday. President Obama and his family toured Carlsbad Caverns in the southern part of our beautiful state. The two girls don't look very excited - but them they are teenagers. Happy Fathers Day Barack !!!	...
	French Quarter Clarinet 6/16: Today, I'm working on a painting I started last week in Taos. It's another Streen Musician from New Orleans - French Quarter Clarinet. I've never painted a Clarinet player before but, I'm told that I got the fingering correct.
Isotopes Baseball 6/13: Last night we took in our first Isotopes game for this year. The Topes won 6 - 4 in the 12h inning. Together, both teams went through 13 pitchers. It was a great night with a foot long hot dog, a cold beer and those wonder ribbon fries covered with cheese and green chili. Now, I start my diet.		.................................................................................
NMWS JCC Exhibit Opens Today 6/12: From 2:00 to 4:00 today is the opening reception for the New Mexico Watercolor Society exhibition at Albuquerque's Jewish Community Center on Wyoming. The exhibit runs from June 12 until August 28th. That's my painting on the poster for the exhibit at the Jewish Community Center.		.................................................................................

Whitewater Fun 6/11:
As I left Taos, this morning, I stopped along the Rio Grande with my camera. I must have photographed at least two dozen rafts and kayaks. The river is running great this year and now I have plenty of material to paint.

Rio Grande - Below Taos
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My Week In Taos 6/4 - 6/10:
Here are three of the watercolors I painted during my week at the Sagebrush Inn in Taos, New Mexico. This was the 30th year I've attended the Taos Watercolor Workshop.

French Quarter Queen Sax Man Faux Poppies
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Soft Sculpture Workshop 6/3:
I just submitted my proposal for the NMAEA Fall Conference in Santa Fe. It’s the project I did for New Mexico teachers in 2012.

Soft Sculpture
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Cartagena, Spain:
Cartagena was the fifth stop on our cruise (we stopped here twice). In the sun-dappled Murcia region of southeastern Spain, Cartagena -- a naturally deep and sheltered Mediterranean port surrounded by five hills -- has long been coveted as a trading center and seafarers’ game-changer.

Dating to 227 B.C., when Carthaginians first set foot on its shore, this strategically located harbor has unfurled a culturally rich and historically tumultuous tapestry. This city of awesome ancient treasures is one of Spain's lesser-known tourist havens. Today, you will discover a pedestrian-friendly and pleasant metropolis of approximately 220,000 people that both exuberantly celebrates its past and exudes a forward-thinking spirit. Cartagena's wealth of archaeological sites draws you to explore its notable yesteryear -- many Phoenician, Roman, Byzantine and Moorish ruins remain, making it one of Spain's most fascinating age-old jewels.

Cartagena
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Málaga, Spain:
Málaga was our fourth port and the first one we visited in Spain. Malaga is a port city on southern Spain’s Costa del Sol, known for its high-rise hotels and resorts jutting up from yellow-sand beaches. But looming over that modern skyline are the city’s 2 massive hilltop citadels, the Alcazaba and ruined Gibralfaro, remnants of Moorish rule, along with a soaring Renaissance cathedral, nicknamed La Manquita ("one-armed woman") because one of its towers was curiously left unbuilt.

Málaga, Spain
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Gibraltar:
Gibraltar was our third port (actually we were there twice - returning on the section of our cruise). Gibraltar is a British Overseas Territory on the south coast of Spain known for the Rock of Gibraltar. Gibraltar occupies 7 sq. km of a peninsula bordered to the north by the region of Andalusia. First settled by Moors in the Middle Ages and later ruled by Spain, the outpost was joined to Britain in 1713. On our second stop, we took the cable car to the top to see the monkeys and explore the miles of fortifacation caves carved into the limestone.

Gibraltar
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Lisbon, Portugal:
Lisbon was our second port. It was the most beautiful city we were in - everything was tiled (even the sidewalks). We road the hop-on-hop-off bus and later walked for miles on the tiled sidewalks. My bride bought her "cork" shoes and purse in Lisbon.

Lisbon, Portugal
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Crystal Bridges:
My bride took pics of me when we visited Crystal Bridges Museum in Bentonville, AR http://crystalbridges.org - It is the most impressive museum I've been to so far - Great collection

http://crystalbridges.org
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Madeira - Our First Port:
After 8 days crossing the Atlantic - our first port was the Portuguese island of Madeira. It is situated in the north Atlantic Ocean, west and slightly south of Portugal. We found it a to be a beautiful place with every house seeming to have a view of the ocean. We first took the Hop-on-Hop off Bus - which we did in several ports. Then we road the cable car and the views were fantastic from the top. We met a British couple whe vacation there every year.

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Returning Home:
We found a yard full of roses upon our return - but, my poppies must have peaked a week or so before we got back.

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No Place Like Home:
             We arrived back in New New Mexico after driving 6000 miles and talink a 23 day cruise to Rome from Florida. There is no place like home - but we had to get a few things off our bucket list. Our cruise across the Atlantic was on Royal Princess out of Ft Lauderdale. On the drive to Florida and driving back we spent time with our with family in Kansas City - that's where Blossom stayed during our trip. We took in three Democratic Presidential sites on our trip - Andrew Jackson in Nashville, Jimmy Carter in Atlanta and Bill Clinton, on the way back, in Little Rock. We took in the High Museum and the Aquarium in Atlanta - even dining at "Ted's Grill" down the street from our hotel in Atlanta.
             We spent three nights in Orlando, taking in Disney World of course. We left our car at a Holiday Inn in Ft Lauderdale till we flew back from Rome. The ports along the way were: the island of Madeira and then Lisbon, Portugal - Gibraltar (twice), In Spain we docked in Malaga and then Cartagena (twice) - then Palma and Barcelona. In France we visited Arles (where Van Gogh painted) - Then in Italy we were in Genoa, then Florence (for David) before spending three days in Rome for the Vatican and the Colosseum.
             We flew back to Ft Lauderdale before driving to Tallahassee on our way for a couple days in New Orleans (of course - we love NOLA). We spent a night in Memphis - then drove to Little Rock on our way to Bentonville. I can not praise the Crystal Bridges Museum enough. Every lover of art should go there. I will return again. We visited family again in Kansas City and picked up our precious Blossom for the drive back to New Mexico.

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