High Tide or Low Tide

A short respite from reality.

Feeling the cool water over my feet and the sand rushing beneath them on a receding wave.

Laughing with Harley. Healing hearts.

Watching Noah find his groove.

Staying up late and watching spectacular shooting stars.

Surviving a little too much of the red wine and skipping over snakes.

Until next time. Big hugs, my friend.

 Love ya, Harley, High Tide or Low tide. :) (Bob Marley)

I'm driving to the beach tomorrow... to breathe.
Noah will be my co-pilot. He is going to learn to use an old fashioned map.
We will go to the beach and dream, and read.
In the evening we will hang out with an old friend.
We will put our feet in the sand, and smile at the stars or clouds which ever they may be.
We will look out for the meteor shower.
We will dream.
I will breathe and laugh with Harley about how funny life is.
She will laugh me back to life. We will all laugh together.
And then my boy and I might learn to surf...and that is the funniest thing ever.
Much love and happy wishes for the weekend
Peace and Love, K

Not Forgetting.

Carmen Castillo, My grandma

What follows is an old blog...I'm not really up to the emotional task of writing all of what I am feeling these days. Life has been a little crazy. If you had been to the poetry reading at Gloucester Arts on Main last week, you'd know what I mean.  Poetry is some crazy sport. I recently heard one  in which a husband declared his life with the wife is worse than being hooked on heroin. Yeah, it was a surprise for me too. I won't be attending any more of those.  But this is a poem of a different sort. My gramm's favorite.  Noah and I cancelled our vacation plans. We are flying out to Nebraska. My grandma isn't doing well. I want to hold her hand one more time. Alzheimers sucks even more than men.

"Sea-Fever"
I must down to the seas again, to the lonely sea and the sky,
And all I ask is a tall ship and a star to steer her by,
And the wheel's kick and the wind's song and the white sail's shaking,
And a grey mist on the sea's face, and a grey dawn breaking.

I must down to the seas again, for the call of the running tide
Is a wild call and a clear call that may not be denied;
And all I ask is a windy day with the white clouds flying,
And the flung spray and the blown spume, and the sea-gulls crying.

I must down to the seas again, to the vagrant gypsy life,
To the gull's way and the whale's way where the wind's like a whetted knife;
And all I ask is a merry yarn from a laughing fellow-rover
And quiet sleep and a sweet dream when the long trick's over.
 John Masefield (1878-1967)



One of my grandmother's favorite poems. She used to recite it all the time, along with the Preamble to the Constitution and Lincoln's Gettysburg Address. My grandmother has Alzheimer's. She's 92 94. I have been thinking about her alot lately because I really miss her and I wish I hadn't waited so long to ask the questions about her years in Nicaragua and her father, Domingo Castillo, who took her there in the mid-twenties. I have only pieces of the story, Bluefields, the kidnapping (if you call it that), a godfather that was the President of Nicaragua at the time, and the story of a mother who travelled far to retrieve her daughter, contracted malaria, and eventually died in a mental hospital in New York.

For family that might read this, that is the story I got...if you heard a different version feel free to chime in. I'm going on a hunt for old photos and will scan them in tomorrow, but for awhile at least my blog will be about Gramma. She was the most enjoyable travel partner I ever had, having come out to visit me in both Greece and Italy, and I just really miss her humor. Yes, even hearing "Sea Fever" over and over. And, hey, I wouldn't know the Preamble without her. I'm going to call her tonight, but she never stays on the phone for long...I just need to say "I love you, Gramma."

Men suck

True story.
Shortest blog ever.

Vacation...Please come soon.

Vacation...a little more planned today than yesterday...it incorporates fun and learning and a whole lot of driving and camping. Stop one: Frank Lloyd Wright's Falling Water House. I've never seen it in person and Noah studied FLW in school this year, but never saw so much as a picture until I realized that he hadn't and then I brought out my FLW books from the old art history gig and he got to see it all...in 2D...which is not good enough. Next Stop: Ohiopyle State Park for camping and hiking and white water rafting. Noah wants to do a class III/IV river. I think he is nuts. Mostly, I'd be afraid he would fall out, so I am hoping for class II/III or at least a solid III. From there we go to Niagara Falls and camping somewhere in Ontario.  And then we go to Toronto to visit the Royal Ontario Museum (while still camping somewhere in Ontario). In Toronto after the museum, we will be scoping out music stores and musicians' exchanges for the next keyboard (he has saved up, but I won't let him buy another without playing it first...so no online monkey business).  Afterwards we will meander home through Ithaca (hope to visit my sister, Tara who doesn't know that this is even a remote possibility yet,  and do some waterfall hikes) and then apple picking somewhere and who knows what else. I am no good at long term planning, but the first few days sound good.

Provisions for the trip are evolving. Noah talked me into ordering a self inflating double high queen mattress for our tent.  As kids we put our sleeping bags on the ground, so this kind of feels dirty to me... not to mention ridiculous in an emergency evacuation of the tent (whether it be due to critter or lightening). We have a tent that Tambi gave us (with slashes that need to be duct-taped as a critter apparently tried to get in just a few minutes after we evacuated during the last backyard camp-out) and a camp stove (also a gift from IBMAT) so we are getting there. I made Noah put back the $9 collapsable bowls the last time we were shopping, but might invest in a mess kit for him. We will be cooking Thai Ramen (Ramen with added peanutbutter and curry powder, my personal fav), pancakes, and who knows what else. We are looking forward to Indian food at Niagara as my brother says that is all you can get there and it happens to be some of our favorite! Yippee!

Turtle rescuer

Noah has been spotting turtles left and right. I've been doing some crazy driving so he can hop out and save a turtle from the road. Sometimes we have to just cross our fingers and hope the little guy is still in one piece when traffic clears or when we' ve made a long trip back. I've been known to brake for pine cones so a new pair of glasses might be in order.

Noah and I are still pondering vacation. We will be heading out third week on August. Still no idea where we'll end up. North, South...even looked up airfare to Nicaragua. Any good ideas welcome.

I so love this kid!