One of the on-going flattering pictures that Husband insists on taking of me with my mouth open (perhaps it is hard to take one not posed with me with my mouth closed?)

Vacation was grand.  We canoed at Pea Island and rode the motorcycle to Ocracoke (and got eaten by mosquitos while waiting for the ferry on the return home). Most days there were more mosquitos than I’ve ever seen during the daytime (one day even on the beach – I’ve NEVER seen that!), making home seem much more manageable, but we had a few days where the breeze was right and the mosquitos were gone.  We went through 4 bottle sof bug spray!  Thank goodness for bug spray!

The dogs settled in quickly and are proving to be most excellent little travelers.  Our greatest adventure with them was on the way home.  Our van (it is 25 years old, bless its heart.  An old slant 6 dodge engine that runs and runs and runs) developed power steering problems, more specifically, a leak on the next to last day at the beach.  Its age meant we could not get parts readily and would have to order them when we got home.  So we had to stop every 20 – 25 miles (really, literally – we used the mile counter) all the way home and refill the power steering fluid.  At  one stop I went in for coffee.  There I was hands full of coffee and a snack for Husband and I look up and Husband is on the ground outside of the van and so is Gracie:  with no leash.  The dogs travel with their leashes attached.  While Gracie is adapting well, she is still skiddish.  So there she was and I could see Husband trying to entice her back – he had Sueno out on her leash.  Gracie (she’s the little one in the picture – they represent both ends of Pug size dogs) LOVES Sueno, but she wasn’t moving toward Husband.  I took all this in in the flash that you see things, went "Oh S**T! Spilled one 24 oz coffee all across the counter, apologized all the way out the door to run help.  It wouldn’t have been so bad except we were right next to a very very (did I say very?) busy highway and cars were whizzing in and out of the gas station and the van hid Husband on the ground with the 2 dogs.  In the end, Gracie came to Sueno and I was able to get her.  I went back in still apologizing with Gracie tucked under my arm and the kind woman behind the counter had cleaned up all the mess and let me refill my coffee although I was quite willing to pay for the now very empty cup.  People are wonderful.

Other than that it was walks on the beach, time to read and journal and focus on what’s next (my art, my art, my art), eat great food, watch amazing sunsets from the porch of our house, and get soundly beaten regularly on the pool table which was the whole reason we rented the house (neither of us are good at pool – I’m the least good, but it’s grand fun) – all the reasons you go on vacation.  Then home only to discover my next show is this weekend!  Somehow I hadn’t quite registered that.  So the week has been very busy.  But focused.  And the vacation feeling lingers on – I haven’t lost it in re-entry, and THAT is something to be VERY grateful for!

And, oh yes, I left behind over $1,000 retail worth of work at Sandy Bay Gallery in Hatteras (stop in and say "hi" to Linda if you’re around) and Island Artworks on Ocracoke (stop in and say "hi" to Kathleen if you’re around there).   That would include all six masks I’ve most recently made.  There was an annual art walk happening on Ocracoke the 29th, but we had to make our way back up the coast for a gig with Husband in Delaware.  That got cancelled due to van problems so I guess it’s just as well we hadn’t planned to stay since Ocracoke would have been at least 2 more "fill up the steering fluid tank" stops away.

thought for the day: