Exposed

Super low tides lately.   Giving the world a different look and getting me thinking about, oh, I don't know . . . life - life's ebb and flow.  

An ebbing tide exposes whimsical treasures and enduring granite formations.

Looking Out at Norwood Cove

The Causeway

I think I'm in the low tide of my life.  Low tide inspires a broader consideration of life and structure and offers glimpses full of surprise and awe.  I think this is where I am.  I contemplate more, I observe more, and I feel confirmed and astounded at the same time.  

I can see now what's been there all along and I can identify and acknowledge those pieces of my life:  the joy, adventure, celebration, pride, and wonder.  But also the sadness, the challenges, and regret.  Real life.

Robert Rauschenberg

Untitled

1958

This is an opportunity for me to continue to build from the foundation that my family and I have created. The last 20 years of my life, with marriage, children, and jobs, have been overflowing and overloaded, with troughs and crests, turbulent and joyous.  High tide.  We've improvised and jury-rigged some over the years, just because that's how it works sometimes, but we're left with soundness and resilience. 

Paul Gauguin
At the Black Rocks
1889

With the high tide receded, I'm down to just me now.  I've grown - evolved, but I'm only starting to figure out how.  I'm the same, but I'm different.  I'm careful, but I'm assertive.  I'm adventurous, but I'm informed.  I'm idealistic, but I'm pragmatic.  I'm emotional, but I'm reasonable.  (note to family: I'm nagging, I'm annoying, I'm selfish. I am funny.)  I'm all the things I used to be and more.

I am exposed.

Childe Hassam
Incoming Tide
1919

   

I'm exhaling, and I'm happy.  I'm making choices, I'm taking chances, I'm making mistakes, and I'm doing things that I've always wanted to do.  Because I have time and support and encouragement.    

And I'm grateful that I have what has been with me all along - beautiful whimsical treasures, Mary and Addie, and enduring granite formation, John.  

And I have art.

Paul Cezanne
Rocks at L'Estaque
1882

White Sails on Somes Sound

On summer mornings
I rise
to quiet softness,
golden luminescence,
blue atmosphere translucent,
mirrored layers of sky
mountain
and sea.

Fitz Hugh Lane

Entrance to Somes Sound From Southwest Harbor

1852

Then
the afternoon southwest breeze
shatters the mirror
with headers and lifts
and I ride the wind
through light and lucidity,
white sails 
on blue-green waves
of Somes Sound.

Maurice de Vlaminck

Sailboats at Chatou

1905

Cut-throat Fun

Laurence Stephen Lowry

The Tennis Player

1927

I played singles tennis this morning with a friend.  We hadn't played together in a few years, not because we weren't wanting to, but because it became a conversation instead of committing to a day and time, you know, "Yes, I'd love to play."  "Maybe sometime next week." "Definitely, soon."  "Can't wait."  And then it's the end of the summer.  Oops.  Well, we did it today, we committed, and it was so fun!  So fun that we set a date for next week, same time, same day.  Can't wait.

Max Liebermann

Tennis Game by the Sea

1901

We both agreed that it's easy to forget that there's something special about playing singles - and it's so easy to get sucked into playing doubles, I think because more people play doubles and there are just more doubles games going on.  But singles, for me, leaves me feeling more satisfied on many levels:  I love the personal, physical, and mental challenge; I like hitting lots of balls; the competition; it involves strategy and tactics, forethought and planning, but at the same time just reaction; and the competition.  Did I say that already?

Andre Lhote

Tennis Players 

1912

All the while moving your feet, keeping your eye on the ball, following through, breathing, anticipating . . . laughing, swearing . . .

This is me.

(Associated Press)

This is my opponent.

(Getty Images)

Today was great.  It wasn't so much about winning or losing, yeah, right.  So, OK, she beat me in the first set, but I was leading by two games in the second set when we had to stop (other people were signed up for the court).  To be continued next week.

Me.

(Associated Press)

Her.

(Getty Images)

Another friend, who was watching us, stopped us on our way off the court.  He asked, smiling wryly, "So, was that fun?"  "Ye-ah, it was fun."  "Uh huh, cut-throat fun," he said.

"Yup, cut-throat fun."  

My Best of NYC

Joe's

120th & Broadway

(for my morning coffee)

My Train Stop

Metropolitan Opera House

Lincoln Square

Wafels & Dinges

Dante Park

The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Childe Hassam

Celia Thaxter's Garden, Isle of Shoals, Maine

1890

Winslow Homer

Maine Coast

1896

John Singer Sargent

Portrait of Madame X

1883-1884

Riverside Church

Lunch

Henry Moore

Reclining Figure

1965

at Lincoln Center

Hill Country Barbecue Market
Damrosch Park, Lincoln Center

Chopped Barbecue Beef with Cole Slaw

Museum of Modern Art

Henri Matisse

The Red Studio

1911

Paul Cezanne

Pines and Rocks

1897

Pablo Picasso

Girl Before a Mirror

1932

Pablo Picasso

Les Desmoiselles d'Avignon

1907

Jackson Pollock

One:  Number 31, 1950

1950

My Good-bye NYC Dinner

Le Monde

Broadway & 112-113th

(top, clockwise) Heirloom Tomato and Fresh Mozzarella, warmed with Arugula and Balsamic Reduction; la pain et beurre (?); Merguez (N. African lamb sausage) with Mustard Sauce; Pork and Chicken Pate with Cornichons, Toasted Brioche, and Lettuce with Tomato and Vinaigrette: and a glass of chilled Sauvignon Blanc.

Bye New York!

Race Day!

I got back from NYC on Saturday night and went racing off MDI on Sunday.  It was a perfect way to ease back into island life, although, like in NYC, I was surrounded by art - awesome, inspiring scenery.

Norwood Cove, Southwest Harbor

It was a perfect summer day for anyone, but for those of us who were sailing, the conditions could not have been better.  The wind was blowing 10-20 knots, south to southwest.  And sunny - the sky was summer blue with ever-changing wispy clouds.

South of Cranberry Island 

The course took us from Greening's Island in The Great Harbor south out to Bunker's Ledge, then east past Cranberry Island, over to and around Baker's Island, and finally west past Sutton's Island and to the finish off Northeast Harbor.

South of Cranberry Island and Islesford

Excellent Sail Trim

Covering the Competition

We were in third place for most of the race, and our strategy was to stay close to the competition - not go off on some wild tangent hoping we would guess right.  We didn't make mistakes as a crew.  Our tacking and spinnaker sets and takedowns were all good.  We communicate well with each other and we love our "skipper".  He's a hero.  He shares the helm with Phyllis, herself a "world-class" sailor. 

Heading Back to the Rock

Uh-oh, Light Air Ahead . . . patience

Then, in between Sutton's and Great Cranberry, the wind lightened, died, shifted, then  v-e-r-y   s-l-o-w-l-y  filled in from the southwest.  We decided to stick close to the north shore of Great Cranberry, expecting the wind shift and we found ourselves with the best advantage of getting/drifting to the wind sooner than the other boats - we kept inching closer and closer to the wind line, not much control of the helm with the boat auto-tacking.  Our concern was catching a lobster pot, but finally, poof!  the sails snapped full and we gradually picked up speed, distancing ourselves from the competition who were left stalled, frustrated, and impatiently waiting for the new breeze.  

Race Committee

We got the gun!  First place finish!  Thanks, Shearwater, great race!  Hooray Eventyr!  Cold beers and chocolate chip cookies all around!

Back home to Norwood Cove.

Our Competition . . . nice race . . .  (hi, john)

We are officially the boat to beat in the MDI Series.  Two wins in a row!