Saturday, November 7, 2009

Long Ago ... on a Trip to the Bay Area

Once upon a time in the land of February ... I took a trip to the Bay Area. With plenty of planning to get three busy artists together, I headed off to visit my dear friends, Jean Warren and Floy Zittin.


My first stop was to be over to see Jean in Bodega Bay. Now my husband had specially programed his lil Garmin and convinced me "he" would joyfully guide me to my friend's house. "Ok," I agreed, "I'm in for an adventure". As I drive over the California state line, I'd picked up my cellphone to make a quick call and - yep - as soon as I saw the Highway Patrol pull out from the brush near Weed, I knew I was getting a ticket. I'd forgotten the new no-hands-calling law we don't have in Oregon. Argh! But, I proceed on, glaring at my ticket (turned out to be an over $125 fine).

Mid-way down valley near some farm turnoffs, the Garmin instructs me to turn off into the wild blue west near Williams. At first I hesitate, but remembering "I'm in for an adventure", I follow the lil fellows suggestion. Eventually, after zigzagging country roads, I am directed to turn into County Highway 20 with towns like Clear Lake en route. I've heard of Clear Lake, so I'm feeling more confident but, once I've passed Midtown, I look down at my lil "guiding light" and - poof - he's gone out, completely out. The kind of "out" that won't revive. Now I have no idea what route the Garmin had planned for me, what roads lead where and I had no maps of this remote country area. Blessed with kind people at the gas station where I stopped, who xeroxed maps for me and highlighted the way down the curvaceous hilly roads of Highway 29, I dropped into Calistoga and then, on to Bodega Bay. The country was lovely but, the roads so intense, that I couldn't enjoy the scenery. But I finally landed, a bit frazzled from the saga of the "Garmin gone awry".

The views at Jean's house were picturesque, encompassing the dreamy coastline and we hiked briefly around the area before a luscious dinner.

Next day Jean and I headed down to San Francisco to meet Floy at the Museum Of Modern Art (MOMA). Floy had come across the show they were having focusing on, of all things, journaling! The basis was that 1000 empty journals were left all over the world - for anyone to fill a page and then pass on. When the journal was full there was a website to contact for shipping the journal back to the project originator. This show was the culmination of this project. We lunched (of course) before the museum visit and then relished all the featured shows ... one included this exhibit of hundreds of brown poodles forming a huge circle facing inward. And the circles of brown poodles continued in smaller circles, filling in the entire circle. Some diverse creativity! But the greatest part of that day was reveling in the reunited friendships. What can 3 women artists talk about for hours . . . only 3 other women artists can guess :) You all understand :)

I'll pause here as I continue catching up that period of my journal ... down in the San Jose area. Oh - and yes ... I'm afraid I will continue without the Garmin!

1 comment:

Kendra Smith said...

Your journal is EXCEPTIONAL. I really find the flow of it gorgeous and your sketches are A-Mazing! Thank you so much for sharing them in such detail. I really hope our exchange works out and then I can see them in person.