Time for Travel

My neighbors up the hill appreciate their improved view of SF Bay now that the big pine you saw last week is just a pile of wood chips. The writer’s current old house challenge is a leaking water pressure regulator. I should have been a plumber! Repair and replacement is scheduled for next Tuesday. Cross your fingers it goes well as I have a small window to get it fixed.

Next Friday at this time I’ll be somewhere over the North Pole via Icelandic in route to France. I expect to be in painting in Provence on the 21^st, the date the world is supposed to end. I’m sure I won’t notice. Meanwhile I have a lot on my palette. Today at 8:30a.m. with the help of painting friend Nancy Overton I picked about 60 iris of all colors to take to the painting class I attended for many years at Merritt college. Its always fun and a bit nostalgic. Van Gogh painted iris as do almost all watercolorists, but Dorcas Moultan, the Merritt teacher, does them better than most any one I know. Bearded iris are one of my favorite painting subjects, hence I now grow them all over the property. For some reason the gophers do not relish them if there are better choices. The word iris comes from the Greek word for rainbow, and indeed I have every color from deep black (“Almost Midnight”) to pure white, though the browns are my favorites. A smattering of this year’s crop appears in the collage above.

If you are interested you can probably see daily photos of me and my painterly friends as we soak up the sights (and food) of France. I’ll be home on the 30^th.

For French Escapade, www.traveltofranceandmor#1964AC

For Sandy Delehanty, www.havepaintswilltravel.blogspot.com