Some photos of Panama City Beach

Tiny little shells litter the fine, crystal white sand.

The water is cool, clear & soothing as it wraps itself around my toes.

No one on the beach but me on this glorious, sunny, Saturday morning in November.

A view of the gulf through the sea oats.

Few people know this, but the best time of the year to visit Panama City Beach is in October & November.

Good Grief Olafur with an "R"!

This is what severe sleep deprivation does to the mind. I am still traveling back to Texas with Gayle and barely slept again last night. This hotel was a real loser and the dog is having issues. It has been a lllloooonnnnngggg time since I had a decent night's sleep.

Pray for me during this last day of driving, I'll probably really need it.

Opps, that's Olafur with an "s"!

Olafus Eliasson

Eliasson's exhibit opened at the Dallas Museum of Art on Sunday. I am SO excited! I've been enthusiastically working on new storytelling material for this . Here are two images of his work. Look at the sun that was part of his exhibit at the Tate Museum - don't you feel warm just looking at it? Imagine what it must of felt like to be there. Then look at the other image called "take your time". It has a space-age feel to it. Though I haven't been to this exhibit yet, I did see bits of it during the installation. There is something very like it at the DMA. Yippee! I have an alien story that I rarely get to tell, but boy will I be doing it for Eliasson. In Florida, I bought a toy that changes my voice giving it an otherworldly quality.

"Take me to your leader!" Hee-hee, sure can't wait to use it.

I'm In Florida

I drove here all by myself. First time I've ever driven so far alone. It took me two days with an overnight stay in Alexandria, LA. There were near constant torrential downpours on the second day and every time I pressed down on the gas pedal, water would trickle down on my foot from a newly discovered leak. You can say that I was a wee bit tense, white knuckling the steering wheel a good bit of the time. It was a relief to finally reach my mother-in-laws house.

She looks pretty good considering that she has recently finished 14 radiation treatments. The only side effects are a very sore, red scalp, some fluid in the ears, patchy hair loss, and fatigue. She reports that she is feeling a little better the last coupe of days. I think her appetite is not as good as it once was, but she is eating regularly.

Tomorrow we pack the car, visit with a few friends and make sure the house is set up for potential buyers who will be stopping in with their Realtors. On Monday we begin our two-day journey back to Texas. The house needs to be sold, but it is hard to think of it belonging to someone else. So many changes have occurred in our family's lives over the last 3 1/2 years. There's been moves, deaths, illnesses, job lay-offs, new jobs, starting college, selling & buying homes...it hasn't been boring folks. It isn't over either. We have some challenging times ahead of us, BUT we are growing, learning how to adjust to change with as much grace as we can muster. There are gifts all around us if we consciously open our hearts to see them.

The weather on the beach was gorgeous today, the gulf water was crystal clear, the breeze refreshing and soothing. I dug my toes down into the cool sand and sighed with pleasure. I had dinner with my good friend Marie at a rowdy German restaurant where a young woman on the stage played an accordion with gusto. I set up a blog for Gayle so that she can write about all the new adventures that she will be having when she comes to Texas.

Oh, and I've been taking photos with Gayle's camera and will post pictures soon.

It's nearly 1 am. Time for this insomniac to try and catch a few winks. Nighty-night.

Discovered Photo

This is a picture of me doing a Friday Night Live story concert in September. I found it on Flickr. There are several marvelous photos there from past events at the Dallas Museum of Art. I had a fun picture taken yesterday, but it wasn't up yet. I will post that one soon. In the meantime, here I am telling my version of The Purple Gorilla.

Long Overdue Post

SO much has been happening with my family life and storytelling work that blogging has had to take a back seat. Oh and I love to post pictures on my blog, but my camera broke. It takes some of the fun out of blogging. Sheesh!

So here is an update on the last few weeks:

My mother-in-law has breast cancer that has spread to her spine and brain. She has just recently finished 14 radiation treatments for the brain cancer. Side effects have been very minimal and we are very relieved about that. She also has a type of cancer that responds well to hormone treatment, which she started last week. Tomorrow afternoon, I start driving driving alone to Florida where I will pick her up and bring her back to Plano to stay with us. She will recieve excellent medical care here, plus we can enjoy each others company. She hopes to sell her home in Florida (it is on the market) and relocate near us, hopefully in the same neighborhood. We all very much look forward to enjoying the holidays together again and seeing each other on a regular basis, just like we did when we lived in Panama City, Florida a few years ago.

Regarding my storytelling work, all I can say is WOW! There has been a lot going on.

I attended several storytelling concerts as a listener, including the Lone Star Storytelling Festival, and had a blast. The national level storytellers have been Antonio Roche, Barbara Freeman, Charlie Chin, Elizabeth Ellis, Lyn Ford, the Storycrafters, and Barbara McBride-Smith. I have heard several wonderful local tellers like Tim Couch (his spooky tales are SCARY), Gene & Peggy Helmick-Richardson of Dallas, Jyoti & Meena Subramanian at the Dallas Crow Museum, Greg Rodgers from OK, Lucinda Wise from Austin, Gary Whitaker, Genie Hammell...the list goes on. I love getting the opportunity to sit back and be a listener, to marvel at the vast variety of ways in which to tell a tale. This is a very creative profession to be sure.

I have been doing a LOT of storytelling myself. I have participated in a spooky story concert at the Dallas Bath House, and provided three concerts for the Dallas Museum of Art. The themes were Egyptian Mummy's, Elephants - met the author of Babar, Laurent De Burnhoff and Kings & Queens. In addition, I have designed a new workshop for storytellers and writers that I am very excited about. It incorporates visual imagery!

Speaking of visual imagery - If I can only get my blasted camera to work I can start sharing pictures again. I'm off to see about that right now.

Ciao