Summer Rambling

As we move into official summertime, and pray for rain....I watch the garden go dry. A newer area around the studio is created to be a "water-wise" garden and it is surprisingly lush with foxglove, lilies, grasses, a ground cover of thyme. At this point in the garden's development I only edit. There is copious re-seeding and propagation going on, and so I merely remove what is not wanted. This is the sign of a mature garden. We moved here eleven years ago to a garden looking much like a parking strip at the bank or at a community college...practical, boring, not yet grown, and certainly not reflecting any individuality. Individuality...is. so. messy.

I read somewhere that no garden really outlives the main gardener and that must be true. You can go all over and visit the famed gardens of long dead celebrity growers and see some of the ideas...but that signature must leave with the author.
There is surprise in the reflection I see of us in our garden. Alan made structure, I chose plants to support his theories of borrowed view, perspective created by tricks to provide vista in a relatively small suburban space. So here we are, the structure person, and the detail person. He leads, I respond, he leads again and appreciates.

In our dance too, and our home, and in the structure of our relationship...He makes the big decisions and I endeavor to make them work. Trust is the main ingredient. Plant the seeds, pull out what isn't working, keep what works and what makes sense and what provides a sense of space and color and spice, and agree to agree. Or not.

So I look forward to designing the little town house for us, designed just so that we would love it, (even though we may defer a decision about whether or not to live in it) and two others for some brave people who like to live outside the box and in it too.
And also, truth be told, I look forward to starting another garden....a teeny tiny one.

Above: Orange Flowers, large screen-print in thirty colors...including a variety of blacks.

Dance on, Michael

We were out last night at a wonderful restaurant, Anchovies and Olives, with young talented chefs, over-the=top service, and exquisite small plates, for sharing. It was a special occasion, our daughter's birthday. When we got there it took a few minutes to realize that we were in a room full of people who were in shock over the death of Michael Jackson. The entire staff of a generation that feels as bad as can be, as bad as I felt when John Lennon died. Awful. The music was all Jackson all night, with long faces. But we were giddy with celebration, two bottles of extra fine wine, and a designer cake brought by our daughter's really great guy as a surprise.
So we were/are happy while rest of the place was one step away from outright wailing.
Well, they still looked out for us in a complete and non-intrusive way, and we loved it.

Then today, all day on the radio, people calling in with memories, opinions, thoughts, and judgments about The King of Pop.

The divide, or dis-connect exists around the perception of the artist as a creator, and the brilliance of the work, and the artist as frail human, maybe even a sick or criminal human.
Picasso, Woody Allen, Michael Jackson, and hundreds of other "genius" types have confused us with their human foibles while dazzling us with the product. I say, just love the work. let it inspire, and don't expect a great artist to be a great person, because they probably aren't.

I remember Jackson as a dancer. What a worker, what an amazing gift to move with such precise steps, with the music, and to be powerful yet light, and flowing. People who worked with him were amazed at his work ethic and his skills in managing a group, in making electric and transcendent art happen. That's the part I want to take away. The freakishness probably had something to do with growing up exploited by the celebrity business. Partly by that and by other things we can't, and don't want, to know. Now the news will be all about the body, the drugs, the children, the money. The vultures have been circling for a long time and now they swoop down. May he rest in peace anyway. I just remember the dancing.

Don't Cry for Mark He's a Wiener

I don't know what is more annoying about the Mark Sanford situation. It seems the governor of South Carolina went all the way to Argentina to conduct his affair and did not go to a single milonga as far as I can tell. But if he did I will promise you that I will know by tonight. It seems that Sanford is woefully unaware of just how small the word has become. "The world is a handkerchief" was the quote I heard in Argentina. And not the one that Sanford is using to cry his eyes out. Probably not from grief but from trying to live in the pollution ever present in Buenos Aires.
It is telling that his lack of interest in tango annoys me far more than the fact that he had an affair. And at first the bloggers were all a-twitter that maybe he was a closet tanguero. This was quite a bit more intriguing than a stupid affair. But we still don't know, maybe she is a dancer and lured him away to BA. If only. Maybe she has a hot pair of zebra striped Comme Il Faut shoes, pink trim, nine centimeters. Now that would be interesting.

Funny thing on twitter: "Let he who hasn't blown off his governor duties to get a little Argentinian tail on Father's Day cast the first stone." Thanks Tina, for sharing that.

Now, back to family values, and get back to work. I say at least Argentina is more interesting than hiking the Appalachian trail for Christ's sake.

Cassoulet

Making a simple cassoulet today with white beans and sausage. The aroma in the house is divine. It just cooks away while I get other things done. We are having the normal cool June days. Thunder and rain yesterday and big black clouds hulking over the lush green landscape. A quiet weekend with early nights does wonders. With work so relentless and days long and busy....food takes on such importance. Not just the food but the time spent de-briefing, drinking a bit of decent wine, talking, and just enjoying the small if chilly window of summer life in the Pacific Northwest. It is fine.

The milongas have been sparsely attended and many changes are in the air. I am not too sure what is going on. A proliferation of new venues which will eventually settle down. I like it myself. People doing acrobatic tango can go where they go, and people doing traditional styles can be where they are...it is generally good. However, it has been awhile since any milonga (except for the fantastic La Garua) has had the energy provided at least in part, by numbers.
It still does not take away from good and pure and fun dancing.

But then....a night at home with one's favorite partner and a dish of cassoulet, some wine, some french bread, maybe a salad and a few nectarines with cream....no contest.

CASSOULET:

Two cups of white beans, soaked overnight and drained.
One onion chopped.
Four or five mild Italian sausages cut into one inch lengths.
One quart of low sodium chicken broth.
Salt, fresh ground pepper, a little thyme if you like it.
Olive oil.

Put the drained beans in a large heavy pot, add about 5 cups of water and some of the broth. Begin to simmer this. Chop the onions and add to the pot.
Salt this a little and grind some pepper into the pot.
Let it simmer for awhile.
Saute the sausages in a skillet until they are not pink in the center, and are browned on the outside. Deglaze the skillet with a little of the liquid from the pot of beans. Add the sausage to the beans. Add broth as needed to keep the beans just covered with liquid. Cook until the white beans are done (two hours or more). There should be a creamy consistency to the beans and to the saucy liquid between the beans. Correct the seasonings, add thyme if used. Drizzle a little good olive oil over the beans. Serve with bread.

This would be a good recipe in which to incorporate some of the Rockwell beans if you find them at a farmer's market, but any bean will do. Some cooks use bacon or salt pork added early to the beans.

A Room of One's Own

Angie over at StudioWellspring was thinking about work spaces and she posted a little blurb with photos about my very own little work world.
We met Angela along with Tangobaby (Julie) when they came up to Seattle to tango a while back! Gosh I miss them and hope to see them again one of these days. Tangobaby is doing great things with her blog, and Angela has produced a baby girl and continued in her design work and kept up her visually stunning blog since I saw them last.
Blog world has been good to me.
I hope you all have rooms of your own. It is important, and must be a priority so that you can channel the muse!

Recognizing the Teacher

My tarot card for today: "The challenge is to be able to recognize the teacher in a most humble disguise." Friday is housekeeping day in a house in which one could work all week and still not get ahead. Today I am pulling weeds and wondering how it got so bad out there.

Well, I know it is because my interests take me away from the vigilance required for excellence in gardening, or housekeeping. It is fine with me though, I say, sitting here all wet from the rain and hungry, muddy, with lots more work ahead of me, work waiting in the studio to be framed and the kiln ready to fire. The whole reason to have this garden/house/studio is just to enjoy being in it. Even in the weeds. I have a little green frog living in the back now. Frogs...humble creatures.

Those readers who are looking for a tango story will surely be able to make one out of this. Just replace "house" or "garden" with "tango"...there you go! And change that frog into a prince. Quick!

Foot Doctor Day

I went to a very highly skilled foot doctor today, having decided to approach my foot problem from the directions of both east and west. I rehearsed a careful and hopefully articulate speech about the pain, and the circumstances and told him that I dance a lot and that it is important to me. He is athletic himself and understood this to be a mental health issue as well as a physical one.
First, in order to see inside, he took x ray pictures. It was clear that there is a rather dramatic looking bone spur on the big toe joint (where big toe connects to foot).. It looks like an ocean wave poking up with a sharp curved point. The joint closer to the end of the toe is taking up the motion, (doing all the bending) and so it is having pain and numbness. The cartilage is going away and causing the bones to rub together and this will eventually destroy the joint.
Anyway the recommended treatment: Keep dancing, (thank god!) treat pain with over the counter stuff, ointment for pain, which I used today and it really works. He is not too crazy over the high heels, but understands the need for them in tango! He listened as well as explained, and I appreciate it more than I can say.
I feel very happy that he did not find a fracture, and that he condones the dancing. He says he thinks a two inch heel and a more padded shoe is best. Back to Tara maybe.
And my foot was pretty good today due to a couple of nights off...which he says is a good idea too. It is more an issue of how much I can take it. He believes in the dancing and says that even if it causes trouble down the line he gets that if I don't do it worse things can happen. He says that if he can't do his athletic stuff he would probably drink and sit around and go to hell. I think I like this guy.
However, that said....he wants to do a surgery in a year or so, when I can take off a number of weeks. He thinks it will help, not cure the problem, but will possibly give me more good times on the floor. He will remove the spur and re shape the joint surfaces to have a bit more space, but he cannot give me back the lost cartilage...it is just the reality.
I told him that the other problem is alignment...I roll a bit to the outside of the foot and that is a protective mechanism. He agrees with what Detlef and Alan both said...just try to stay in the center of the foot.
So that's the story from the west. Just blogging it down for the record. Thanks to everyone who had input...I can't believe I actually went to a doctor. I do feel better though, just having some information.
Going to go to a special practica session..