grace grits and gardening

ramblings from an arkansas farm girl

Curiosities, East Dallas. Always feels like home…

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Grace Grits and Gardening
For two years, I was drawn to this painting. Although it was partially hidden on a top shelf buried behind seashells and pieces of coral, I studied it each time I wandered into Curiosities, my favorite Lakewood haunt for treasures, trinkets and yes, curiosities.

There was just something about the way artist Glenn Ramey (1953) captured the ocean’s mood at first light… Plus, I loved the frame.

Several months ago, I took it upon myself to reorganize the shelf in this particular booth. I dug the painting out and moved it front and center. I stared at it with a feeling of deja vu.
Each time I visited, (yes I go there often), I was relieved no one had purchased it. I admired it again and again, but left empty-handed determined not to bring anything else into our house. (I pretend to be downsizing…)
Finally, on the day I took my friend Dorothy to visit Curiosities, I bought it. For whatever reason, the time seemed right, plus the owner of the painting was there which made it even more exciting for me.
Now the painting hangs on the wall in my office where I write.
One week later, John and I went to the Pacific Northwest for vacation. Cannon Beach felt serene and calm and familiar. I’d never been to the Oregon Coast, but that spot on earth felt like home.
And then I remembered my new old painting.
Cannon Beach, Oregon

talya

Grace Grits and Gardening
Farm. Food. Garden. Life



…though we know we had never been there before, we knew we had been there before. ― Margaret Atwood

Musical Pairing:

Feels Like Home, Bonnie Raitt

Traveling the Pacific Northwest-What I Did On My Summer Vacation…

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Traveling from Portland to Seattle by way of the San Juan Islands, my husband and I logged nearly six hundred miles weaving along coastal highways and through national forests canopied by hemlocks.
This was our first visit to the Pacific Northwest. Along with a change of scenery, we experienced several firsts.
1. Our hotel in Astoria, Oregon (The Hotel Elliott) had heated floors. Living in Dallas where everything is naturally heated by the relentless sun, I’ve never considered such a luxury. What a welcomed surprise after sleeping with the windows open and waking to chilly fifty degree mornings. 
2. We visited an alpaca farm. These creatures, a cross between a llama and an Ewok, were mild-mannered, curious and hypoallergenic. After watching the owner spin buttery-soft wool, I almost wanted to take up knitting.
Oregon Alpaca Farm
3. We lulled away time at a lavender farm. The aroma floated over rolling hills making the entire afternoon dream-like. 
Lavender Farm, Mt. Hood River Valley, Oregon
4. We hiked through a rainforest. Walls of spruce soared two hundred feet, a reminder of our country’s majesty.
5. We wandered around Powell’s, the world’s largest independent bookstore. It’s a super-sized miracle I’m not still there.
6. I ate pan-fried oysters for breakfast. I’ve never been much of an oyster fan, but plucked fresh from the sea, these were deeeelicious.
7. Much of our route was marked by Tsunami Evacuation Route signs—another first and a bit unnerving. In Dallas we worry about tornadoes and drive-by shootings and heat stroke—all impossible to warn via highway department signage.
New surroundings summon new thoughts and ideas, a different way of looking at life.
What new things have you experienced lately?
talya
This was written for Day Seven of the Write Tribe Festival of Words. Prompt: the number Seven. 

Food. Farm. Garden. Life.

THANKS FOR READING!