Getting caught up in life

So, I have finally settled into life on Maui - no more daily trips to Home Depot, K-Mart, Lowes and Costco to purchase stuff for the house -- that'll continue in time. Now it's searching out an art supply store, Office Max and Ben Franklin for work related supplies... I have gotten swayed by life and neglected to post anything in over a week. Here's something to tide you over...

This is a bloom on my Kaffir lime tree. The limes are apparently very sour (I'll let you know exactly how they are when Dana and I have our first vodka and tonic with a fresh lime) but the leaves are used in many Thai dishes and the reason I bought the tree. The lime flower has a very delicate fragrance and yes, the little green orb in the center of the flower will eventually become a lime!

This is a pink plumeria on the ground of my house... 

It was early in the morning and looking out the window over the bed I saw new shell ginger in bloom. I went outside to take a few photos and found this bee on one cluster of blooms. It apparently slept there all night (it's quite cool overnight) in a state of dormancy. When the sun hit the flowers he started to stir and when I went back about an hour later... he had flown away.

You can see why this is called shell ginger as it looks like a conch shell (the pointed portion is on top).

Paradise Found

My apologies for being a stranger. Time and getting the house ready for pending guests to arrive has kept me busy, not to mention I finally organized my office/studio and shall be starting the cre8ive process soon. I'll keep you advised of how my artistic sensibilities are affected by being here on Maui.

I went outside to the back (private) garden off of the office and my bedroom to get a breath of air (the winds have been BLOWING like nobody's business since yesterday) and I spotted a little visitor on the underside of the deck above. I ran to get my camera and he took cover, but couldn't elude the voyeuristic eye of my lens. I flipped the photo 90 degrees counter clockwise so it's easier to view. I only saw roaches and rats in NYC, the occasional wino and a cadaver being carted out of the building across the street (that's a whole other blog!) -- this is a true gift!

Welcome to Paradise

Maui is primarily supported by agriculture, mainly sugarcane. As I look down the slopes of Haleakala (the volcano) toward the sea, it is green with sugarcane fields. In the distance are the smoke stacks of the sugar refinery and all in all, it's really comforting that the economy of the island is based upon a very simplistic industry.

Yesterday I was downstairs in my office working at the computer (okay, I confess, I wasn't working but I am on a writing kick for my next book--a collection of short horror stories) when I realized there was this noise from outside. It was a crackling and hissing, and of considerable volume. I looked out the back of the house and my entire line of sight was a wall of billowing brownish and white smoke. Apparently the sugarcane industry implements the practice of burning crop residue after they are harvested.

Although it was a sight to see, once the fires were doused the air was a haze of smokey fog, and after, black cinders were sifting down in the breeze. 

Austin, Texas

So Cyndi and I had a blast together. We went wine tasting on our way to Fredericksberg, which is an incredibly funky, eclectic little town. I recommend visiting this wonderful place if you're ever in Austin.

The pics are from both of my trips. I hope you enjoy them!

Go West, Young Man

So this morning I left New Jersey on an early morning flight to Austin, Texas (I'm staying 3 days, and return to Maui on Saturday.) I'm visiting my friend Cyndi, who recently moved here from N.J., her son Cameron who is with her during his summer break from college, and Marnda, a dear acquaintance I know from the textile and quilting arenas. Hopefully I'll have some greats pics to share with you tomorrow, and if not, I'll post some from my visit with Marinda when I was in Austin in mid-March.

BookExpo America - The Sequel

BookExpo America is the largest book show in America, and Sam and I did it in record time, walking the show floor in less than 2 hours. It was a wholesale show, so we weren't able to meet with any acquisitions editors or publishers, but we were able to scope out which companies we did like. I'll most likely have to submit my proposals online.

SHAG was displayed outside the show floor in the public area. It was nice to see my title in the "New Title" display. Let's hope something comes of this!

For those of you unfamiliar with SHAG - here is the cover. More info can be found at www.shagthemammoth.com (the link is on the right hand side of the page.)