Mary M. Payne: Blogging is not what it used to be....

Salt Spring Island, Canada

As most of you know I have taken a year off from my blogs. While away, however, mischievous things have happened. A spammer has put advertising on my art blog so it can no longer be viewed. I read an article about how to deal with this and as far as I can see there is nothing I can do (aside from spending hours of precious time trying to erase it ). Also , there is a cryptic notice about warning readers about cookies. I haven't figure this one out yet.

So my art blog has truly become a diary just for me . I can see the entries but no one else can. That said, I may continue my art on this blog until that is spammed as well and then...well, I will find another creative outlet.

At my age, 72, I am reluctant to spend precious hours fighting unseen enemies... or any enemies for that matter.

I have lately started to write poetry again and I will send copies of those upon request to interested friends, but will probably not be publishing on this site until I know what that means.

I just got back from an insightful trip from Canada to the USA visiting the northwest as far south as Eugene, Oregon.

After baby Joel's christening celebrations, I rode with cousins Amy and husband David across the border into Salt Spring Island, Canada. Four days later, I crossed back by ferry to Seattle. The next day I was on the coast "starlight" to Eugene to visit Dave and Leo. The following day after that, my brother Dave and I, were on the road to Leavenworth, WA. through the worst of the fire season.

There I got to meet up with my brother, Roge and his wife Linda and see their son, Christopher perform as a professional music graduate and singer as Von Trapp in "Sound of Music" and as Professor Higgins in "My Fair Lady" at the summer festival in Leavenworth. He was brilliant. ( And I got to later have breakfast with his interesting wife, Samantha, and saw their lovely apartment in Seattle). I did miss seeing his sister Emma who was teaching in Klamath Falls.

Through the three weeks, I connected with at least 16 of my favorite people and loved having long, in-depth conversations with most of them.

It was a joy to see Daniel who has grown into man behind my back and to see Linda, his mom who I hadn't seen for more than 4 years. I missed seeing Jim and Linda's other son Jules, who now works and lives in NYC.

Sarah arranged a day just for the girls with a private tour of the Frye Gallery and we had our special girl's lunch at the Georgian Room.

It was the first re-connect with my grand niece, Julia, since they all came to Nice when she was two. Now almost 4 we met again, cautiously the first day, but "full on" by the second meeting. And it was my first meeting of her new brother, Joel.

Julia is just as dramatic and curious as I am so I do miss her already. And the sweet smile of her baby brother promises good things for everyone in his life.

This family visit is always an intense and important part of my crazy, vagabond life and I hadn't seen some of them for three years.

Now back in Nice, getting up at the crack of dawn every day with jet lag, I have ample time to mourn my distance so far from my family... but also to celebrate, as that distance probably makes their "hearts grow fonder"of me. And I think it does that for stoic Monsieur, as well, although he won't admit it.

I didn't take many photos this trip but here are a couple that I did manage and others that I had someone take for me.