Because I’m HAPPY!

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daily post playlist of the week, happy, jama ecuador, playlists for ecuador

(Ecuador – Jan. 31, 2015)  Today’s Daily Prompt arrived as I traveled the 7-plus hours between Jama and Guayaquil.  Michelle suggested,  “Tell us how your week went by putting together a playlist of five songs that represent it.”

Ha!  The week delivered disappointments as well as grand moments, but I managed to keep my sense of humor.   On Monday/Lunas, I painted  until noon, put away my paints and brushes, changed and waited for a driver to take me an hour up the coast to Pedernales.  Rolando and I had talked on Saturday, and I told him about the floor project and the most important item needed was a non-yellowing varnish for floors.   I said that I would be painting all day on Sunday and again on Monday morning and would be ready to go by “…1 or 2 o’clock…”    He didn’t show up!   Welcome to Ecuador!  (Perhaps I absently said, “Martes/Tuesday” instead of “Lunas?”)

I shrugged; it wasn’t important, and I switched back to painting while watching the birds come home to roost.  On Martes, I waited again, and at 2, decided to walk to town (5K) and glare at Rolando with the ‘truck taxi’ and watch his mouth drop when he remembered that he’d forgotten!

Maybe he feared he’d have to help carry heavy items from Playamart!

I enjoy the walks to town, and I inspect the birds along the road, in the al-garrobo (mesquite family) trees and in the shrimp ponds.  This week I spotted the Peruvian Meadowlark, a species that’s been absent for months.  About twenty minutes into my trek, a friend drove along at high speed, braked, backed up and gave me a ride to to town!   As he resumed top speed on the gravel road, I didn’t tell him of my two-day wait for the driver!  Instead I smiled after we all but broke the sound barrier and said, “Muchicimas Gracias!”

(Image from 2013) Some people think that third-word countries are dangerous; thankfully there are sweet angels who enhance the quality of my days! Thanks, Doc Castro!)

Instead of seeing Rolando, I spotted one of his brothers (they have a fleet of pickup truck-taxis.)  He chuckled when I told him the story;  we discussed the fare to Pedernales, my list of things to do there, judged the time, and he said if we left immediately we could be back before dark.  I hopped in the co-pilot seat and said, “VAMOS!”

Squinting at the laptop, I worked on photos for National Geographic’s “Your Shot,” while peering out the window and occasionally snapping photos.

Harvest in progress of a balsa tree farm near Camarones Ecuador.

We returned just before dark, and he helped carry the items from the road to Casa Loca.  I slept well and started Wednesday in painting mode.

My friends harvested a shrimp pond near the house, but I was very focused on adding details to the floor.  I emerged from my painting fog around dark, looked out and noted that the pond was drained, and the trucks and workers were gone!  Only the birds remained as they foraged the muddy bottom for shrimp.

I painted on Thursday morning as well; my high-energy painting sessions often correlate with strong rain, so I was not surprised when the sound of rain pelted the roof.  The rains strengthened, and I noted one slow drip-drip-drip from the tin roof;  I moved the potted ceibo tree beneath the drip and continued painting for another hour.  That lovely one-plus inch of rain saturated the ground, but it also extinguished the electricity in this 7-house circuit!

The skies cleared slightly, and I painted until almost dark and photographed the details for Timeout for Art.   With an opportunity to try out my new green mud boots, I retrieved my rain coat (just in case of more rain!) and walked to town in the late afternoon.    

Timeout for Art: Painting for the Joy of Painting!

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Handpainted floors, Timeout for Art

 

“Yes, I’ve made a great deal of dough from my fiction, but I never set a single word down on paper with the thought of being paid for it … I have written because it fulfilled me … I did it for the buzz. I did it for the pure joy of the thing. And if you can do it for joy, you can do it forever.”

Stephen King

I’ve spent months painting the floors where I live, and I often chuckle and say, “I spent X-amount of time on a painting I can never sell!” That’s OK, because working out the design, the correct proportions and building layers of colors are all important challenges, and I learn what works and what does not work.

“WordPress for Old Folks”

The wee hours of the full-moon morning provide the anticipation of dawn.

During the late-night hours when the internet works slightly faster, I read posts via email notifications and can sometimes follow those links to the proper webpage.   Lynda (Pixilatedtoo) called our attention to several bloggers who join the verbal protests regarding changes in WordPress.  I commented via email, which now drags lots of clutter from the email post.  Six months ago those comments were clean and without baggage when they reached their destination.

Lynda nudged us to GrahamInHat’s well-researched post About WordPress Changes-What We Can Do  and also “An Open Letter to WordPress” over at Fishofgold.  These recent posts reflect that we are not alone in our grumblings, especially if you read the comments! Graham in Hats stated, “If we get up on our hind legs and howl for the pack to pay attention then we stand a good chance of putting more sensible people in charge.”    Take time to scan the comments as well;  I also enjoyed Jessee’s comment on Fish of Gold, “It’s Not WordPress. It’s been renamed WORSTPress”

Airing Laundry?

His comment fits well with today’s Daily Prompt: Play Lexicographer…   How about it, Jessee?  You should submit your suggestion via post and pingbck!   The Weekly Challenge arrives soon, so I’m hoping that many people will design their post to address these WordPress changes.   Will any of you join me?!  Say, “Bah, Humbug,” if you’re not pleased with the new obstacle course.

People who don’t cook shouldn’t design kitchens.  People who cannot draw shouldn’t be working on an expensive art-design project.  Do any of the people that make these WordPress changes write blogs on computers or have a queue of comments to read and answer when they log onto their account?  If so, let’s play, “Swamp them with comments!” and see if they can teach us the art of finding them!

Of course I can do that job for you!

Years ago I worked in a design studio with a dozen other artists, and the younger ones worked circles around me via computer.  If they had to hand-draw a design, they turned almost white with fear.    These designs were to be drawn on huge stretched pieces of fabric to be made into hand-woven rugs, and I often checked on my younger peers’ progress.  Once I told the director, “You’d better tell Marriott that their hand-made rug will be late…” 

Timeout FROM Art! End-of-Day Tranquility

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Floor Painting, Math and Painting, Painted Designs for Floors, Solomon's Knot, Timeout for Art, Timeout FROM Art, WordPress Blog Siites

One of nine panels, this 2′ x 4′ section will be part of the border. (Acrylic on plywood)

Hola Sports Fans; I’m writing via off-line mode while taking a break from a floor project. Black paint is drying, so it’s best to take ten or more giant steps away from the work and enjoy a break!  Nine pieces of plywood make up this large jigsaw floor puzzle that will upgrade an 8-foot area that overlooks the river. Clear thick plastic protects each finished panel until all are fine-tuned and adjusted to merge with the others.  The design should be ready for varnish on Tuesday.  It’s been a challenging and rewarding project, and you’ll see the entire floor on the next Timeout for Art.

Center 4′ x 4′ Section – detail

Border Detail

Yesterday my dear friend Silvana, back from her internship in Minnesota, dropped by the house and happily accepted the task of filling in areas with color. We set up a work area on the balcony and watched the birds and fishermen as we painted. Time flew, and at sunset we stopped to take photos from a slightly-different vantage point before she returned to Jama.

Although the rainy season is quite late, many birds are displaying breeding plumage.

Silvana gazes toward the boca as the fisherman snags another fish!

WordPress Notifications – Can You Find Them?

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problems with wordpress notification window, wordpress notification changes

“I’ve looked up, down, and all around and still cannot find —-“

Many of us are creatures of comfort, and we like “A place for everything and everything in its place.” Sometimes our brains need little hurdles that test our abilities to ace unexpected road blocks.

However; why is it that many times things are fixed that are not broken?!

I am trying to adapt to the Windows 8 changes, but I’m not very impressed with the unnecessary steps I sometimes have to take to find something’s that’s out of sight. I join many people in a collective disgust with the continued changes over at Yahoo. This post is about WordPress glitches, so bail out now if you’re not experiencing any!

One Man’s Peaceful Sunrise is Another’s Very-Bad Day

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cesar cevallos, Ecuador Shrimp Harvest, ecuador shrimp ponds, oxygen in shrimp ponds, problems with pond-raised shrimp, shrimp ponds

The tropical king bird’s morning serenade is as lovely as the royal poinciana’s blossoms.

Tropical Kingbird – Jama (Manabi Province) Ecuador

 

Casa Loca’s windows are made of solid wood, and I enjoy opening those weathered panels at first light to embrace the awakening day.   I usually open the kitchen window first to confirm that the daylight serenade was indeed given by the lovely kingbird.  The wrens and seedeaters dart and forage in the dense foliage along the fence, while Amazilia hummingbirds search for the life-sustaining nectar of the opening flowers.  Kingfishers awaken the riverside with nonstop chattering about the first catch of the morning.

Female Seedeater

Variable Seedeater forages throughout the day

(from 2013) – Look! There’s a huge hummingbird checking out the Playamart treasures!

The petite green kingfisher asks the heron, “I think it’s going to be a calm day… what do you think_?”

Most mornings provide a feast of calming views as I open the windows and gaze outside.  Every so often the view jolts me into a higher state of attention.

First Light – Quite Lovely … or not?

The presence of thousands of birds announces, “Urgent! Urgent! Something’s wrong with this picture!”  On this sixth dawn of the new year, I scanned to see if my friend’s truck was home (yes) so I knew he had spotted the same view and had sounded the alarm.  I grabbed my camera and bolted out the door.

Timeout for Art: Balancing Seriousness with Whimsy

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Timeout for Art - Garden Art

There are few blooming flowers in the garden, so a little paint washes those areas with color.

“A man who carries a cat by the tail learns something he can learn in no other way.”
Mark Twain

With so much sadness in the world events, hopefully the above quote made you smile!  While playing tag with the electricity and internet (two days with power, yay!) I’ve enjoyed switching between precision work on a floor project to fun garden art.    Painting straight lines fatigues my arms and shoulders, so my muscles appreciated the time out in the garden.

It’s a little hostal for duendes and fairies! It’s free if they watch over the house and gardens!

I’ll be on the road today and with a tour group until Sunday.   Enjoy the images of the floor in progress!

Candle Power Update

Candle Power

How do I lasso the swirling and overlapping stories of this new year as I type in the dark and race the laptop’s remaining battery life?

Casa Loca and seven other houses share a petite circuit of electricity near the mouth of Rio Jama and the Pacific Ocean. During the 8 months of ‘Dry Season,’ we have few problems, but almost every drizzle short circuits our power.   La Division to the north east is rarely affected, and Jama to the southwest is  rarely affected.  Sometimes the problem is repaired in a few hours; sometimes it’s fixed in 24 hours, but it’s not unusual to be without power for three days. In December, the house was without power for ten days, and the New Year’s present was a 6-day outage!

New Year’s Day – La Division Ecuador – When there’s no power at the house – go to the closest beach!

Jan 2 — 2015- La Division Ecuador

This past Saturday, Carlos the ‘technician’ told me that we needed certain parts to fix the problem, and the electric company was not responsible for those costs. He said that it was an expensive repair and wrote down the parts needed (voltage regulator…) and gave me the name and phone number of the person in Pedernales that sells those parts. He recommended that the 8 houses share the costs.

Without consulting the neighbors, I prepared to travel 4 or more hours (one way) on Monday to get the money from my account… My attitude was, “They will either reimburse me for their shares, or they will not! The problem needs to be repaired sooner and not later!”

The houses in this image share the same power ‘grid.’ Can you spot Casa Loca?

On Monday, plans changed when I looked out the kitchen window and saw an all-you-can-eat buffet in progress in a shrimp farm. (See images HERE National Geographic Your Shot.)   (Those images are on my big computer, which is null and void until power is restored!)    For the next few hours, I walked along the edges of the pond to help spook the birds.      By mid morning, I headed the 5K to town to discuss the electricity dilemma with the owners of the shrimp farm. Xavier phoned for a quote on the costs ($350.00) and l headed to Manta after paying a $50.00 deposit for the parts, which would be delivered the next day.

Returning late that night, I checked into the hostal, slept until daylight, went home to Casa Loca and – surprise surprise – we had power!   Xavier dropped by to say that the parts would be delivered to his house in town in 45 minutes, but he was about to leave for the day.

Timeout for Art: Be Yourself

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Acrylic Painting, be yourself, mirrors in art, seahorse, Timeout for Art Open up and Be Yourself

“Don’t be afraid to be yourself; because people are waiting for you to be yourself… its your responsibility to be all you can be…”  Keb Mo (from video clip below)

While waiting for power to be restored at Casa Loca, I painted this sea horse with the intention of pairing the little mirrors against the dark blue swirls of color. Am writing this while a drama worthy of ‘sitcom’ viewing swirls around me concerning the electricity problems at Casa Loca…  Will schedule this to post on Thursday morning! Tune in later for updates on the drama!

Ah.. I need a bit of soothing music to offset the drama;  enjoy this Keb Mo song as a finale!

Z

Timeout for Art: Always Looking Ahead

Madam Valdivia – Acrylic – Lisa Brunetti

“The secret to so many artists living so long is that every painting is a new adventure. So, you see, they’re always looking ahead to something new and exciting. The secret is not to look back.”
― Norman Rockwell

Madam Valdivia helped me move from 2014 and into 2015 with a positive creative leap. I first painted her portrait in watercolor in 2012 and used a one inch by four inch reproduction to paint a larger image with acrylic paints.

With a very low laptop battery, I am selecting an assortment of Valdivia women, often referred to as “Venus” women, associated with fertility from the ancient Pacific culture located near Valdivia Ecuador.  (The Valdivia culture dates from 3800 B.C. – 1500 B.C.)