The Armand Cabrera workshop has filled with only 3 additional slots available!!!!

It was a long overdue visit with my mom's 88th birthday and my Aunt's 83rd this past Fall.  At 83 my Aunt Helen finally decided to hang it up and retire from the beauty shop she had run for the past 60 years.  Nine months had managed to get past without me seeing them.  We talk a lot but that is not the same.

It was a dreary week of clouds and rain, along with the gray of winter coloring the hillsides.  I only wanted to hibernate at home.  With my brother Gary making daily visits, friends dropping by, and a few short jaunts to town with Mom and Helen to have their medical checkups and a trip to Walmart, I succeeded in my goal to do absolutely nothing except spend time with them.  (Monkeyshine the Bengal Cat celebrated his 20th birthday this year, pretty old in cat years).

With rain most of the week this was my only chance to see the mountains except for the one out my mom's front door.  You can see why they are called the "Blue Ridge Mountains".

As I left the observation deck at the airport to check in, the windows reflected the view very nicely as I said my goodbyes to Mom & Helen.

Once checked through security the windows gave another great view of the hills surrounding the airport which is nestled in the valley.  My airplane was right on schedule unlike my departure on leaving the Sanford Airport.

Up, up, and away leaving the hills and mountains of North East Tennessee.

One last glimpse of one of my favorite mountains as we are quickly engulfed by the cloud cover. The sunshine had managed to find a crack in the sky, and thankfully the hard cold snap they had experienced along with us all, had gone away.

Although the whole trip was above a beautiful cloud covering, it became more dramatic as we reached the Jacksonville area, where we had been warned of turbulence.  The sun, in breathtaking views, created a "silver lining"  on the edge of each cloud.

As the sun washed the sky between the two layers of clouds I sat mesmerized trying to absorb it all into my artist brain.  The decent into Orlando was spooky for me though with deep cloud cover and as I later learned tornado warnings all around us.  It was bumpy and to not be able to see past the wing tips always unnerves me, especially when I could see flashes of lightening mixed into the fray.

As I made my way through the long walk to my waiting ride outside the terminal I passed the Haitians I had hoped to see.  These were taken through the window so not great photos as I was not allowed to take them through the doorway where I could have gotten better shots.  I already had these in my camera when I was told not to use the camera.

There were tables with banks of computers processing the children (and adults?).  The children wore different colored wrist bands, pink, yellow, etc. which I am sure had significance as to where they were to head after leaving there or possibly with which group they were with.

Large handwritten signs outside with lists of what workers were to do especially if they were able to speak Creole.

Outside another very large transport plane had just landed with more.  From what I understand there will be something like 5000 brought into this airport.

Although I was anxious for some warm weather my only taste was on landing in Orlando.  On my trip home to Amelia the next morning it was warm on entering the car but exiting to buy gas on Hecksher Drive in Jacksonville it was a different story.  I could see a wall of sea fog toward the east all along the coast line and as I reached the string of islands leading up to ours I was in the fog.  Bruce snapped this photo of the river on the other end of the street from our home on his way from the gallery.

We decided since I was tired from traveling that we would buy a rotisserie chicken and go to the club at the end of the street for a covered dish dinner, no cooking, and no dish washing tonight.  You can see by the high tech AV equipment that this is a pretty fancy place to hang out.  It was fun to see old friends and catch the beautiful sunsets this spot provides from its back deck.

It was the time of day when all the birds are looking for their final spot to roost for the night. These Egrets almost look like Spoonbills with the colors reflecting off their normally white wings as their synchronized flight pattern looks like they are executing some carefully planned aerial maneuver.

The sun is sinking fast and we opt to eat out on the deck with some other hardy friends despite the chilliness so as not to miss any of it.  The fog had lifted in a matter of 30 minutes to give us a bright sunset with beautiful reflections on the water.

The tide was at its midpoint partially showing the oyster beds in the marsh with the Intracoastal Waterway and Amelia River beyond.

Once the sun drops behind the horizon the colors soften with the silhouette of a Heron as he waits to see if this is indeed a safe spot of sleeping.  Maybe not as he suddenly flies away.

The colors in the sky are such a beautiful soft flow one into the other that it makes an artist long for the skill to be able to recreate them on a sheet of watercolor paper or canvas.  It was good to revisit my birth home but very good to come back to my very different adopted home.   My overnight stay in Orlando was to pick up a great new piece of sculpture by a new-to-the-gallery artist, Jack Nelson.  Please stop by to see this huge, 65 lb. new addition, "Moon Child", a beautiful blue sea turtle.