Hard at Work! (or hardly?)...

Finally back in the studio preparing for the summer shows.

Camp Murphy...

...is not the name of the park, but the name of an old WW II training site from the 1940's that was located here. Over 5000 men and a 1000 buildings once stood here, now all that remains is some old crumbling roads, a few buildings housing park staff and some concrete structures that resemble bomb shelters. The feeling of abandonment mixed with an other worldly alien presence prevails here atop the "Hobe Mountain". It towers 86 feet above the Atlantic Ocean, just a couple of miles to the east. Hobe Mountain is also the highest point for many miles around...hmm, gives flood plane a whole new meaning.

...the climb up the 86 feet is easy. I was distracted by the Martian landscape...remember Orson's movie where the men from the Red Planet made red slimy vines grow over everything. Ditto here...it was really cool! Once you get to the crest of the ancient sand dunes you see the observation tower in the distance...it looks like there should be Flying Monkeys circling it and the cackle of some witch threating to steal your little dog too.

...what you will see are big black Vultures circling the ridge the tower sits on, riding the waves of warm air that rise above the ridge. Maybe they're looking for Toto. The park offers trails to walk/run/get lost on, the Lasahatchiecosie'something to canoe/kayak/swim in and other things I just didn't have the time to do in my short stay here...next time.

Friends...

...it's nice to have them when you need them. It's also nice to make new ones when you least expect it. That's what happened to me this last weekend. Last year I was 'Hut-less and stayed in motels on the weekends I had shows. Either that or I depended on the generosity of friends and their compassion for taking in wayward artists. This year with the 'Hut and the show promoter's offer of parking lots for the artists to stay in on the weekends, I have not had to impose on the generosity of my friends here in Florida. I also had not realized that an invisible network seems to link traveling artists and those that take them in.

...this last weekend during the Venice show the 'Hut was not parked in some noisy parking lot crammed between giant motor homes and pulsating generators. It was parked at a "friend of a friend's" under Live Oaks and Palms on real grass with acres of quite space! Other artists were there as well, accepting the offer of respite and quiet to be found under the trees. The offer to stay for many more days was tempting. I did stay an extra day and had homemade pizza, wine made by a distant friend and the conversation of fellow artists that evening. We were supposed to have the world's best Oatmeal cookies too...Warren and I forgot to buy enough whole wheat floor on the grocery run...next time we won't! To John and Laurie whose home is now a home to me...God bless you.

The Highland Hammock State Park...

...is very near the town of Sebring. I know that because I ran out of LP in one of my tanks and I couldn't fire up my grill last night. It took only 20 minutes to drive to Sebring, exchange the tank, get my butt back and put the fresh tuna on the grill. The tuna was accompanied by those little red soft skinned potatoes that were steamed in my potato bag (that's another story unto itself), some real guacamole and giant red tomatoes. I made it all from fresh ingredients. The tuna was never frozen and the veggies came from a road side stand down the road. Two very helpful ladies made sure I got my money's worth when I tried to short myself on the oranges I had counted out wrong and then when I tried to give them an "extra" five dollar bill. "Ya got'ta watch those new fives Hun, they stick together like that all the time." she admonished me. "Yes Ma'm they sure do, thank you dear for the help." was my response. As I walked back to the camper I could here them say "He was such a nice boy!" Yes Ma'm, I am.

...this park is very different from Kissimmee Prairie Preserve. Not only is this park very near civilization and all the creature comforts it offers, but it is also a very busy, very organized park with 140 camping spots. I can go to drum circles, pancake feeds, pot lucks and even take a tram ride some where out in the Hammocks I guess...damn! The camping areas are very open, the individual camping spots much closer together and the folks here don't seem near as neighborly as the people of the Prairie. I guess isolation brings out the best in people.

...I did walk and run most of the trails today. The elevated Cat Walks are cool and mysterious, some even a little scary. I didn't see any gators in the cool weather, but I bet they stay close to the narrow walks that have only one rail...wary be the tottering Snow Bird! There are giant Live Oaks that grow here hat are over 1000 years old. The things they have lived through I cannot imagine. How long they live for I do not know either. I can only appreciate the here and now of them...they will out live all of us and our comparatively brief lives as we walk by their giant root structures in awe. The 1000 year old tree had a girth of over 34' when measured 4' from the ground...impressive to say the least.

...the life cycles of many of the plants and animals are interconnected, one dependent on the other for their continued survival...symbiosis. I'm sure the giant Live Oaks are host to 100's of life forms. Many of the trees had brightly colored lichens and mosses on them. The weather was cool when I walked with my camera, I saw few birds, animals or insects. When I walked the Cat Walks and peered into the water looking for giant gators, all I saw were billions and billions of wriggling larva. As soon as the weather warms the air will be full of insects, the small birds will follow the insect hatch, the larger birds and animals will follow suit. I was glad it was cooler...I didn't want to be part of the food chain and be the first course for the the newly hatched mosquitoes.

...my eyes did see flickering light and shadow, new forms and shapes, new textures and designs. The light here is not what I am used to. It "moves", or rather the constant movement of the plants make it seem to move and dance. When I run the dappled trails I almost get a feeling of motion sickness. That combined with the rattle and rustle of the palm fronds make for some weird moments as I run. The shapes of some of the root balls and knobs border on the sur-real. Some resemble alien creatures from space movies...or maybe the costume creators of the movie "Alien" walked the same elevated walks I did. At first glance many of the organic root forms seem to be on the verge of coming to life and writhing their way across the swamp. Still others make you look twice to see if they are really an innate root or possibly one of the giant Boa Constrictors that are taking over the swamps of southern Florida. I know the forms are the result of seasonal flooding, life spans of time and the shear adaptability of a species. No energy is wasted and only the most adaptable survive for long.

...one of my favorite Florida plants is the lowly Sabal Palm...alias Cabbage Palm, Sabal Palmetto, Cabbage Palmetto and variations of. It's giant Palm fronds are a play of form, light and shadow to me. Running through them, around them and under them is a joy. I don't know all the species there are, but there must be many. I'm sure I could fill up a photo album with photos of light filtering through the massive fan shaped fronds. Something about how the light reacts with the folds and lines of the segmented leaves amazes me. The artists in me is excited about capturing the images and feelings on paper or clay. The little boy in me is just happy running under them...letting his imagination run wild as well.

Kiss mee...

Larry...my neighbor from Texas.

...my trip south started on a note of panic...the roads are closed! After waiting two days for I-90 south of Sioux City to be reopened, I decided to head east out of Sioux Falls on the morning of the 16th. The roads

The Great Kissimmee Prairie.

were in fair condition and the scenery nicer to scene. The farther south I traveled, the better the roads conditions improved and the more comfortable I became pulling my camper trailer...alias a'la "stud-hut". The hut and I cruised to St. Louis by 7:00 pm on the 16th. I felt so comfortable that I kept on driving...for 33 hours! By 4:30 pm on the 17th I was camped with the wintering Manatees in Blue Springs, Florida! I was also wasted and over dosed on caffeine...buzz! Sleep cured most of my aliments, by the 18th I was almost back to normal...almost, some things just take longer to recover.

...the 19th found me in an abandoned construction lot in Sarasota waiting to set up my display for the first of 6 Howard Allan Events shows I am scheduled to do over the next 6 weeks. I shared the lot with dozens of other fellow wandering artists that evening. I slept very soundly in the 'Hut until 4:00 am when I was up and getting ready for the 10:00 am show opening. Sales went well, folks bought my new painted pots. By 7:30 pm on Sunday I was back in the 'Hut grilling fresh fish and scallops...damn fine! I slept very soundly that night too. The next morning found me searching for supplies...thank you Ms. GPS!

...I am now sitting in the middle of the great central Florida prairie called Kissimmee. Do not ask me where it is, I could not tell you how to get here...neither can the Florida park service either evidently. When the downloaded address from the info given by the Park Service is punched into Ms. GPS you will be directed far out into the great Kissimmee Prairie...there is no camp ground there, just prairie. If you choose to ignore your omniscient GPS and follow the very few and very battered brown Park Service signs that can be found, you will eventually be lead down flat narrow blacktops, then to long straight dusty gravel roads, through a gate, past an insignificant sign that points the general direction to "Camping". At this point abandon all instincts of survival and stay with the road for 5 more miles, off in the distance you will see some trees and what looks like the last remaining outpost of civilization...it is, you have found Kissimmee Prairie Preserve State Park and the camp ground you have been searching for the past hour.

...the vistas here remind me of western South Dakota...flat and void of almost any human presence, the sky and circling horizon make you feel small and unimportant. I ran under that sky down a sandy trail for over an hour that evening before turning back for the security of my camper. I saw many of the same birds I see in South Dakota when I run on the gravel roads there. There were wintering Robins, singing Meadowlarks, noisy crows and small White Tail deer along the trail. There were also unfamiliar species of wildlife whose homes I was intruding into. The Vultures and Hawks paid me little attention as they went on their evening search for supper. The small Herons and Ibis scarcely bothered to look up from their muck probing. The alligators either paid me absolutely no attention or exploded for deeper water as I ran past. Yes they do have 'gators here...and they ain't small either! The smallest I saw was eight feet long, the largest was pushing 10 feet in length. I assume they eat what ever they can catch...I didn't stop long enough to find out.

...tonight I am dining on fresh local avocado, tomatoes, garlic, onions, cucumber, basil...I made Gazpacho soup! I bought some fresh vegetables from a road side stand along the Cracker Highway some where. After I bought them I made a sandwich with some of the ingredients and had a beer in my trailer...damn fine! When my beer and sandwich were gone I returned the plastic bags and an icy cold beer to the gentleman with the veggie stand. My Spanish was as good as his English...I offered the beer, he smiled and pointed at a bag of fresh oranges, we shook hands and both nodded. He waved at me as I drove off...I smiled and waved back. After my run I had real "fresh squeezed" orange juice...remember the pop called Orange Crush? That's what this juice tasted like, only it's good for me! I squeezed/drank half the bag. Oh yeah, I also had some grilled ribs...but who cares.

...it is now the next morning and the air is damp, the skies grey, it feels like rain maybe. On my morning stroll to the dumpster in my pj's drinking my espresso, I visited with some of my fellow campers of this isolated oasis. Most seem to have been here before and only smile and nod when I mention my convoluted journey here. Their reply is usually "Yeah, but it was worth wasn't it?" Yes it was...but don't ask me how I got here.