Raising (and Lowering) the Roof

Yesterday I found the roof of our art center's Art and Education Building on the ground, and its south wall removed: all part of the renovation in progress. It's not every day I get to see an ongoing demolition....



Rising above the gap left by the removed roof is the roof of our much newer Art Center Theatre, whose construction had been completed in 2003, and where Art Center operations are being centralized during the renovation.



Above: A view toward the north wall.


This shot above faces toward the still-largely-intact structure that housed our main art gallery. A worker prepares to demolish the stonework:

Renovation: The Video


And the "after" shot:



More renovation shots are up at my Flickr photoset, and a rotating selection also appears on the Art Center's Renovation page.

Bee Hive Update: The hive pictured in the previous entry apparently made a getaway last Friday, ahead of the exterminator's arrival, after two days of camping out at the mall. (If someone gets a bee in their bonnet to represent forewarning, what do bees get in their bonnets?) The exterminator treated the area to avoid any future squatters, but I was very happy to hear the hive had ventured off toward a new home.

"Complex social behavior centers on maintaining queen for full lifespan, usually 2 or 3 years, sometimes up to 5," says the Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Insects and Spiders. "New queens are produced in late spring and early summer; old queen then departs with a swarm of workers to found new colony. About a day later the first new queen emerges, kills other new queens, and sets out for a few days of orientation flights."

Maybe that's what happened here. I haven't the foggiest idea.

Mary wondered if the bees had landed above that business in the first place because their natural hive had been disrupted. Folks from the power company have been trimming trees all over the neighborhood. That's a good thing on balance, meant to try to avoid downed power lines during a storm, especially since we've got 17 hurricanes forecast for this year. Could be the bees were fleeing a tree-trimming operation, landed above the business to get their bearings, and decided they could do better elsewhere. Scouts seemed to be zipping into and out of the hive, perhaps on the lookout for a new home.

Earlier in the week I came home to find this female Checkered White butterfly in my front yard:


Large view

I've done further tweaks on Book #3 and sent that off to Koboca. Now I'm back to making headway on Book #5. I broke from that this past Sunday for 3 hours to watch Discovery Channel's extraordinary mini-series Planet Earth (first 3 segments of 11; another two will air this coming Sunday). Everything in that show works for me: poignant writing; a perfect tone by narrator Sigourney Weaver; and stunning music by George Fenton, whose work for the series got him a Best Original Score for Television at the 3rd Annual IFMCA (International Film Music Critics Association) Awards. Combined with five years of back-breaking and unparalleled cinematography, the series held me completely in thrall.

Thanks to a posting on Tribe.Net, I've learned of the 2007 Writer's Travel Scholarship, for anyone out there who's interested. This is apparently the scholarship's third year (not for travel writing, but to let writers travel; includes poetry submissions). The deadline is May 31, 2007.

The Fiction Writing tribe included this challenge: "Please tell a story using exactly 5 sentences." Here's mine, titled, "In the Bathroom, Last Night":
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He was a Southern House Spider, folded in on himself atop a three-gallon, clear plastic jug. Then his legs unfolded like brown petals and he went from dead to living, long enough for my camera to capture him on macro and close enough for me to look into his eyes.

He crawled a bit when I returned him to his perch, then crossed his eight legs again and became a tiny ball.

I busied myself with my field guides while Mary brought him to the compost pile. What killed him remains a mystery: old age, starvation, or the thirst of being separated from three gallons of water by a membrane stronger than silk.
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Hive Mind

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We have bees in our bonnet. Well, in our strip mall....

The guy who works at the business just beneath this swarm called my attention to it. We're trying to keep these little guys (actually, as bees go I think they're all gals) safe from the exterminator, but to do that we need someone who can remove them safely and give them a good apiary. The man who pointed out the swarm knows a beekeeper in the county and has been trying to call him, without success last I heard. This also seems to be outside Animal Control's purview.

Wednesday's St. Petersburg Times actually had this article about a swarm farther south, which was moved safely.

Also, we have a very good extension school, so I found the contact list online and forwarded that. The extension school option occurred to me just before I started my free-writing group meeting, so in the middle of a free-write I popped out of the room and made a call with that recommendation. If these are honeybees, they definitely should be preserved.

Bee Swarm at the Strip Mall: The Video (0:35)

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A Collage for Spring

I came up with this image for the spring holidays (Passover, Easter, St. Patrick's Day, etc.)

The background is a shot of the snapdragons in our front yard from March 12. The top left moth is the Red-fringed Emerald Moth I'd photographed on March 14. The moth at bottom right is the Southern Emerald Moth I'd photographed on January 20.

This week has seen one short story written & submitted, another resubmitted, and a head cold trounced with a weekend of R&R....

In the space of a week (after spotting the call for submissions), I've drafted, several-times-tweaked, and submitted a story whose word count falls just about smack dab in the middle of the preferred length; and have done so well within the "early deadline" of the end of the month. Until now, I hadn't written anything for submission that was based on someone else's universe, so this is a first for me. At least it is for fiction -- I've written poems to meet contest specs, geared toward particular subject matter and/or poetic forms. And the playing I do in my free-writing group follows particular prompts, so that's probably given me some good prep. I should know in about three months whether the story gets a yea or nay, but in either case I've been patting myself on the back.

I'd found that call while looking for a place to resubmit a story that's been bounced back -- and thanks to wording supplied in the rejection I searched out specific markets that took vignettes. So I'll see how I do there.


Large view

I found this flowering crabapple on the Art Center campus. Thanks to The Kid for the ID!



I've continued taking photos of the Art Center renovation as it progresses. This is the first shot I've taken of what used to be our main art gallery. Luckily, I got this one in before the workers covered the windows with plywood:



More shots are up on my renovation photoset. While I was at it, I took a snippet from a shot of hanging cables and designed a little "renovation rug":



The cables, insulation, and wood in the pattern come from the upper left corner of this shot.

By the time Friday rolled around I was congested and fighting off a cold that had me sneezing through the weekend. I think I've sent it packing, and today got back to the gym for the first time in about a week.

I spent part of the weekend checking in at the Poets & Writers Speakeasy Forum. In a discussion on rejections I found this wonderful analogy by Jenn Brewer:

"I look for poetry when I walk. I saw this image -- a young, leafless tree in front of the flag at half mast in front of the old brick high school that has been the center of this community for generations. I put everything down on the sidewalk and started taking pictures -- several of them. I'll be lucky if ONE captures what I saw there. It's not the tree. Or the limp and lowered flag. Or the old school. It's all of them, what they say as a unit. I don't know (not having looked yet) if I got the framing right, if it's balanced, if the lighting is right, if the feeling of youth in despair comes through. But if I were to give up because one picture (or one batch of pictures -- or poems or stories, for that matter) doesn't convey what I see and feel effectively, then ... well, I guess that's my own fault, isn't it? I guess I just have to keep 'clicking.'"

Jenn also writes at her blog, Diamonds and Rust.

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Holiday Moth

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Just in time for St. Patrick's Day...

This is a Red-fringed Emerald Moth, Nemoria bistriaria, Family Geometridae (Geometrid Moths). Having recently photographed a Southern Emerald Moth, I at first thought I might have spotted another one, but one photo comparison and I instantly saw the difference between the two. I saw this one today at around 1:45 PM on the window of our local supermarket. That honeycombed background is part of a shopping cart. This species comes in both green and brown forms.

Green beer? HAH! We've got green moths! :)

My dial-up has been especially slow lately, with on-again-off-again webmail, so this will be a bit of catch-up....


Large view

Our yard gets blanketed in these around the same time every year. Can compare with this shot, taken a year ago almost to the day.



I couldn't get a sharp focus on this one, so I watercolorized it (my favorite "fudge" technique). A sharper picture, taken of a snapdragon near the post office last year, is here.

I've joined a gym a mile from home and have been keeping pretty well to routine so far (my workouts alternate aerobic-only and aerobic-plus-weights). Its only shortcoming is that it has no showers, but neither does any gym or gym-wannabee in this area, so far as I can tell. Should make things interesting when we're into triple-digit heat indices. But the gym is conveniently located across the street from the post office, with options to pay by the month or by the day, mixing & matching as one goes along. I was looking at the conventions coming up (especially this fall) at which I'll be promoting Covenant, and I decided to increase my stamina for all that traveling, even if it's only within the state at this point.

Monday's exercise was my 2-mile "post office walk," though those are decidedly less aerobic than what I do at the gym. However, the walks do offer sights that I don't get otherwise.


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I don't know what species this is. Before they start looking like dandelion fluff, they look like long wisps of blonde horse's mane or a very glamorous kind of cattail. I saw this one in a wild patch near the post office, catching the late afternoon sun.


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And my bugs are back!

I missed these guys (and gals). We don't get many bugs in the winter, which most people here are probably overjoyed about. But the bugs fascinate me because the ones down here can get downright weird, and my camera's macro lens captures all that bizarre glory.

Outside the supermarket I spotted an "old friend" (meaning something I've photographed before and know the name of, so I can greet it properly):


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Male Polyphemus Moth, Antheraea polyphemus, Family Saturniidae (Giant Silkworm and Royal Moths). This shot and the one below are the first Polyphemus shots where I could tell the gender beyond a doubt, because the guys have honking big antennae. These moths also have a honking big wingspan of around 5 to 6 inches. One woman sitting on a bench told me she'd thought it was a dead bird. I have not yet seen one in person with its wings spread, but I have seen photos, and they are gorgeous.


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Can compare with this shot from March of 2006.

Then, by the bank's drive-thru window, I spotted this beetle. It stumped me completely, but I was drawn to both its size (about an inch long) and its metallic markings.


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It's in the genus Chalcophora, Family Buprestidae (Metallic Wood-boring Beetles). Thanks to Stephen Luk at Bugguide.Net for narrowing it down to "either C. georgiana or C. virginiensis."

Meanwhile, our art center undergoes renovations.



The gutting occurred on March 8. I've been documenting the process, since my camera travels just about everywhere with me. This was our main meeting space. Until the renovations are complete, we've switched most of our operations to the theater. That complicates things no end, because in addition to all our groups and committee meetings, we usually have about three shows in the works simultaneously between auditions, rehearsals, and actual performances. As our vice president put it, we're all going to have to hold hands and sing Kumbaya for a while. I've been able to arrange for my free-writing group to gather at the local library on those days when our meetings conflict with membership meetings and art demos.

More of my photos are up on the center's renovation page, and I've posted additional ones in my renovation photoset on Flickr.

Earlier this week I printed out two sets of submission guidelines. One was the next stop for a story that's been bounced. The other caught my eye during my market-trolling: an anthology with a concept that's a variant on the New Idea that hit me a while back (intimated in this entry). Still quite different from what I have in mind for the NI, and this would be the first time I've worked on a story to fit someone else's universe, but I love the premise. Fairly tight deadline, so I'm tearing myself away from Books #5 and #6 (which I seem to be working on concurrently) to whip something up and see if it flies.

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Stages

Seen on a building in downtown Tampa. More detail is in the large view.

A big performance, a small performance, adventures on the road, joy on the auction block, and a long-distance phone call with good news....

I've had a jam-packed week.

This past Sunday evening I served as photographer for Savor the Art of Citrus County, a major fund-raiser for the art center. The main attraction was a juried live auction supplemented by a non-juried silent auction. My photo Swamp Lily was one of 21 pieces chosen for (and sold at) the live auction, which got my name and bio into the program book. This was the first live auction I'd ever attended, and the first time any art of mine has made it into a juried selection, so that was a thrill. Earlier today I submitted an article and photo of the event for review before they go to the Citrus County Chronicle.

On Monday, after a spate of errands that included taking our trash to the landfill (since we were going to miss curbside pickup) and dropping off Savor the Art photo CDs, Mary and I departed for Tampa to see the musical Wicked. We'd missed it the first time it came here and managed to reserve our tickets a year ago.


This hibiscus plant grows by the Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center (TBPAC).


Hibiscus close-up. Large view.


Mary spotted this cormorant in the channel beside TBPAC. Large view.

Wicked was extraordinary. We've seen plays at our local community theater, but this was the first Big Show we'd seen since we moved down from Boston, and the third one we'd seen since we met (the other two were Cats and Les Miserables). Seeing it was Mary's idea, and I jumped at the chance because she is very hard to get things for, other than for practical use. As an added treat, Glinda was played by Christina DeCicco, who graduated from my alma mater. Wagner College had a superb theater department when I was an undergrad student there in the 70s, and that tradition continues.


Fountain by TBPAC. Large view.


Seen in downtown Tampa. I haven't yet identified the species. Large view.


Sculpture seen outside a bank building. More detail is in the large view. I've also posted a close-up and a reflection shot.

Koboca Publishing is headquartered between Tampa and home, with a detour from our return trip of only a few miles. I'd arranged beforehand to stop by and say hi to publisher Bo Savino, editor/musician Ellie Daulton, and a terrific creative community. A Fed Ex truck pulled up in the midst of our combined socializing and shop talk, and I got to see an advance copy of Meg Files' poetry collection The Love Hunter. Beautifully-crafted poems, enough for me to pick up a copy literally hot off the press. I gave Bo a copy of the Savor the Art program, which mentions Koboca in my bio, and we started planning convention appearances for promoting Covenant.


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Mary spotted this hawk not far from Koboca. Buteo lineatus, Family Accipitridae. This pale version is one of five subspecies of the red-shouldered hawk, according to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology.



When Mary and I got home, one of the messages on my answering machine was from Robert James, editor-in-chief of Reed Magazine out in California, who'd called to let me know my creative nonfiction submission has been accepted. Published annually out of San Jose State University and dating back to 1948, Reed is one of the oldest student publications west of the Mississippi.

Thursday's mail brought more goodies. First, I had written to Sanford a while back to tell them how pleased I was with their colored Sharpies. I had never bought a Sharpie before I'd splurged on their set of 24. It also turns out that Sanford produces two other products I love, the Onyx Uni-ball pens that are my journaling mainstays, and the Waterman Phileas fountain pens I use when I want to write in luxury. Along with my letter I had sent them a print of my second Sharpie Doodle shot.

Sanford sent me a thank-you letter and some of their latest colors, which I look forward to using in my next (fourth) doodle installment. And the interim doodle I sent is being passed around the offices there. (Grin)



Then, Marge Simon over at Star*Line sent me a copy of the handwritten newsletter that Steve Sneyd produces over in the UK. His latest issue mentions my article, "Using Metaphor to Terrify."



On Friday night, to round off the week, I read Chapter 1 of Covenant at the Woodview Coffeehouse. That performance, posted here, includes my extemporaneous a cappella singing prior to the chapter and my complete poem "Solstice" after it. An excerpt of "Solstice" had appeared in the 2004 We'Moon calendar. My digital recorder sat in the audience, so there is some ambient noise. Unfortunately, there is also some static, particularly during the singing, which I don't yet have the software to clean up. My reading of the chapter begins about 3-1/2 minutes into the recording.

Woodview's featured performer was the terrific Celtic folk duo Castlebay (Julia Lane and Fred Gosbee), down from Maine. (I've been playing their CD Tapestry VI - Sea & Skye as I've been typing this.) One couple in the audience had flown from Fort Lauderdale to Tampa, then rented a car and driven up to Lecanto to hear them perform. It was a surprise gift from a gentleman to his wife -- both of whom received a loud round of applause from the rest of us, and front-row seats.

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