A Little (One) Shopping
Who’s that taking a peek in the Shoppe? Must smell some treats.
This week’s entry in Leanne Cole PHOTOGRAPHY’S photo contest called Monochrome Madness. You may have seen this photo before in Full Color… not this time. The theme… ‘Christmas where you are.’
I was recently onboard our InterIsland Ferryboat the ‘Evergreen State’, when she encountered some ‘difficulties’ and became adrift. In 16 years of riding the ferries, this was the most excitement I’ve had. We were getting close to land, and they were getting a towrope ready to attach to an oncoming ferry. The had everyone stand at the rear of the ferry on the top deck… in case we crashed??? They got whatever was wrong fixed enough to make it into Friday Harbor and dock. I was hoping we would have to be saved… that would have been great to photograph.
WSF ‘Evergreen State’ being towed out of Friday Harbor to dry dock…
THE MISSING TRUCK… Postscript
JUST AN EMPTY SPACE
Well… She’s Gone For Good! After my last lament regarding the missing truck, so many readers wondered, like I, what the hell had happened to her. One, was my son-in-law Steve. He didn’t just wonder… he called his friend Kevin.
Now, there is a show on the History Channel called ‘American Pickers’… kind of the poor man’s ‘Antique Roadshow’… where two guys go around the country combing junkyards, garages and people’s ‘collections’ finding hidden treasures, just as worthy. They would have a ‘field day’ at Kevin’s. He is San Juan Island’s Premier Collector. Island Stage Left needed a rusty old-fashioned radiator for their latest play… Steve called Kevin… they have a rusty old-fashioned radiator for their latest play. At our County Fair each year, one of the highlights is ‘Trash to Treasures’ hosted by Kevin. So, who better to ask about a missing roadside attraction. Kevin knew all about my truck.
She is a 1946 Ford Flatbed, with a flathead V8 engine. In fact, he had offered to buy her at one time and was told the owners of the property just liked having it sit there… they enjoyed 
looking at her while passing by on the way to their ranch. It seems a neighbor did not share the same affection and deemed her an eyesore. Word has it, that a scrapper had permission from the non property owner, and took her in the middle of the night. As Kevin says… “These guys scrap first and ask questions later”. The goods are carted off the island to be sold for scrap metal to one of the mainland salvage yards.
They call these guys Tweekers… as most are methheads, trying to score their next ‘eight ball’, so they can make it a few more days. So, that’s what my truck became… 1/8 ounce of Methamphetamine. Steve, Kevin, their friends in the collecting community and the Sheriff knows who they are… but, you can’t do much 
if you can’t catch them in the act. And you can’t station someone to watch the ferry lines night and day. Unfortunately, the problem has spread to outright theft of property, not just abandoned vehicles.
I have never shed a tear upon hearing of some mainland fool being electrocuted while attempting to steal the power company’s transmission wires to sell. I hope that does not start happening here… or maybe…
Island Stage Left’s latest Production ‘Someone Who’ll Watch Over Me’ plays at the County Fairgrounds Theater from April 5 – 29…
This post was not prompted by Madison Wood’s Flash Fiction Friday, but certainly qualifies… to see talented writers prompted to create by this week’s photo… http://madisonwoods.wordpress.com/flash-fiction/
Flash FridayFictioneers… Lost Opportunity!
My Truck
She’s gone!!!
I came across her… sentinel on a country lane… green mottled skin slowly rusting to a different hue. I was conflicted in my feelings toward her. First surprise, then awe at her beauty. But so many questions. Whose? Was she afraid, tucked away in the woods beneath a blanket of leaves? She looked so forlorn in her abandoned state… yet, somehow majestic in her loneliness. I was in love. I wanted to paint her.
I would always take a moment to visit.
Then today… Gone! Whisked away by an alien starship, the ground dusted for prints and wiped clean.
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It’s Friday, and time for 100-word Flash #FridayFictioneers…
Flash Fiction over at Madison Woods
When I saw Madison’s photo, I knew exactly what I was going to write about, except I didn’t know how I was going to do it. After all, this is supposed to be fiction, and I had been kind of cheating lately with the memoir thing. I think this may be a combo.
I was on Kanaka Bay Road one day (and no… this Island isn’t Hawaiian) and came across this old truck, parked next to the road. It was beautiful, sitting in the shade, and I thought it would be a great subject to paint. I love paintings of old abandoned things. My friend Matt, had painted one recently 
and I thought he would be the perfect guy to do the job. He may have been in his Hay Bale Period by then, because I begged him to do it and he wouldn’t budge. But in his defense, he really would rather do boats, and he is very good. Next, I begged my friend Jill, but she was more into crows and nature. I tried to explain that there were trees and things, but to no avail. Lately she is doing landscapes and has just done a rooster that I think is wonderful.
This begging went on for years with those two.
San Juan Island is blessed with many fine artists, and one of my favorites is famous for her dog paintings. I should have asked her, but Jaime has moved on to bigger animals now and would most likely not be too interested in my truck.
I might have been able to con her daughter, Jennifer, into doing it… she did a tractor design on one of her County Fair T-Shirts one year… wearable works of art.
I, of course, am far too insecure to try to actually draw or paint the truck myself, although I fully intend to hand tint a black and white photo I made. I once took a course in hand tinting B&W’s, from Dianne Poinski in Sacramento.
I was walking through the Sacramento Airport a few years ago, and was stopped in my tracks, just like with the truck, by a photo of The Palace of Fine Arts in San Francisco. 
That building is another obsession of mine. It was part of a display of Dianne’s works. I copied the info, and ended up purchasing a hand tinted photo… it is one of my proudest possessions, right up there with the sketch Christopher Young did for me, of Madame X (another passion), at the Met in NYC. 
And a favorite photo of the State Street Subway Entrance, that I had used so many times in Chicago, taken and printed by Jamie Powell Sheppard. 
So, I guess I could have done the truck, and still will someday. When I took the course, Dianne gave us prints of her photos, on special paper, to learn on. She is a pretty good teacher, because I thought one of my efforts came out pretty well, and I love the photo.
Two days ago, I went back out to Kanaka Bay. I had not been on that road for about six months, and was looking forward to seeing the truck again. But, it was gone. I wasn’t sure I had the right place, but it had to be, since the old fence with the weathered ‘No Trespassing’ sign was there. There was not a trace of the truck to be found. I was amazed and a bit disjointed to have lost an old friend. Perhaps someone is restoring her beauty somewhere… and I will get to visit again.
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Thought I’d share this with the Moonshiners this week. One of my first tries to combine a 100 word flash fiction story with a photo essay. I had been in Friday Fictioneers less than a month, and had only written one fiction piece for Quill Shiv. Actually, this is more of a vignette or memoir piece, what would you call it. But, this was the first time I expanded to write some kind of essay afterwards. Tune in next week to see what happens to the truck.
Thanks Natalie for keeping the lights on at the Still.
THE THINGS YOU SEE ON ROCHE HARBOR ROAD…
Mona & Anthony
The Cow & Pig in Autumn… The Cow & Pig at Halloween… The Cow & Pig at Christmas
Gardens, waiting for Spring
WRITING IN 2012…
This is a piece I wrote on Blogger to introduce my writing… and explain the sudden surge of blogs suddenly appearing. I will continue to write on both. Stay posted and please subscribe to receive fresh pressings in an inbox near you…
I have been writing a blog on WordPress called TedBook. I shamelessly ripped off Mark Z. and hope they don’t find out, because they will probably sue my ass. Actually, he probably wouldn’t care, but you know how those corporate things go… if it was Nike they sure would! There is a dive bar in my town called Herb’s Tavern… they’ve been there for decades, and make t-shirts to sell to the tourists. One year they made a tee with the words “Just Drink It”… Nike sued them to ‘cease & desist’… they had made the mistake of putting a kind of ‘swoosh’ under the words. They ceased & desisted. Really… a small tavern in a little town? But, that’s the way it goes I guess… you can’t make exceptions. I logged a lot of hours on Herb’s stools back in the day. I never met Herb and don’t know if there ever was one… there must have been, but that old bar’s had a lot of owners over the years. I was told the name would change, but would always go back to Herb’s Tavern.But, that’s not what I was going to write about… how did I get on Herb’s? Oh yes, TedBook. Like everyone else, I have a list of things I would like to try. Who hasn’t thought of writing a book or creating a great work of art? Or maybe climbing Everest or going deep sea fishing. Or maybe being a great cook or trying out in a play. Those are all things someone can do if they try… maybe not reach the top or be great, but at least have the experience of doing. That is so easy to say… says the master of procrastination. But, I have a little more time on my hands these days, and finally got tired of thinking about trying to write something. I started to check into people’s blogs I would see. I was getting ready. Somewhere I saw a site called Plinky, they do an ‘idea a day’ to get bloggers motivated … that got me going on my first piece… My Favorite Summer Memory. That was June 28, 2010… at 10:22a.m. I was a Published Author. I thought that was pretty cool.. my name in print… the name of my blog in print… my thoughts in print! Well, I don’t want to get to full here, but I was pretty proud of myself. Especially when the 2 or 3 people who read it thought it was great. Okay, they were my daughters! But, I think I am getting better… at any rate, it is fun and very satisfying. A few days later, I went out to a farm and took photos of bales of hay and a guy on a tractor, and added graphics to my blog.I THOUGHT THIS WAS AN INTERESTING SUMMARY TO RECEIVE, AS I NEVER KNEW IF ANYONE EVER REALLY SAW MY EFFORTS… other than my family and friends I coerced into viewing. My New Years Resolution is to make the time to do this more often. For those of you who do read TedBook.. Thank You. Thanks to WordPress for a great blogging experience. ~ Ted
On January 2, 2012, one year to the day, I published my next blog. I’ve published 3, not counting this one, so far this year. I have now moved over all my old blogs from WordPress to Blogger and will post on both. Here’s the one that brought me back… http://tedinfridayharbor.blogspot.com/2012/01/how-amy-winehouse-saved-tedbook.html?spref=bl
TINY
I think this was right before we got married in 1965… I was taking a drawing class from Robert Else at Sacramento State College. We were living at 23rd and J sts. Ann was wearing a green shift and sitting in a high back chair in the kitchen while I sketched her. I painted it the following week. She never liked it. In fact, my second wife, Annie, didn’t like it either, but that was because I insisted on having it on the wall… I figured it was on the wall when she met me, etc. I always liked it and thought it was a great work of art. My first and last painting.
Ann did not know I still had it. Ann did not know I was entering it in the San Juan County Fair Art Show. I was not expecting it to win a prize, much less First Place! My daughters Krista and Ashley knew I still had the painting and was planning to put it in the fair… they thought that was pretty funny.
I just happened, by chance, to run into them as they arrived at the exhibit hall… to view the photo and art shows. I realized they both came with her to see her reaction to the painting, so I tagged along with my camera… Surprise!!!
'TINY'
I'm not sure my granddaughter shares my enthusiasm for fine art...
“WHAT THE HELL…???”
My sister Marja in Sacramento says "What The Hell... hope it works!"
My sister Mariya in Friday Harbor tried it and says "No flies in my house!".
Krista... "ta da..."
TedBook 