In Which Bear Encounters Another Person.

There she stood. Middle-aged, very healthy looking. Bright. Nicely dressed. I thought I saw something of a poet in her. 

She gasped. (It's the kind of response I often get, especially when I'm in a new place.) But she did not panic. She sized up her position, backed out of the Office, and disappeared. Very quickly.

"Wait," I cried, in my best Human-sounding voice. 

"I won't hurt you, I just want to chat," I called. Not a great pick-up line; more of a simple truth. A simple, desperate truth.

By time I got to the door, she was gone. Could not see her anywhere.

She knew the community better than I. She new how to hide in it, as well as how to negotiate it. 

Once again, I was alone. Disappointed. 

So, what to do next?

In Which Bear Wanders About, and Makes Some Discoveries

Blogland Lane is a delightful place. Lots of interesting sights. But no people that I could see.

Which had Bear scratching his head. I know there's at least one person around here. But could I find her? No!

So, instead of wandering vaguely, I decided to take action. After trudging about, I found the Municipal Office. Surely, someone here could set me aright about this place.

I half-expected the Office would be locked up, like everything else. But when I arrived, the door was ajar. (No, not shaped like a jar and made out of glass; it was partly open.) Now, my chance to learn! And see about getting a building permit and all, for my new home. Which means I would be added to the tax roll. Ah, well; the price of being in a community; the price of being a community.

Nobody in. Posters on bulletin boards about an art exchange, an open invitation for folks to drop in for mulled wine and. . . . But those are almost two years old. Around Christmas, 2009.

Hmmmm. Peculiar. A lot of peculiar things in the place.

Nobody at the counter. Nothing on the counter. Nobody at the desk. But on the desk, a large book in a very old style. The kind that needed a key, to remove the post, and take off the cover, so you could add and remove pages. In an era of computers, a utterly incomprehensible way of doing accounting. Antique. And over on the side stand, something else. (Bear creeps up.) A receipt system, in the old "post right" style — must be 50 years old! Another antique.

Then it struck me. Was Bear, perhaps, caught in a time warp? Was I even on Planet Earth? Was this, perchance, the planet of the Apes?

In Which Bear Observes Blogland Lane

Sitting on the bench near the side of the road, the warm sun resting gently on his shoulders, the gentle breeze stirring leaves as it passes, Bear observes the architecture of Blogland Lane.
"All is calm, all is bright."
This is good.
Puzzling, but good.

In Which Bear Arrives, and Is Puzzled

Hello. My name is Bear. Rob-bear. I live at 13eh Blogland Lane. (That's 13A for those of you who aren't Canadyan, eh.)

I'm an itinerant story-teller, five-stringed banjo player, photographer, and would-be artist. I'm also a half decent cook. So it you want a truly decent meal, don't come my way.

My home will meet all relevant building codes, but may appear rather "rustic." There are other words people have used for my habitations in the past. I still think "rustic" is best.

(If we get a really cold winter, I may go into hibernation. I just need to find a cave.)

However, there is a mystery. (Cue theme from Twilight Zone.)

Blogland Lane seems to be deserted. Nobody else here. This is strange. I thought BL would be a very busy community. Yet, um, well. Hmmmm. (Bear casts his eyes around the place, though they stay in his head.) Closed up houses. No lights on. No stores open.

There's got to be a story in this!

{To be continued!}

Holiday Greetings and Self-Promotion

A certain Ms. KJ who shall remain nameless insisted I let the wonderful folks and neighbors at Blogland Lane know about my holiday cards at my Etsy shop.

Most of my art images are made into cards so that my 'sold' paintings can be enjoyed by others. I'm a believer in letter writing which is why cards are so important to me. So please stop by if you have time. I even welcome browsers!

Bliss Gallery Opening: Wallflowers

I know I'm just making it under the wire, sorry.

I thought I'd show my Wallflower series of women. I call them 'Wallflowers' because I create them on patterned paper which, to me, resembles wallpaper.

The only one still available is the demure looking woman with the tatoos, and that's because of all the hoopla created about tonight's gallery showing. (Thanks, Annie!) Well, here they are in all their finery. Comments & critiques welcome!

543 Blogland Lane.....help in time of need

DONATIONS FOR SAMOA

DONATIONS FOR INDONESIA

DONATIONS FOR PHILIPPINES

Hi Everyone. I won't belabor the point that we are safe in our homes here at Blogland Lane while others in parts of the world are in deep despair. Samoa, the Philippines, and Indonesia have been hit hard. Another typhoon is expected to hit the Philippines on Saturday. The suffering is nearly impossible for me to fathom.

Each of the logos above is a hot link. Clicking on each one will take you directly to the donation page for the separate disasters.

.....and while at the American Red Cross site you might consider spending a bit of time looking at the great resource information they have on disaster preparedness, which includes kits. That info is at the top left tab, titled Preparing and Getting Trained.

.

Swan Boats at Blogland Lane

Or maybe I should say Blogland Lake! (Going with KJ's playground suggestion.)

Young and Old and in-between, hop aboard for a fun, relaxing ride to cool off on hot days. Aaaaah, life is good here!

Debra Kay's sought-after email address.....and a special fish lives here

Hi Everyone!

My blogging friend and close neighbor here at Blogland Lane, Riyadh, is having some difficulty getting signed on officially here. I believe I see the problem. We might want to consider printing Debra Kay's email address in the sidebar information so that it is easily accessible for folks to send initial sign-up emails to her.

In the event you have been searching through past posts to find it......here is kj's post that gives the email address, in case you want to refresh your memory on all the instructions or read them for the first time.

Debra Kay's email address is blogland.lane@sbcglobal.net


On another note, about 25 years ago I had a dream that was so funny I've never forgotten it.....

I was paying a visit to my hometown of Reno and was enjoying a walk along the Truckee River, which runs through downtown. To my surprise, I saw a "little girl fish" walk out of the river. I knew she was a little girl because she was wearing a pink ballerina tutu and she looked simply adorable. She walked (no legs, I guess she used her tail) over to a Coca Cola machine on the banks of the river and got herself a soda pop.

I was SO excited and enchanted and wanted to know all about her. There were two old coots, dressed in waders and carrying their fishing gear, coming down the grassy bank from their car. I ran over to them and asked, "What Kind Of Fish Is That?!!!" One of the old fishermen looked at me, turned his head and spat on the ground, then turned back to me and said,
"Why, that's your Norwegian Welch."

Guess what I saw today along Blogland Lane River? You guessed it! I saw our Norwegian Welch practicing for her next recital. Her tutu was of a madras pattern. I can't guess what that costume might indicate the ballet program to be about. Can you?

As you can see from this tinypic video, our Norwegian Welch is not always dressed in costume...but she is always agreeable to playing with children who live here.



.

Tea Time at the Riad

Just to let all my dear neighbors know, I'm inviting you over for mint tea and cookies tomorrow! Come to the pink riad (#735) and walk right in.
The guests of honor are kj and Debra Kay, for all their hard work.

If you're still settling in and need a place to stay, let me know.