Adventures in Georgia and New York!

Back in New Mexico…

I’ve just returned home to brown and pale green New Mexico, comparatively sparse in people and plants but so rich in space and mountain views.

I’ve been in Georgia and New York, where people, gigantic deciduous trees and flowers are the constant backdrop of life. My brother Alex Hutton and his wife live in NY, in a “big small town” called Larchmont, where he creates art in a large corner of their living room, lit up with east coast light. His painting of cranes was one of my favorites.

This was a trip planned months ago, and was an “almost” sibling reunion, minus our brother Jeff who wasn’t able to join us. Darn!

The siblings converged in Pooler, Georgia – just outside Savannah. My sister Holly lives there with her husband and a somewhat roly poly Australian Shepherd named Lula. She was a sweet dog, and seemed to take to my brother Alex and to myself easily. Do dogs recognize a sort of family scent? We wondered about that.

We spent our days exploring Savannah galleries, an historic graveyard and eating way too much delicious southern fare.

One of my favorite memories of our visit was the three of us sitting outside a Publix supermarket on a wrought iron bench, yelling out memories of our childhood while a thunderstorm crashed and lit up the sky. Holly told me she would never view that bench the same way again.

Off to the Big Apple

I flew back to New York with Alex and his wife Elaine. We spent a couple of days exploring galleries and one incredible place called the Noguchi museum. Ever heard of it? Me neither. It houses awesome sculptures created by artist Isamu Nuguchi from huge blocky stones. This is my brother Alex and me “investigating” one of them.

Upstairs in this same museum were some outrageously large and gorgeous pots made by famous ceramicist Toshiko Takaezu.

My New York adventure finished up with a few days visiting my late husband Ed’s sister Susan, her husband and her family. The last time I’d seen her I was there was with Ed, for his niece’s wedding 10 years ago. So it was somewhat bittersweet. But also full of joy as I met that same niece’s little ones, now age 7 and 2.

Susan’s husband is Laurence Pringle, best selling children’s science book author, with over 120 books about animals under his belt! Here we are holding one of his books about a little bat named Otis. (Larry signed it for me since I’ve just had a great grandson join our family. The little one’s name, of course, is Otis).

Here I am communing with Susan and Larry’s little Havanese named Molly. She was the inspiration for my Havanese jewelry! We were instant best friends, and she spent much of my visit perched in my lap or very close by getting her belly rubbed.

This entire trip was a gentle reminder of how important family is, and how spending time with loved ones fills me with joy. And since I am who I am, strung throughout my visits were a weaving of art and of course animals.

Tell me about your summer visiting plans, and what you like most about seeing family and their pets!

Your Animal Loving Artist,

Merry