Recently, I interviewed a man who flies as a corporate pilot. Several years ago, he worked as a contract pilot for Paul and Jan Crouch,

who are the founders of the Trinity Broadcasting Network, a 24-hour Christian religious television network. It is the most watched ‘faith-based’ channel in the U.S. and is the sixth largest over-the-air broadcaster, according to Broadcast & Cable’s 2010 report, with an estimated world-wide viewing audience of 100 million households. According to Wikipedia’s sources, with their associated satellite and internet programs, they reach over a billion viewers.

The pilot, who I’ll refer to as Tim, flew for them about eight months, in a Bombardier Challenger plane, which costs between $25 and $30 million new. Their primary base was in Orange County, CA but they had several other homes: a ranch near Sugarland, Texas; Fort Lauderdale; and Conway Twitty’s former compound in Nashville.

The sun is setting on the last day of my weekend (I work three days a week, take four days off…Lucky me? Darlink, luck has nothing to do with it!) and it was a great four days of painting, doodling. meditating, listening to music and audio books, and just sitting around enjoying the sun-drenched weather. Most of the little canvases in the photograph are in early stages; I only tiled them because they look nice together. they may look completley different when they’re done.

I’m so grateful for this lazy, creative break…and find that I am also looking forward to going in to work, tomorrow, because everything has its beautiful moments and reasons for being, and I am eager…almost hungry, now, for the outside world and its energies and people.

For three days I’ve seen and spoken only to my two favorite cats…snapped together here, in an unguarded moment (because…

A double rainbow from yesterday. I think that’s a sign of a plentiful garden this year. Sounds good right?

We have been planting. Thanks to my brother Dave who enjoys waking me up before sunrise to get some seeds in before work. We’ve got corn, peas, bush beans, beets, radishes, carrots, pumpkins, cucumbers, watermelons, basil, dill, parsley, and lots of flowers to attract pollinators.

Zucchini is blowing up and my tomatoes are already flowering. Shouldn’t be long now.

Peas popping up and the peppers are doing great. They are already flowering! The rabbits are eating my beans so I have to take steps to deter them today. Maybe some Cayenne pepper.

Even though pizza on the grill may be pretty much the best way to cook pizza at home, this is a close second with no grill necessary. And a grill can’t be necessary for recipes in our house because we don’t have one. So, here’s the deal: make some dough from your favorite recipe (and if you have a favorite, can you pass it on to me?) or get the store bought kind (Harris Teeter sells the dough they use for their pizza’s), then layer up the sauce and toppings of your choice. We had fresh onions and leeks from our excursion out to a local farm so that’s what I added on this one. Pizza is a blank slate just waiting to be experimented with.

Ingredients
3 leeks, sliced thin
1 1/2 onion, cut in half the sliced thin
2 1/2 T. butter
3 garlic cloves, sliced thin
salt…

I sustained a delightful couple of hours of mindlessness, yesterday, and had a bit of a play with paints and brushes.

The end result isn’t very profound or meaningful, but the process was pretty special.

It was one of those rare moments when I managed to turn off the endless chatter of thoughts in my head—the critic, the sycophant, the worrier, the unhappy rationalist, the self-conscious amateur, the eager-to-please child, the pretentious dilettante—and slip through the little magical door of Now, into simply Being…simply Doing, firmly occupying the present moment and having the present moment occupy me: focused on nothing but the dabbing of paint on canvas, the playful building-up of lines and shapes, the aroma of the coffee, the sounds of the wind and water around the boat.

I felt a deep peace and calm as I worked, not caring what the outcome would be, not caring if turned…

Saturday last saw Andy and I at Carrowcrory, near Ballinifad, Co. Sligo at the home of John Willmott and Claire Roche. The occasion was the fifth Bards and Harps Day to be held here. Regular readers will remember John from the Poetree Walks postings. He is a fab poet, tour guide, folklorist, story teller and labyrinth maker. Check out his blog at www.celticways.com .

Claire is a harpist and singer, but not just any singer, a singer with the voice of an Angel. I saw tears being wiped from eyes as Claire gave her wonderful performance. In this pic, which is a crap pic because of the light, Claire is getting ready to play 2 harps at once. Quite an accomplishment! The cottage itself is wonderful. Decorated in the traditional style it is a warm welcoming home. But then a home can only reflect what the people who inhabit it…