Whew

Currently in Hyderabad (India), at The Husband's parents' house (see photo below). It's been quite a whirlwind up 'till now, and much as I've wanted to blog, electricity, internet service and my laptop have not managed to coincide until now. We were in Bangalore (glorious weather), Kochi (hottest, most humid weather I have ever tried to move or breathe in), and then the most incredible experience on the island of Bangaram, part of the Lakshadweep archipelago. On Bangaram, we underwent a complete electronics detox: no phones, computers, wireless, TV...it was great. Just fabulous snorkeling, gentle sweating in hammocks (a large palm frond barely missed me, falling from high above), precisely when I was looking up and thinking Those could fall and hit someone. Then two days in and near Munnar, a rather cold, foggy experience, not to my tastes (Scots settled there at one time; that gives you an idea of the climate), and finally on to Hyderabad.

I've managed to do almost no art. It seems we are continually in a vehicle, or planning itineraries, or trying to find internet to check email, or falling into bed exhausted from being too many hours in a vehicle. The couple of times I have tried to do some pastels, various things have happened: ants come running to swarm over the pastel sticks (perhaps they taste good?); there is not enough light indoors to see properly (and during the day, we're too busy trying to get from one place to another to do any painting); there is no surface to put everything on and my back protests from leaning over on the floor.

And I do have some pastel-traveling tragicomedy to share: firstly, security luggage people seem to find a case of pastels under X-ray to be quite dangerous-looking. In two different airports, I've had to unwrap the whole package: triple plastic bags taken off to reveal bubble wrap; bubble wrap peeled off to expose the case itself; unlatch the case to show all the little pieces of color. I explain them as "artists' chalks," which seems to go over best. In one particular airport, in heat and humidity you could swim in, I had to go through this procedure, and realized the hard way that I hadn't fitted the velcro cover part of the case exactly aligned...and guess what happened...yes, they all fell out. Right onto the security x-ray conveyor. In front of a big, angry queue. About two hundred little pieces of pastels (and all their dust), from all their little foam holding places. Not a happy thing.

More to blog later, if possible.

I'm really feeling out of touch and missing art and all of you, my art blogger friends!

This (above) is my favorite of the sketches. A big, friendly Belgian man in the airport (the same one in which all my pastels spilled out in Security.)

With The Husband's parents at their house in Hyderabad.

Magnificent low tide on Bangaram Island. That's The Husband wading.

The Husband enjoys his favorite, paper dosa.

Dinners on the island were a marvelous affair: firewood-cooked gourmet Indian food under the stars and next to the waves. I finally saw phosphorescence, too. It was electric blue. Something I'd always heard about and never actually seen.

More art on my website: jalapfaff.com