Spices from Tunis

March Madness would be Global DanceFest, a California visitor, dust and pollen storms, rearranging my apartment for a new king-size bed and a better writing space AND changing my blog categories. If all of this goes ahead (or away in the case of the storms) as planned by my April birthday a new writing life will be in place.

How many times have I said that? Okay. Many.

The women in black at GDF

Global DanceFest has been an artistically innovative and personally satisfying 12-year program presenting original artists from around the world in Albuquerque New Mexico. The spring/summer brochure listing many of those artists can be downloaded at vsartsnm.org/pdf/VSA_Season_2012_Program.pdf.  Now we move on to Journeys: a Global Celebration of Dance and Discourse in September 2012, a smaller, more focused program.

Radhouane El Meddeb

Meanwhile our last Global DanceFest has brought friends from North Africa dancing to couscous-making and coffee. Radhouane El Meddeb (1^st visit) represents a long-term commitment to bring new artists to Albuquerque and Hafiz Dhaou to maintaining long dance relationships (3^rd trip).

Hafiz Dhoau and Aicha M’Barek

AND THEIR BABIES.

AXIS from Oakland returns next week restating North Fourth Art Center’s mission of showcasing the creative excellence of artists of all abilities. And finally in April, Wally Cardona will present the grand finale performance, Tool is Loot, which will surely prove to be an original, unusual and brilliant work by this NYC artist with NEW MEXICO roots. GDF has been an adventure…a good one…time to move on.

California son came out for a weekend. Whatever one says about extended families nothing is quite as good for moms and/or dads as time with their very own kids, the original nuclear family!

mom and the boys

While home Scott discovered Marble Brewery where, unlike in San Diego, you can bring your own food and guzzle their beer. And I made blue-gray lumpy (blueberries and sour cream) pancakes that were, nonetheless, delicious.

Scott and Sara (the ‘baby’ of the family)

Dust and pollen–spring in New Mexico. Weather here appeals to many because of the endless sun. I prefer clouds and rain—Hilo, Hawaii being my idea of the perfect climate—but here I am. And there are those magic moments such as when you go to bed one night and the trees are stark dark branches and you awake to spring green coloring over the gray.

See some new green back there

The pollen is to be expected of course but the dust storms are an evil of this dry land. The wind blew so hard yesterday that there are small dunes across the porch.

AND THE BLOG. Why is it so hard to do what I want with this blog. It is surely the epitome of a love-hate relationship. How liberating to have a place of my very own to write whatever I want and have it be instantly published if I so choose. How terrifying to want it to be well-written and interesting and never find the time to make it so.