The Honeymooners 2007 (c) Katy Allgeyer

Cardinals abound in North Carolina. Not the kind that are currently convening in Rome to pick the guy who gets the most text messages from God. Nope. The feathered kind. They are not that common in downtown Los Angeles, but I saw one land on the camelia bush outside my LA loft window the month before I left that city to move east with Scott. In 2006 we bought a house in High Point, NC together. Little did we know our backyard was, and remains, a paradise haven for winged creatures, large and small. ( Including a nest of giant barred owls!)

Not a day goes by without seeing bright red flashes zipping by the large windowed wall of my studio there. That first spring I painted the mixed media piece you see above. It was transported to Maine when we did our Spring migration north. Scott and I and our two dogs usually arrive in Stonington sometime mid-afternoon, pulling our two jam packed cars into the driveway with a whoop ‘ n’ a holler. That first time we did the trip to Maine after I moved in with Scott and had The Honeymooners painting in my van with all my other art supplies, I noticed a flash of red as I climbed out of the driver’s seat into the yard. Scott turned to see what I was pointing at. A crimson cardinal perched in the bamboo bushes near the gallery…as if it had flown the 900 miles with us from High Point to Stonington. I believe it did.

Today we are migrating back to our two room suite. We were relocated by the hotel to the single room next to it on Wednesday afternoon. The reason? Yet another million dollar wedding party who’d booked a hundred rooms and suites a year in advance. We didn’t mind the coziness because this room has two beds in it but it has been difficult squeezing in wheelchairs, commode chairs,and medical staff when they visit Scott. And Scott didn’t have the same light source for his studio.However, in this room Nurse Afsal has devoted his mornings to helping Scott regain his sea legs with some success. Scott walked 30 feet each day since Wednesday when he was carried into the room on a folded sheet by four brawny guys. This afternoon Scott intends to walk through the connecting room door to the suite on his own steam. I believe he can do it..