There's No Place Like Maine

Nothing like a family vacation in our favorite vacation spot in the state of Maine, "the way life should be!"  I am not sure all vacation places are like this but Maine seems to attract generation upon generation of summer people who continue to carry on the family tradition...our family included.  Our special spot is mid-coast.  

This year there are sixteen of us in a huge house and you could say it is a bit of a United Nations--we have two Chinese, two Danes, one Brit, a Greek, two Puerto Ricans and the rest of us mundane Americans (although many of us hold multiple European passports)...Feel so lucky to be able to gather and that everyone wants to come time and again...so many beautiful memories over the years.  Blessed...

My nephew Aaron Schoenfelder has documented much of his experiences in the state with these wonderful paintings--creativity does flourish in our breed...

Tennis and Boris Becker

It is U.S. Open Tennis time right now--it has been going on for two weeks now and the finals are this weekend.  This is one of the sports I really enjoy watching (and in the past, playing) so I always look forward to this time of year.  It reminds me of my Dad too--he was a big tennis player and took my sister and I to some of the U.S. Open tournaments, even way back when when it was still held at Forest Hills.  

I recently met the filmmaker Alex Gibney and his wife Anne DeBevoise and decided to have a look at his documentary on Boris Becker entitled Boom Boom!  The World vs. Boris Becker.  I remember Becker pretty well--he was of my era--a very exciting time in tennis--and the film brought me back to the primary players of that time.  In some of the more recent interviews, it was fun to see these men all grown up and looking older.  My favorites were Bjorn Borg (I think everyone's favorite) and Guillermo Vilas and my least favorites were John McEnroe and Jimmy Connors (America's sore sport, poorly behaved players ...

Boris Becker was a German wunderkind, the youngest player to win Wimbledon--he already had two of those titles by the time he was 19.  Aside from his stunning sports prowess and his sheer power, he also had a colorful underside when he ended up in jail for tax evasion a bunch of years later...Becker has a very interesting story and this film does a good thorough job of covering it as well as an insider's look at the sport and what it takes psychologically as well as physically to be a champion.  Gibney is a great storyteller and I highly recommend this documentary, available on Apple TV.  

Click to watch a brief video, courtesy Flow Hive US, honeyflow.com

Click to watch how beeswax is made, courtesy Flow Hive US, honeyflow.com

And on my travels across bee-land, I came across this cool Australian company called Flow who have invented a new kind of beehive, easier on the beekeeper and easier on the bees.

Courtesy honeyflow.com. “With our new invention it was now possible to harvest honey from a beehive quickly and easily, without disturbing the bees and without requiring a honey shed or special extraction equipment. We were convinced that our invention could change beekeeping forever. Now it was time to introduce the Flow Hive to the world.”

Click image to shop all these innovative beehives by Flow Hives

Forgetfulness by Poet Laureate Billy Collins

FORGETFULNESS

BY Billy Collins

The name of the author is the first to go

followed obediently by the title, the plot,

the heartbreaking conclusion, the entire novel

which suddenly becomes one you have never read, never even heard of,

as if, one by one, the memories you used to harbor

decided to retire to the southern hemisphere of the brain,

to a little fishing village where there are no phones.

Long ago you kissed the names of the nine muses goodbye

and watched the quadratic equation pack its bag,

and even now as you memorize the order of the planets,

something else is slipping away, a state flower perhaps,

the address of an uncle, the capital of Paraguay.

Whatever it is you are struggling to remember,

it is not poised on the tip of your tongue

or even lurking in some obscure corner of your spleen.

It has floated away down a dark mythological river

whose name begins with an L as far as you can recall

well on your own way to oblivion where you will join those

who have even forgotten how to swim and how to ride a bicycle.

No wonder you rise in the middle of the night

to look up the date of a famous battle in a book on war.

No wonder the moon in the window seems to have drifted
 
out of a love poem that you used to know by heart.

Painting of the Week

Painting by my very talented nephew Aaron Schoenfelder. Click image to see more of his work.

Charity of the Week:
Unicef Aid to Gaza

About The Author

New York City based contemporary artist, Pam Smilow, began writing the creative lifestyle blog “things we love” in an effort to foster a sense of community during times of isolation and reflection. To read more about her and her art, visit her website and check out the essay written by Frank Matheis entitled The Sophisticated Innocence of Pam Smilow.