Tuesday, February 1, 2011 — Wollenberg brothers' birthday month

February has always been a festive month in our family. Skip and Chuck both had their birthdays in the first half of the month. Our birthday celebrations have tended to carry on for several weeks if not the whole month for various reasons. Sometimes it was impossible for all to congregate at the same place on certain dates. And for other reasons they just kept on going.

Chuck comes first on February 2nd. That's groundhog's day. So of course we all watched for shadows or not and had a good time all round with speculations and predictions. Skip's birthday was on February 13th just before Valentine's day and that was often when we did a dual celebration for the two brothers. Since we moved from the Bay Area we were more prone to celebrate in Fort Bragg in the middle of the month. Chuck doesn't leave Berkeley all that often so we've always felt happy to have that time of the year come around.

Tomorrow is Chuck's birthday. So Chuck, HAPPY BIRTHDAY! Thank you so much for all that you do for the whole family. You have always been such a fantastic uncle to our children and grandchildren. Never a day goes by that we are not appreciative of your input, kindness and generosity. Hope you have a great celebration up there in the States. Your birthday book will appear sometime in March. Par for the course, eh? Seriously, have a good one.

The picture for tonight is a good example of the brothers giving of their time. For the last few years Lisa has been editing the "Rubber Boa," a newsletter about Echo Lake activities and environmental concerns. I volunteered to do the digital formatting and the brothers Wollenberg generously gave of their time doing some editing. This gathering has become a great excuse for getting together with our friends from the hills away from Echo while at the same time, concentrating on Echo concerns. A good time is had by all.

This wonderful workshop/retreat at Casa Tejedora is coming to an end tomorrow. We will meet the members of the next session tomorrow night at the festive opening of our Maiz exhibition at the Peter Gray Museum in Puerto Vallarta. Three of us are participating in the next session. The current group and gathering with Sarah Swett would be hard to beat. As some of you have read, it's been a very thought provoking experience for all. We've loved having Sarah here and we all celebrate the success of the work coming forth as a result of her efforts. We've also been thrilled to get to know our Brazilian member, here for the first time. Elke Hulse has added so much to our group. Her presence has been pure delight. She wove and designed like a steam engine, cutting off before anyone and sharing so many thoughts and descriptions of her work in Brazil. Thank you for being with us, Elke. Nancy is also ready to cut off tomorrow morning with two pieces, one beautiful piece featuring an acorn image. Nancy, it was so great to have you here sitting right behind me. I can't say enough about how grateful I am to this group for just being who they are. Jean Pierre and Yael have somehow done it again.

These times in El Tuito are so special in my life. This one in particular is turning out to be pivotal to my emotional good health. I can't think of a more nurturing environment or a better place from which to embark on my new life.