Pink Street Books

Among the many charms of our rented house on Pink Street is the used book collection on the dining room bookshelves and the vintage kids books up in the girls' room. (Apologies to the family to whom they belong, since I just referred to their childhood reading materials as vintage...I suspect they are less vintage than I am!) We all of course brought an embarrassment of books with us, but each of us have found something here to read...

A wonderful autobiographical survey by Andrew Wyeth in which the painter gives insightful comments and background to his work...always interesting, sometimes surprising and often humorous and self-deprecating. We are only a few miles from many of the Maine locations Wyeth painted, including the iconic Christina Olson house. The landscape and the architecture echo what the paintings capture so beautifully, although with shining sun and shouting kids around it seems less moody and haunting here for us than for Wyeth.

Another find: issues of The CoEvolution Quarterly from the Seventies, published by the Whole Earth Catalog. With everything from book and movie reviews, recipes, suggestions for natural birth control and the best sexual lubricant...to articles on protecting Oregon's forested headwaters and solar energy; some elements seem comically dated while others strike an eerily timely note. Have we really been trying to get these things right for this long?

In the Winter 1976/77 issue, an interview with musician Taj Majal was of special interest, and not only because he will be performing at The Tarrytown Music Hall this October 3rd (stop by eyebuzz fine art before the show for a glass of wine), but also for his ideas about agriculture and the importance of knowing where your food comes from...a concept that is nothing if not current, with the eat local frenzy (I use that in a good way!) in full swing right now. To quote Taj from more than thirty years ago, "If you eat food, you got to grow it. And if you don't grow it, and you don't know how it's being grown, there's a big wide gap in what you know about what's happening...If you don't know where your food comes from...you're in a bad position. You're like a rat in a cage."

And for all of you who stuck with me through the whole post, the answer is: coconut oil.

More tomorrow; thanks for reading.
tt