hen this biography was completed 4 years ago I was 44 years old and believed I could halt the assault of time and gravity by ending the story there. But with persistent inquiries to the whereabouts of the goldfish and insatiable curiosities as to the grotesque decay of the human body I am propelled to bring to light my present condition and status.

   will be bowing to the more informal blogging style now readily acceptable and as I have not yet received an OK from Ms. Manners I will proceed anyway.
Heavier now in jowl, middle and worries, I continue my family’s journeys.
As junior year at Lockport High School took its psychological toll on Linden previous preoccupations with books, art and pets waned. Clashes on child-rearing reared their ugly heads. A Medusa, if you will of differences. Her ideas a little more hedonistic than the orderly German household I was raised in or even for present day laxness in child raising, her ideas I felt were intolerable. My further preoccupation with making a living and starting a real “adult” career and the rest of the village being too busy also, I was unsuccessful in explaining myself. The pettifoggery of daily living also had taken its toll on both of us. Linden went to live with a ‘normal’ family. I was determined to make the best of my Empty Nest so I continued to empty. Anything large and white had to go it seemed, washing machine and dryer, dishwasher, sleep sofa and boyfriend. Things brown and green also. An upright piano that had turned ornamental, a ping pong table that had turned counter top, sentimental toys that instantly turned to’ just petroleum products’. Cats, dog and fish were luckily sparred this purging.

  had decided to set up shop in a small quaint town where my only distraction would be dwelling on the exorbitant price of a Sunday New York Times. The place I chose was Honeoye Falls a small suburb 20 miles south of Rochester, New York. I rented an apartment and studio above a Chinese Restaurant. Well, actually, 3 doors down. Above an attorneys office is actually where I call home. Is that any less desperate? So the etching press was set up in an abandoned 1 room apartment in the back of the building. After moving out the old refrigerator and stove the kitchen sink made a perfect place for me to clean my metal plates and the bathtub for soaking large pieces of rag paper. It has turned out to be quite a cozy place to work. I spent a lot of time drawing and writing. The only distraction is the famous water falls across the street where drunken patrons from the local bars congeal at 2 am and every Run for Your Health- Run is begun. It turns out the Honeoye of Honeoye Falls is not the sweet sounding ‘honey flowing over the falls’ meaning. It is actually an old Iroquois Indian word meaning, ‘place on the ground where my finger lay.’ In the wee hours of the morning when I wearily turn the star wheel of my press I heed this premonition warily.

t this point Lindens ‘normal’ family turned out to be a little too normal and just a trifling too boring. My living conditions turned out to be exactly what she needed. And she was back home with 3 boxes of shoes and a shipload of books. (I think she was really missing Graham, the longhaired dachshund.) She finished up High school with straight A’s and was once more passionate about learning and animals.

n the meantime. While teaching Art in South Boston, ushering patrons to their seats at Huntington Theatre and arranging roses for Valentines Day at a local Florist Ashley finished a 4 year degree in 4 years! At 21 she graduated from Boston University with a degree in International Studies.

ack to Linden. Now sequestered in a village of 2000 people
Linden found a great job with an artist in town. She cut mats and mounted etchings, designed graphics, did e-mailings, scanned Artwork, made digital files and generally made her self an invaluable assistant to the artist. She was even invited to travel to shows in strange and distant lands, places like No. Carolina and New Jersey. Yes, I feel blessed she applied for the opening.

ne outdoor show that we found people particularly taken with my illustrations was on the Roycroft Campus in East Aurora. Many of the artists there were Roycroft Rennaisance Artisans. Dorothy Markert a long time Master printmaker asked me to consider applying for the Roycroft Mark. I had never even considered the idea of becoming a Roycroft Artisan. These people were serious artists, technically non-pareil and mature. It wasn’t the kind of organization where artists looked at the world like I did, slightly askew. But what we did have in common though was a love of tradition, history and craftsmanship. So encouraged by friends I completed some serious etchings and detailed my accomplishments and attributes for the jury process. One frosted Winter morning Linden drove the etchings and I to East Aurora to be juried by the Master Guild members. If truth be told, in detail, I was in the back or the Mini Van the whole ride and still assembling frames as we drove onto the Roycroft Campus. Well, that is history too now as I have been a RR Artisan for 2 years. They have inspired me to excellence and showed me the spirit and power of the Group.

n aside. Recently exploring the Roycroft Inn and surrounding Campus I discovered an upright piano tucked away in a hall. Rumored to have been owned by Theodore Dreiser it is the identical twin to the one I forsacked in my empty nest raiding. Decisions that seemed perfectly logical at the time, have come back to haunt me. Decorative or not how was I to get it up a 60 degree inclined staircase above an attorney’s office?

o I continue my life’s very important work illustrating the poems I wrote for those two very precocious children, who are now, somehow, in spite of it all, grown, beautiful women. I am also illuminating my visual and verbal faux pas. It’s hard work but someone has to take the time to draw from their dreams and inspirations. There’s so much out there, so much handed to me on a Wedgwood plate.

n conclusion. Ashley, the oldest still, after graduating found her observational and diplomacy skills compatible as a bar tender in Boston. She studied Japanese this summer and intends, real soon, to teach English to businessmen in Japan. (A note to Alon: This would make a great docu-drama-comedy) In the meantime she shows up often in New York City and New Jersey to rescue me. From whatever. Linden is in her sophomore year at Monroe Community College in Rochester. As copy editor and senior writer for the school paper and with straight A’s to boot she is being shamelessly courted by Nazareth College for her Junior and Senior year. Politics, dogs and current events are her passions. She sometimes sits in dog parks and contemplates life and dogs. She will eventually find a way to encourage dogs to enter the political arena. Or, at least, get them to make some suggestions for cleaning up this very messy planet we are on. As we have all discovered, dogs are our only hope for the future.