Haida Gwaii

Just back from the Queen Charlottes with a sketch of this magnificent totem. Haida Gwaii means "Islands of the People".

I recently read a book by China Galland called Longing for Darkness, subtitled Tara and the Black Madonna in which she described her ten-year journey to discover the meaning of darkness in the mysterious black images of divinity. She conducted a deeply personal investigation taking her from New Mexico through Nepal, India, Switzerland, France, Yugoslavia, and Poland - places where gods like Tara, the female Buddha of the Tibetan tradition, and the Black Madonna are venerated today.

I hope she is able soon to visit the totems at Masset where she might find another Black Madonna.

Picasso said

Lunch at San Remo

To our favorite Greek restaurant for souvlakis and ouzo. Dino came to Canada from a small village near Olympia 25 years ago.



Here he is with friends back in Greece

Canada Day

We traveled across the country by train. In Halifax, there is a wonderful Immigration Museum at Pier 1 ... stories and old pictures of folks coming into the country by boat. I guess people arrive here at an airport now.

There was a very old woman sitting on a bench nearby, and she was sobbing and sobbing. They spoke a language I didn't understand, but I think it was Polish. Apparently she'd arrived here in the 40's during WWII