You'll Never Walk Alone

Desert AIDS Project AIDS Walk 2010

Saturday was the 23^rd Palm Springs Desert Aids Project AIDS Walk. It was a 5K walk or a 5K run. I know, most AIDS Walks are 10K walks. This is Palm Springs where it’s hot & many of its residents are retired. 5 kilometers is a long walk for we old folk when it’s hot.

My Husband and I have been participating in AIDS Walks in Los Angeles since the AIDS Project Los Angeles walks first began. We both worked in Healthcare and it just seems the right thing to do. We always walked with the employee group from my husband’s hospital and it is always a party atmosphere. Although we’ve not walked for several years.

This year, living in Palm Springs, we decided to participate since friends are involved in the event organization and the walk was only 5K. Besides that, the event was held three blocks from the house. Parking was a non-issue. AND my husband’s clinic pulled together a walking team of 40 or 50 walkers.

This year, the Desert AIDS Project saw the largest contingent of walkers in its 23 year history. There were over 1,000 participants and we raised over $100,000.00 for DAP. My husband alone raised over $2,000.00!

My husband is an extrovert. I am in introvert. While he was working the crowd, taking with and meeting everyone at the pre-walk events, I spent my time observing crowd. There were children walking. There were gay men & women. There were families. The Mayor of Palm Springs, Steve Pougnet, was there. Mayor Pougnet was #1 in the 5K run and was the first runner/walker across the starting line.

While my husband was working the crowd, I listened to the speakers, checked out the booths and chatted with friends. I thought about the prior 25+ years of AIDS Walks we’ve done. I got to thinking of all the friends I’ve lost through AIDS and the number of quilts I’ve made for the Quilt Project. So many friends. Gone. And I began to cry.

I hate these AIDS Walks. I can’t NOT participate. And I hate them. It tears my heart open every year thinking of friends lost, lives cut down far to soon. We need to find a cure.

No commercial this week… just, please remember and think about everyone you’ve lost to this terrible disease.

Thank you for listening,

Jerry L. Hanson

Bitter Fruit

My husband is curing olives. Lord, help us.

18 years ago, we bought a house in Pasadena with 20 olive trees. I tried curing olives several times but only succeeded in making expensive inedible drek. After two experiments two years in a row, I realized it was much cheaper to just purchase the damned things. And they tasted so much better!

We sold the Pasadena house and move to Palm Springs. There’s an olive tree in the courtyard which is primarily for show and shade. It provides an abundant crop of olives every two years. In Pasadena, the ripening olives presented a real hazard on the walkways and drive. In Palm Springs, the olives fall off the tree and immediately dry out. They turn into black gravel within a day.

Two years ago, my husband decided to try his hand at curing olives. My husband is a physician, after all. That does NOT mean he can cure olives… His cured olives were dreadful! His patient died. Those pitiful olives showed up on the hors d’ oeuvres tray for weeks! No one touched them other than My Doctor.

I took to tossing out a tablespoon of olives every couple of days to give the appearance of their being eaten. That worked although I still had to endure the grimaces of unsuspecting friends biting into those dreadful olives until I’d disposed of the last to them.

This year, our olive tree has totally disregarded the economy and produced an incredible abundance of olives. My Doctor again decided to attempt a cure.

The instructions said to use a glass, ceramic or porcelain container. He used plastic water bottles. The instructions said to use rock salt. He used table salt. The instructions said to soak the olives for three weeks. He’s going on week five.

The first “batch” of olives is not too bitter. They leave a bad after taste but the garlic and lemon overpower it. There are four more batches to follow. They are improving with practice.

I do hope My Doctor gets it right. I love olives and it would be great to have home-cured olives to munch on during happy hour.

If you are within a 15 mile radius of us, beware! Hanukkah is upon us!

Our olives may have an aftertaste, but my artwork does not! This is an awkward way to ask you to take a look at my artwork which has nothing to do with Olives! Please take time to visit my website at www.JerryLHanson.com

Take a look at my artwork. Contact me if you want to buy one of my works or if you have any questions about a specific piece. My contact information is on my website or you can leave a comment on this blog site for me to contact you (include your contact info!). You can e-mail me at JeryL@JerryLHanson.com or you can telephone me on my studio phone 760-992-3157.

You can call me. I won’t mind; I’m hanging out at the gallery with nothing to do. That’s totally untrue. I’m weaving while minding the store.

Tortuga's Bunker

For the past few weeks I’ve been talking about the Fiesta Arts Gallery in Indio and my current show there. I can hear you groaning, “Not another blog about that damned show!” This week, I will talk about one of the animals in my life that brings me joy.

No! I am not talking about my husband, although he is sometimes an animal and he does bring me joy…

About three years ago, we adopted an African Sulcata Tortoise. We didn’t go looking for a tortoise to adopt. I would have chosen a California Desert Tortoise. However, we were asked to adopt Tortuga from a dear friend who could no longer care for him.

The African Sulcata is native to the African Sahara Grasslands. They were introduced here as novelty pets by unscrupulous breeders and pet stores owners. They are cute when they are a few weeks old and about the size of a quarter. And then they grow.

These guys grow to be 36 inches long and weigh up to 225 pounds. Once they begin to grow and can no longer be kept in a 5 gal aquarium, most people can no longer care for them. This is how Tortuga came to us. He is a rescued tortoise. Tortuga is now 16 years old, weighs 70 pounds and is about 24 inches long. He’s a gentle giant with a small brain.

Our tortoise is even tempered and seems to be happy. He’s not aggressive, is very inquisitive and engaged with us and his environment. I believe that is because he’s not confined to a small pen and has a free rein of three sides of the property. He chases the Roadrunners from the yard, terrorizes the cats and absolutely loves dogs. Tortuga loves anything red. The neighbor’s children wear their Ruby Red Slippers when visiting to Tortuga’s delight.

For a reptile, this tortoise has a personality. He knows who we are and actually comes when called! He loves to be with us and I’m constantly escorting him out of the house. His toilet habits are primitive. You don’t want him in the house: he poops like a horse.

The weather is changing. Night time temperatures are dropping into the 60’s in Palm Springs. Tortuga must be kept in temperatures of 70F or above. Several days ago, I realized it was time to prepare Tortuga’s bunker for the winter. He has an underground home sunk 3 feet into the ground which is insulated and heated. He has internet, wide screen HD TV and I'm sure he watches Tortoise Porn.

Tortuga watched me muck out the bunker. He watched me test the heaters. He watched me replace the “door” which keeps the heat in. Winter has officially started in Palm Springs and Tortuga is now a show bird… The minute I finished preparing his bunker, he marched in and pooped.

Animal life is not always pleasant. My artwork, however, is! Please take time to visit my website at www.JerryLHanson.com Take a look at my artwork. Contact me if you want to buy one of my works or if you have any questions about a specific piece. My contact information is on my website or you can leave a comment on this blog site for me to contact you (include your contact info!). You can e-mail me at JeryL@JerryLHanson.com or you can telephone me on my studio phone 760-992-3157. You can call me. I won’t mind; I’m hanging out at the gallery with nothing to do. That’s totally untrue. I’m weaving while minding the store.

Thank you for listening,

Jerry L. Hanson

After Glow

2010.09.25 Opening Day

My show opened at the Fiesta Arts Gallery in Indio on Saturday the 25^th. I have more than 30 weavings exhibited. I had a ball! In a four hour period on Saturday, more than 25 friends came to see my work, schmooze and drink wine. On Sunday another 20 friends stopped by.

These visitors were in addition to those coming to see my work after reading about it in the newspaper or hearing it on the radio. The Coachella Valley Arts Alliance (CVAA) also did a wonderful job getting the word out. And you know I e-mailed every person I could think of on 5 continents. Sorry, South America, I don’t know anyone in South America. Or Antarctica: not even a penguin.

Initially, I was disappointed with the turn out. Seemed there were few people in the gallery. I mentioned this to my paint-date buddy. “There are so few people here!” I said. Ok, I whined. Steven looked at me askew. It was actually the first time I’d seen an askew look…”Jerry,” he said, “this space is 40 feet wide and 60 feet deep. Lighten up, Dude!” He actually said that: “Dude...”

I then realized there were more than 20 people in the gallery. Most of them I didn’t’ know. The gallery was filled with my work. The gallery looked three quarters empty. It takes a lot of bodies to fill a 2,400 square foot room.

They came to see me and my work. I was overwhelmed when I realize that. Thank you, Steven, for smacking me upside the head with reality.

The gallery looked great, too! For the first time I was able to step back from a piece and see it from 40 feet away. Wow! Those 3 ½ X 7 foot pieces look much different from afar! Loved it!

Friends came from Huntington Beach. They purchased a piece. Jim & Carole came and brought their friends. Friends came from Palmdale. My neighbors came even though they’ve seen most of my work.

Friends came who I never expected to come. I love them for that.

I lightened up. Then I had a glass of wine and introduced myself to everyone I didn’t know.

And I had a good time!

Oh, and all these works are for sale. Please take a minute to visit my website at www.JerryLHanson.com Take a look at my artwork. Contact me if you want to purchase one or if you have any questions about a specific piece. My contact information is on my website or you can leave a comment on this blog site for me to contact you (include your contact info!). You can e-mail me at JeryL@JerryLHanson.com or you can telephone me on my studio phone 760-992-3157. Monday, Wednesday and Friday I’ll be in the gallery between the hours of 11 AM 1 PM Pacific time.

Thank you for listening.

Jerry L. Hanson