Saturday, February 19, 2011

See You Down the Road

"Bow Ties to the Past." self portrait, 24 x 24 inches on plywood, 2009.

As they say, whomever "they" are, lol, all good things must come to an end. Today's blogpost,  casey/artandcolour's one year anniversary, is my last daily post. I'll update this blog once a month or so for the foreseeable future instead of every day.

Since I started the blog one year ago, with absolutely no idea that anyone at all would find it, it has grown far beyond any expectations or dreams I might have had. During the first full month, March 2010, the blog received 1,160 total page hits. That number fell to 765 in April, lol, but then grew steadily each month, with January 2011, the last full month, receiving 17,456 hits. I've had single days recently with twice as many hits as the entire month of April. It has been fun to compose all of these posts, and to create all of the digital art for them, and hugely gratifying to read the comments my readers have been nice enough to spend their time posting. I've made a lot of friends from around the country, (and some from around the globe.) Some days, it was truly my "regulars" that kept me going, kept me writing, and scanning, and composing the next day's post. I have all of you to thank for making this blog a cherished part of my life and not just another "project."

Next? I'm going to be working on my art and writing. I haven't finished an art piece since I started the blog. I might also have some exciting news to share by mid- or late-summer as far as my writing goes. This isn't the end of casey/artandcolour, just the end of posting every single day. I'll be updating the blog once a month as I wrote above, and I'll check in every day and keep the spam comments from used car dealers and robot-generated turbine engine part manufacturers deleted ( what a pain in the you-know-what they are!).

A huge hug, and a thank you, to everyone that clicked on my blog this past year. Onward and upward!
—Casey

•  •  •

I'm going to end my post today with a short essay that was published in the February 2011 issue of Hemmings Motor News. It was written by Daniel Strohl, HMN's associate editor and Hemmings Blog editor. I've received permission to publish it today, and I couldn't be more pleased. I haven't read anything in recent memory that reaches such a level of emotion in so few words. Hemmings Blog is a great way to keep up with the collector car world; they even picked up my casey/artandcolour post about the mid sixties Chrysler Turbine car. Bookmark Hemmings' Blog if you haven't already. Thank you Hemmings, and thank you Daniel! This piece just floored me. I know my readers are going to love it as well.

(Photo by Rick Hunt)

Old Oak Trees
By Daniel Strohl

Her knotted hand found his as they took the gentle slope a step at a time, crunching through the remnants of last month's snowstorm that still clung to the frozen field.

"Do you know where we're going?" she asked him. He paused, considered her for a moment through puffy, half-shut eyelids. From his permanent crouch, an old oak tree brushing the ground from which it grew, he had to turn his head to the side to look her in the eyes. Though he ran his tongue over his lips as if he were to say something, he instead shook his head slowly.

She led him on up the slope again, her own weak steps appearing strong and stable next to his slow shuffle. "We're going to see our old Lincoln," she said. "You remember our old Lincoln, don't you?" He didn't answer and simply kept his head down, tilted slightly forward. The wind, still cold and from the north, cutting through the line of trees on the ridge at the top of the slope, fluttered the white hairs that escaped from underneath his newsboy cap and lay against his wrinkled and spotted neck. She reached over with her other hand to flip his collar up, though he didn't seem to mind the wind on his bare neck.

"Our Lincoln?" he rasped out. He slowed as they came upon the white behemoth near the top of the slope, its tires embedded securely into the field, a patch of snow still clinging to the windshield.

"Yes, that's it," she said. "Bob can't keep it here any more. They're going to build houses here. So Bob wanted us to come see it again, for the...."

His grip on her hand tightened slightly, and she felt him try to straighten, though she knew that he still needed her hand. They both stood in silence by the Lincoln for a while before he ran his tongue over his lips again. He took so long to speak, she thought he'd given up.

"I remember," he finally said.

36 comments:

  1. Bitter-Sweet Moment

    The First Lady cautions to think ahead
    Stay away from fat and sugars
    And fill our plates with veggies instead

    Our Casey diet is also getting slimmer
    No longer will it last from
    breakfast
    Straight through to our evening dinner

    Artandcolour will still be here - slightly
    Changed to suit the diet that lies ahead
    Best wishes, Casey, the future shines brightly

    ~ Annie – February 2011

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  2. thank you Annie, I'm honored!
    (and going shopping for fresh veggies today)

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  3. Casey it's been really fun to read your blog and make friends here. I made a commitment last year to post on my own blog every day, which was fun and rewarding...and a lot of hard work. I didn't make that commitment this year, which is liberating, though I skip days with a little bit of guilt. I completely understand your desire to get back to your art and write a new chapter in your creative life. Like Annie I'll miss the daily stop. I'll look forward to seeing your occasional work here. Though I don't know you in person, you seem like "one of the good guys," and I hope to stay in touch.

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  4. Casey, is one of the most insightful people I'll ever meet in my entire life. He has taught me a lot that I would never had known. Never did I think that I would get excited about seeing flowers with pearls on them or some junkyard with hidden treasures. He told us about his own family and we seem to got to know each relative as if they were our own, but more importunity Casey has shared his struggles, happiness and creativity(photos, paintings, chops, etc) and his unique collections of micro toy cars.

    What I expressed isn't a eulogy but the best I can ever say for a great friend who has given us so much.

    We all love you and want to know how your new life transpires. Keep us posted!

    Woody

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  5. NOW IT GRANNYS TURN.
    CASEY, YOU TURNED ME ON. OH! NOT THAT WAY, LOL. TO ART, CASEY, TO ART.I LOOK AT EVERYTHING IN A DIFFERANT LIGHT NOW. BECAUSE I LOVE THE OUTDOORS SO MUCH YOUR FLOWERS ALWAY MADE ME EXCITED. I DON'T GET EXCITED MUCH ANYMORE BUT YOUR FLOWER PICTURES, WOW, A BING A BANG.YOUR ART TO ME IS VERY SPECIAL. I LOVED EACH AND EVERYONE ONE OF YOUR PICTURES AND I TREASURE THEM BUT I TREASURE YOU MORE FOR LETTING ME COME INTO YOUR WORLD. REMEMBER WHAT I TOLD YOU ABOUT 9 O CLOCK. I'LL BE PEEKING.

    HUGS, GRANNY

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  6. Thank you, Casey, for the last year. I'll sure miss my daily stops here, especially late late at night when you had just put up a new post. Your flowers are beautiful. Your art is beautiful. You seem like a very special, wonderful person inside, Casey. I'll miss you (but I'll check back for your random posts). Not goodbye, but see ya later! :)

    Katie

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  7. Casey, I put off reading today's post as I didn't want to hear what I already knew.
    You have given so much of yourself and your talents this last year that I don't believe I can sufficiently say "thank you" enough.
    I will still check in and hope to see a post here and there from some of the "names" we have all become so familiar with...
    I am excited to think that you can press onward and finish up some projects and am hoping against hope that a book will be in the offering before too terribly long.
    With all this being said, I will echo Katie in saying "see you later."
    Mare

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  8. I too will miss the daily postings but I can understand your desire to create in whatever medium you want -- paint, photography, letters! I am eager to see what you will come up with. I'll miss seeing what our online friends have to contribute, too.

    "Happy Trails to you until we meet again.
    Happy Trails to you -- keep smilin' until then.
    Happy Trails to you -- till we meet again."

    Paul, NYC

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  9. thank you, Casey. You are an inspiration. I wish you well. Jim

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  10. thank you everyone, for the very kind words. It was always fun for me to think about new posts. I still find myself saying to myself, "Have to scan that for tomorrow, or let me find the others in the set so I can write about them." I'm not disappearing for good.

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  11. Ok, you needed a warning on your blog heading: "THIS BLOG MAY BE ADDICTIVE"!!
    I can't quite break the habit of checking in...just yet...and not sure I want to!!
    c u later...
    mare

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  12. I'LL PROBABLY GROW MOLD WAITING FOR YOUR NEXT POST. I BET YOU MISS US ALREADY.
    GRANNY

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  13. I find I'm having a really hard time trying to break this habit! Casey, did you ever think you'd be a habit? LOL

    xox
    Katie

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  14. yes, but it's usually in the context of "bad habit" lol.

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  15. Casey, my friend, please keep in touch.

    Your writings were an inspiration that kept me going when I was posting daily reports to friends and family about her condition. There was something very cathartic about writing, but now that she's doing so much better she doing her own communicating.

    People responded, as all have here, that the writing were appreciated on many different levels. I must tell yo that she still talks about the get well card you sent. She stuck it to the wall of her hospital room and she looked at it all the time to keep her going. I appreciate that and I appreciate you as a dear friend.

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  16. Ok Casey, here's the deal. I'm not really good at begging, but decided a "heartfelt plea" might be ok lol.
    How about for those of who are suffering withdrawals you try for once a week (just for now and THEN you could cut that down again if you HAVE to!!)
    Katie and I were "chatting" about it and decided that this request HAD to be made...so...
    I speak for the "Keep Casey BLoggin'" committee when I say a motion has been put in for a once a week post...do I see a show of hands??
    ok...it was worth a try! :)
    mare

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  17. MY BIG TOE IS RAISED TO THE SKY MARE.THE THING IS I DO UNDERSTAND WHERE CASEY'S COMING FROM. EVERYTHING TAKE TIME. WRITING TWO BOOKS AND WORKING ON HIS ART IS GOING TO BE VERY TIME CONSUMING.

    GRANNY

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  18. It's like this Granny...i SO SO get it!!! I really do AND I want to read Casey's new book and I want him to be able to finish his art....AND I want to read his blog a couple times a month! lol... kind of want it ALL!!!
    Actually...I wish Casey all the best and hoping he is able to get some projects finished that he has put on hold while working on his blog ..but I'll STILL miss him! (as we all will I would say..) He knows it's because we love him and all he shares...right Casey??
    Have a good eve everyone!
    mare

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  19. "When one door of happiness closes, another opens; but often we look so long at the closed door that we do not see the one which has been opened for us." -Helen Keller

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  20. I might go back to posing more than once a month as I had planned, but who knows, never say never. I really need at least a month to switch gears and get my momentum going in that direction. Thanks for all the great thoughts!

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  21. Casey...

    Thanks for such an intimate look into your life. It takes courage to put it on display like you have. I have enjoyed your skill at chopping cars but in the end, the real art was not the chops or the wonderful photography nor even your digital creations. What was so profoundly artistic is how you turned a blog into a work of art. The sum of it's parts were really astounding and thought provolking. Though I haven't commented as much recently, I still have read every word. I especially enjoyed following nature's timeline in your botanical photography. It is something I miss living in Arizona. Thanks Casey for the education and the ability to better look at subject matter in a different light. Till next time!

    Your fan in AZ...

    Rob (RW)

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  22. We should all chip in and hire him an assistant, especially to run out and do the grocery shopping,scan old photos, etc. lol

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  23. Woody, I think I can fit one more item into my budget! Great idea! LOL

    Katie

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  24. WOODIE,
    MAYBE KATIE AND I COULD GO UP AND SPEND SOME TIME HELPING HIM OUT.I'LL SIT AND GIVE ORDERS WHILE CASEY TYPES THAT BOOK.

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  25. GRANNY, THERE WOULD BE TOO MANY CHIEFS AND NOT ENOUGH INDIANS IN THAT CASE! (IS THAT RACIST? DON'T MEAN IT TO BE!)

    KATIE

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  26. SNOW SNOW SNOW! ick! Winter is still going strong in NE...Hope everyone else is seeing little signs of spring!
    mare

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  27. Signs of spring here Mare. I saw a large gaggle of geese yesterday, which is a sure sign spring is coming. Today it was 61 but has dropped to about 54 already in a short time. High winds and stormy outside. But at least you don't have to shovel it! (Sorry) LOL

    Katie

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  28. Why don't we just keep this going and Casey can jump in whenever he likes.

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  29. Brian.. Fabulous idea!! Jump in any time Casey!!
    Mare

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  30. ~ channeling the spirit of Casey - Wait! I think I hear something...

    Ev'rything from toothpicks, to a baby grand.
    Stuff in our apartment, comes from Father's store,
    Even things I'm wearing, someone wore before.
    It's no wonder that I feel abused.
    I never have a thing that ain't been used.

    I'm wearing second hand hats, second hand clothes,
    That's why they call me second hand Rose.
    Even our piano in the parlor,
    Father bought for ten cents on the dollar.
    Second hand pearls, I'm wearing second hand curls,
    I never got a single thing that's new.
    Even Jake the plumber, he's the man I adore,
    Had the nerve to tell me he's been married before.
    Everyone knows that I'm just second hand Rose,
    From second avenue.

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  31. love that song, Annie! I'm still around. Working on getting a newer computer up and running. Hello to everyone!

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  32. Barry, love your idea! I'm IN! :)

    Annie, love the song and it's perfect for Casey and the blog!

    Hi Casey!! Yay! Good to see you!

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  33. Just want to wish our very own Katie a "happy birthday"!! If any of you would like to leave her a birthday wish, drop on over to my blog for a "drink" and "piece of cake" and leave a birthday greeting for her there...have a GREAT DAY Katie!!
    hugs...Mare
    http://marejohn.blogspot.com/

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  34. Thanks Mare! So far it's a great birthday! Been celebrating since Friday night and not done yet! LOL I appreciate your blog for me more than you could imagine! xox

    Katie

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  35. Casey, its okay. Create. That's what you were born to do. Finish those projects. Once a month is better than not at all. I'll still sift through the artwork and still be in awe. Peaceout!

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