South. West. Business.

Heading South West

South West Business © 2011 Bo Mackison

Yesterday, the signs seemed to all point to one thing — South West Business. I even had assistance from a road sign in southwestern Wisconsin that was just one more reminder that I am traveling south, and west, and on business!

I love this sign – I take this road sign as a SIGN that I am on the right course in my journey! I am heading to the Southwest where I have plenty of business to manage.

The idea of exhibiting my art on the art fair circuit is a bit daunting, especially when I look at the whole picture. Traveling 1800 miles one way, setting up my art booth in a strange area, and then later this week, exhibiting my photography at the five day Tubac Festival of the Arts. It sends shivers of excitement up and down my spine, and shivers of apprehension, too.

I’ve done art shows in the Midwest. I’m a Midwestern, born and bred, though sometimes I think the gods screwed up and I should have been born a desert rat as much as I seek sun and warmth. So now I’m adding shows in the Southwest.  It seems like a good alternative to waiting out the blizzards in Wisconsin and Illinois, waiting until May to start doing art fairs again. It seems like a solid business decision. After all, it makes good sense – me away from the gray of winter at the time of year when the weather most affects my moods, me using my time profitably to add a few shows, and me challenging myself to live solo for a couple of months.

I’ll admit the few hours before we left Madison yesterday were the most difficult. I roamed rooms, looked out every window in the house, carried my black cat in my arms as she purred and as I worried about how much I would miss Jazz and how much she might miss me. After all, I’m her people. And while the cat sitter, and then Sherpa, will do a commendable job of caring for her, I’m the one Jazz comes to for a cuddle, or a treat, or a warm lap for a nap.

I began having second and third and fourth thoughts, and I was teary eyed when we were finally all packed and drove away from the house. Sure, I know it’s only two months. But at that moment, two months sounded like eternity.

And then, serendipitously, I saw this highway sign. South. West. Business. Like a message from the Universe, or at least from Wisconsin’s Highway Department, a not so subtle sign encouraging me to push on, to pursue my dreams.

Today we travel through a bit more of Iowa, then Missouri, Kansas and Oklahoma. As for me, I’m holding steady and keeping the compass on SW!

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Bo Mackison is the owner of Seeded Earth Studio LLC. She will be living in Tucson for the next eight weeks, taking daily opportunities to visit deserts and desert gardens while practicing her photography, and blogging about learning to live on her own. Visit as she writes about living and working in Tucson. Her mantra is “Bo goes solo!”

Last Minute Details

Capitol Building in Packer Green and Gold

Wisconsin’s Capitol in Packer Green and Gold © 2011 Bo Mackison

This date has been circled on my calendar for the last ten months.

Today is departure day–Madison to Tucson, a 30 hour drive. We should arrive sometime on Monday.

My last to-do list includes:

  • Say goodbye to my neurotic cat, and the house sitter who is doubling as the neurotic cat sitter.
  • Recheck (for the fifth time) the camera gear bag, the computer equipment, the two suitcases holding four seasons worth of clothes, and all the other things I’m certain I can’t live without for two months, including a plastic milk crate filled with books.
  • Recheck the bubble wrapped art, and the trailer that will carry that art half way across the country.

Google Map indicates it will take 5 hours and 9 minutes to reach our first destination in western Iowa, but it does not appear to factor in drifting snow or icy patches on the roads. If all goes according to schedule, we should be snug in our hotel room by 7:30 this evening, give or take an hour.

Well, not too snug. A belt in the washing machine snapped while I was doing a load of laundry during the blizzard. Since no repairman would venture to my house before tomorrow, I’m bringing along a plastic garbage bag full of still damp, still dirty clothes. I will get to practice my motel laundry skills, first night out.

In another life, the broken washing machine and the inability to pack clean, folded clothes into my suitcase would have upset me. But not in my going-to-Tucson life. Dirty laundry didn’t rank high enough to make the worry list. It did make the how-do-I-solve-this-with-the-least-amount-of-effort list. So far, so good.

Last night I took a final trip downtown to check out the State Capitol. The dome is specially illuminated this week in Packer green and gold in honor of the Green Bay Packers. They are playing in the Super Bowl this coming Sunday. It’s not an event that happens with much frequency, so I wanted to capture the Capitol in all its Packer glory before I left town.

Madison is a wonderful city. I’ll happily return when the tulips are in bloom.

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Bo Mackison is the owner of Seeded Earth Studio LLC. She is living in Tucson for the next eight weeks, taking daily opportunities to visit deserts and desert gardens while practicing her photography, and blogging about learning to live on her own. Share Bo’s Excellent Adventure as she writes about living in Tucson. Her mantra is “Bo goes solo!”

The Beginning: Solo in Tucson

Frozen in Frozen Custard Land

Frozen © 2011 Bo Mackison

I am a woman of a certain age, raised in a certain time and of a certain generation.

And like so many woman my age, I have seldom been on my own. On those few occasions when I did travel alone, I was only away from my home and husband for a few days at a time. I have never lived on my own, except for the six months between my college graduation and my marriage. And even then, I had a roommate.

For the last couple of years, Sherpa and I have traveled to the Southwest for two weeks in the winter.  And truly, the sun sent a feeling of newness through my body and soul. I felt alive and awake in the Arizona sunshine. And I felt disheartened as I realized how I struggled through the many weeks of late winter in Wisconsin, year after year, unable to appreciate or fully take advantage of each new day.

After our return to the Midwest from our Southwest travels last February, I began having dreams starring little snowy birds as the main characters. These birds flew to Arizona each night, waving goodbye to me, while trilling, “Don’t worry. We’ll be back when the tulips start to bloom.” Gradually my dream changed – I became the snow bird in the dream. And I flew away to Arizona, sweetly singing, “See you in April!”

Week after week passed and I dreamed of living in Tucson, and I kept muttering to myself, “It’s JUST a dream! Get over it!”

This month, that all changes. Tomorrow Sherpa and I will drive to Tucson, where I have rented a very small condo for the next two months.  Sherpa has obligations in Wisconsin, and to boot, he rather likes winter. He will be returning to Wisconsin. And I have a couple of obligations in Arizona. First, Seeded Earth Studio and I will be exhibiting my photography in at least two, possibly three, art fairs in the Tucson area from early February to early April. And second, I want to prove to myself that I can live alone for those two months.

It’s a pretty big challenge for me. I am excited; I’m also a little worried.

I will be blogging about my experience, and I hope you will join me as I share the adventures of Bo as she establishes herself as an artist in Arizona, and as she learns the skills necessary to survive, contentedly, in a very small condo in a place that doesn’t see much winter!

Bo Goes Solo!  In Tucson!

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Bo Mackison is the owner of Seeded Earth Studio LLC. She is living in Tucson for the next eight weeks, taking daily opportunities to visit deserts and desert gardens while practicing her photography, and blogging about learning to live on her own. Share Bo’s Excellent Adventure as she writes about living in Tucson, solo!

Within Our Dreams

Botanical Abstract

Within Our Dreams © 2011 Bo Mackison

Within our dreams and aspirations we find our opportunities.  ~Sue Atchley Ebaugh

The Warm Colors

In Red and Yellow

Beckoning: In Red and Yellow © 2011 Bo Mackison

The soul becomes dyed with the color of its thoughts. ~ Marcus Aurelius

The view from my window is white and blizzard-y, but I photographed lots of bright flowers in the conservatory last week — just to add some color to the first week in February.

February in Wisconsin is always wintry, but this year may be a record setter. We are shoveling and plowing from the first of the two storms “scheduled” for this week. We only had six inches of the white stuff fall in the last 24 hours, so this storm isn’t much of a challenge for Madison’s veteran snow handlers. Tomorrow there is more snow heading our way–12+ inches–but it’s not the snow that will cause difficulties, but the wind and drifting.

But if all goes as predicted and planned, the roads should be in fine driving condition as we head south on Friday, and then take a turn towards the west on Saturday. After a few more southerly and westerly maneuvers on Sunday, we should be pulling into Tucson Monday afternoon!

After almost a year of planning, I can hardly believe that my Tucson adventure is almost ready to begin!