Hello again Fellow FA Artists, Writers, Crafters, Costumers, Photographers, Poets, Dreamers and all other highly creative people.

We here in the house up here on the hill had just barely recovered from the fires, rains and mudslides from the first two months of the year when yet another misfortunate situation crippled my creativity, my communications and of course my cartooning. Earlier in the month of March, a series of small earthquakes caused the embankment that held the power pole for "The Estate" to tilt, just enough to pull the wires right off the house. It looked pretty bleak just after it happened, and it seemed for a time that we would have to consider moving out of the house because without electricity, we could barely survive or live comfortably. Fortunately, Schirm contacted a contractor friend who helped fix the broken mast for the power lines, but OH! There was a bit of a delay getting the permits for the addition of a new power mast, and of course it took well over two weeks getting the repairs approved by the city's power department. For eighteen days Schirm, Noah and I had to "Rough it," but we were fortunate Schirm's house had a gas water heater, a gas range and a wood burning stove.

I learned some very important things in those eighteen days. I found that I'm a better cook using a gas flame because I can better judge the heat instead of "Guessing" as I have to when using the electric, "Conductive" stove. I also got to enjoy fixing meals for my friends, especially breakfasts. I learned I didn't need to run the heaters 24-7 as I could keep myself warm by dressing in layers. I also slept better adding extra covers to the bed. Most importantly of all, I learned that our neighbors were quite helpful and loaned us tools to cut the trees back for the passage of electrical lines, and of course they loaned us lanterns and keyboard lights so we could extend our activities after sundown. I was delighted to discover that there are things such as battery powered desk lamps and tracing tablets out there. Now all that's needed is getting some money ahead to afford these gadgets.

Also, I am grateful to my friend in New York City who kept the lines of communications updated with my afternoon chat friends. One thing I missed most of all were our almost daily exchanges of conversations, ideas, and links to interesting articles or our recent art discoveries along with our newest drawings and sketches. Still... It's nice to know that my friends still enjoy getting handwritten letters and postcards. My greatest regret? I had lots of inspirations and Ideas, but I just couldn't take advantage of the situation. I scribbled down a few things, but I guess I was just too dependent on the tracing tablet. There were even times where I was considering taping my artwork up on a frosted window in the bathroom. I found out that my hand control isn't as "Sharp" as it can be on a flat surface.

So, we got connected to the grid again on the 25th of March, and I hope it will be a long time before I'll need to work under battery powered lights again. I have been "Muzzing" on creating a battery powered tracing tablet using those LED strip lights that come in a roll like those seen on a small tape recorder. As I write this, the house is right under the flightpath of two F-15 Eagles and two F-22 Raptors going just a little under Super-Sonic. It's opening day at Dodgers Stadium! Spring has Sprung, and the new Baseball Season has started. Thank you all for your patience and kind words.

"Peace."