Me and my stray boat

When I was a kid, I was always begging to keep whatever stray dog or cat that followed me home. This was a regular enough occurrence that I can clearly remember at least five different animals that we kept because no owner could be located.

This happened to me:

The other day, a while ago actually, a boat washed up on the neighbors beach. The authorities decided that the neighbor could keep it because there was no known owner.

He assessed it and decided he didn’t want it. We were down looking at where his dock was going to go and he told G he could have it. They discussed the battered bottom and the hole. G said no, too much work. I was like free boat! YES PLEASE!

He later sold it to another guy who came to get it and decided no, and left.

When I was watching the dock being built while the neighbor was out of town. I took a better look at my boat. It’s sooo cute! I googled fixing the hole. It sounded do able. G was a big no. Too much work he said. Barnacles his mom said. I think it’s cute I said.

I like the patina.

Apparently that is not a thing with boats. Boat people want pristine unbattered freshly painted boats with no holes. Go figure.

I promised to do all the sanding and painting and patching myself. I felt like I was eight and bringing home a stay cat or dog again. Please please please can I have this boat?! All adults exchanging that look I remember so clearly, the one that says ‘not a good idea’.

I don’t care! I really really want my boat! It’s about to be my new art project…

Fruit

List your top 5 favorite fruits.

Stone fruit: cherries, peaches, plums in season. I’ve been lucky to live where these come into season and can be found at roadside stands or picked from trees. I have good memories of climbing cherry trees as a kid, picking plums, making jam and bottling peaches.

Oranges. I’ve also had the privilege of an orange tree in my own back yard. There is nothing like the sweetness and flavor of an orange right off the tree or the smell of orange blossoms wafting in the air while I enjoyed my fresh picked orange. Everything happens at once on an orange tree, I didn’t always know this.

Berries are both beautiful and delicious. Plus they are known for their health benifits.

Avocados. Healthy and delicious with a little salt and fresh ground pepper.

Apples. Another seasonal favorite with some varieties that keep well and taste good all winter long

That’s five, but I like most all fruit, pomegranate, pears, figs, melon…

We had Fun

If you were wondering, The Brimtown Market was fun. It did rain for much of the day. There were giant puddles and lots of mud. We saw plenty of cool things, ate some good food and by the time we were back in CT, the sun was out. Everything is Ireland green here. The trees are lush and full. Only a few weeks ago most of them were bare branches. All this rain is doing a nice job..

Just Another Thursday

I wonder if my momentum is waning

Maybe Im just tired. Probably nothing a good night sleep can’t solve.

I’ve been doing my best to stay upbeat. Working at different things. Painting and posting on instagram every day. Looking for what will feel joyful, positive, peaceful. I have watched over my energy and regulated as carefully as I can. Yoga has been working muscles I haven’t used in a while. Yard work too. All of these things have left me tired. There have been a few complicated matters…

I am the perfect before story. This moment. Earlier today I was so tired and sore I couldn’t get myself out of bed. I’m usually an early morning person, (which I easily forget on days like today). Ever have things start out like this?

Struggle. Ugh.

A Third day of rain is contributing to me feeling tired and more discouraged. I’m not thrilled with my painting, (that happens), I can’t log into my canva account, (also happens), my video effort didn’t capture what I was hoping it would. Its raining sideways and it’s cold. Our one plan to go to this outdoor antique fair is off the table due to weather. Oh man.

I have yoga thank goodness. I want the opposite of a fair weather friend. Maybe I need a rainy day crowd to hang out with in coffeeshops or somewhere cozy. Or something. What do people do when it rains without stopping for days? I wonder how I’ll shift my energy because I will at some point. I always do.

Somehow, I’m going to have to be my own sunshine today.

G was going all New England-y there for a moment not wanting to go to the fair in the rain, but he changed his mind. He told me I won’t like it. It will be miserable and muddy. (So still a bit of pessimistm) I guess I’ve been warned.

Boots!

I am dressed, appropriately, (I hope). They warned me at yoga that everything will be over priced. (Yoga did include a lot of sun salutations anyway). I don’t mind. I’m not going to buy, I’m going to look and get out. I like following a bit of curiosity, even in the rain.

Let’s see if it’s terrible or not.

Teacher Impact

I have many examples of people who have left me better than they found me. The one that comes to mind today is my sixth grade teacher, Mrs Bailey. She was an excellent teacher. This was well known and understood by everyone. She won teacher of the year the year I had her.

Mrs. Bailey impacted all of her students. She wasn’t the type who only liked the good kids or the smart kids. If you asked ANY child, that year or any year even well after we all grew up, if you knew her, you loved her. I believe she loved all of us!

She knew every one of us, but most important to me, was that she knew me. She did what no other teacher was able to do. She showed me that I could do well in school. She showed me that I could love to read. She opened up a whole world that I didn’t know existed.

The impact of Mrs Bailey had on my life, was huge. I, from that year on, knew who I was and who I could be. I even learned how to do what needed to be done. Mrs Bailey kindly guided me toward books that made me, a kid who barely read, into a lifelong lover of reading.

Teachers can have such colossal impact on their students. I am forever grateful for the positive influence Mrs Bailey had on me.

5 Positive Things

Share a story about someone who had a positive impact on your life.

Not much of a story. Here are five things my husband taught me.

1) The importance and possibility of fun

I spent what felt like a lifetime trying to be a serious grownup. Saying no, ignoring my needs and wants, and feeling guilty for everything that wasn’t work. I was so busy, I told myself, I had no time for fun. I wanted my kids to have fun, but I was sure that for me, the ship had sailed. He taught me that fun wasn’t just possible, but that it was important and nessesary. Fun makes me happy, which makes me a better person.

2) How to be polite

My husband was raised with manners. You can put him in any situation with any person anywhere and he will quietly use good manners.

3) How to be respectful and conscientious

Along the same lines, he will always listen more than talk, smile, make a joke, engage others with kind light joking conversation. He will listen to everyone and is always careful and thoughtful with his responses.

4) How to listen and not talk

I had to learn how to not explain myself. To enjoy the presence of another in silence. I don’t need to fill space with words. It really can be peaceful in quiet with another human.

5) That I am the one in charge of my feelings.

I used to think that circumstances, weather, people, good things bad things were what determined my mood or state. If something good happened I would feel good. If something bad happened I would feel bad. There was nothing I could do but wait for better things to happen. I thought this for most of my life. I now know that it’s not what happens, it’s how I precieve things and then how I respond that sets me up for whatever mood I land in. This understanding gives me so much personal power and freedom. My thoughts determine so much more than anything outside of me.

It sounds like I was raised by wolves, I wasn’t. I was raised with a strictness that was hard for me to learn from. G is an example of how all these things are carried out. He doesn’t instruct or teach. He doesn’t correct or say anything about any of it. He just is.

I had to learn that everything isn’t about me. People have lives and preferences and reasons for doing things that I didn’t cause and can’t affect. Rather than trying to figure out what I did or am doing wrong or find or feel blame, I can just have fun, be polite and conscientious, listen more than talk and be in charge of my own feelings. He would have no idea that he taught me any of this.

P I N K

Maybe it’s all the pink flowering trees and bushes I keep passing lately. For whatever reason this painting keeps veering off towards pink. I’ll throw some gray in to balance it, and green, but I seem to have a lot of pink again.

Matisse didn’t shy away from using pink

I’ve always liked pink, red and orange together myself

There is no telling where I’ll end up on this painting. I’m a long way from finished

A New PDF

I sent in a submission. It took me hours to perfect everything and fix the one typo on Canva and then make and attach a new file. Honestly, I’m getting faster.

I feel good about the letter. I like the few changes I made on Canva (because I can never revisit a project without trying to make it a little better) (or hopefully not ruining it)

I’m genuinely interested to hear feedback. I think I have a healthy amount of detachment at this point thanks to starting a new project, but you never know. Is it a little ironic that as a sensitive artist, I have to develop thick skin for times like this? I guess it’s balancing again. It might be be months before I hear anything…