Waiting for Access As access to the COVID vaccine becomes a possibility, and more and more friends report that they have received theirs, nervous hope flickers. We signed up with two hospitals and the county health department — leaving the timing up to the Lord....
Given the uncertainties of these times, we need to come up with better questions to ask each other. How are you doing? This standard greeting can take a person to depths they don't want to go. We all know how we are doing . . . Fine, just F.I.N.E.! Instead of asking,...
Here’s the first painting of 2021: I call it, Appraising the Times Ahead. The cat is 2021; confined to my fishbowl, I warily wonder what the future holds. Why am I Worried? The storm COVID has moved closer, striking several of my friends, just as the New Year...
As 2020 ends, we received a gift. We have a vaccine; it’s a wonderful achievement; a hopeful weapon in suppressing the deadly virus. But this disease isn’t yet corralled, as 2020 ends. So, I won’t be laying down my paintbrushes any time soon; nor, will I be closing my...
You’d better brace yourself, today, I tell myself as I strap on a well-used back brace. Of course, the old back isn’t the only thing that needs a bit of support these days. In an autumn’s garden there’s always an occasion to give myself a pep talk, or ask a cautionary...
Matisse’s painting of a bowl of goldfish in a darkened room, “guarded” by two cats tickled me. (Interior with Goldfish) It seemed to tell a story with several chapters; a story I’ve adapted in my paintings, many times over the past ten months that Covid has been...
Déjà vu all over again. As I began a new novel, A Gentleman in Moscow, (and a painting), I felt like I was in a flashback. In the novel the main character, Count Alexander Rostovis, has been sentenced to live out the rest of his life on "house arrest" in the Metropol...
I feel, in a way, like I am fiddling while Rome burns. Of course, I am fiddling with paints and books while things seem to be collapsing or blowing up – including relationships -- as the virus waxes, and misinformation abounds. How 2020 Is Going So Far... We almost...
“You should be an artist, Mimi,” a grandchild observed as I unpacked three baskets of pandemic paintings. You know, maybe I should! Another grandchild counted and declared I have seventy-six paintings; I’ve given ten away, maybe. Finally, the oldest grandchild...
This year’s sunflowers lasted until the last day of summer; autumn arrived with a sunny chilly fresh burst. This time last year, we were coming through a hot dry patch. In fact, in September of 2019 we were in what I learned was a flash drought. It’s one reason last...
Remember having to give book reports about what we read over the summer vacation? That always ruined the fun of just reading. Well, I have come to believe that writing about what I read helps me remember salient points that authors make – whether they are telling good...
Getting back to normal used to mean unpacking from a vacation; or, putting away Christmas decorations and heading into a new year. It was a bittersweet necessity. Now getting back to normal is almost an impossible dream. Returning to the way our life was mid-March...
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