An Aries (Who Knows Some Stuff)
After a twelve-hour car trip from the Ozarks back home to Houston, I don’t have much creative energy left. However, in honor of other people’s creativity, I’m showing you what I thoroughly enjoyed reading on my summer vacation. And if it counts, what I can’t show you are all the notes I’ve made for what I hope will be my next novel.
It’s Mimosa pudica, also called “sensitive plant,” “humble plant,” “shameful plant,” “sleeping grass,” and “touch-me-not” because of its shrinking reaction to contact.
I can grill a mean steak and some rocking burgers and dogs, but chicken on the grill is something I’ve done less than a handful of times in my life. So why I chose this as the meal to create tonight is beyond me. You can’t see the somewhat charred chicken that’s hidden on the bottom of the bowl. Fortunately, the five kids who’re eating tonight have chicken nuggets and Rice Krispies treats (not made by me, I might add), and at least eight of the adults should be ravenous after kayaking down a river, so maybe they won’t notice my less-than-stellar grilled chicken. Wish me luck!
Acrylic on canvas, 8×10, for 30 Days of Creativity.
Sometimes, that’s enough.
Today’s effort for 30 Days of Creativity may seem strange to people, but it has the unqualified approval of four three of The Compound dogs. As those of you who’ve read Tim’s or my LJ for any length of time know, we feed our dogs raw diet. To give them the kind of nutrients their wild ancestors would have gotten by eating prey (and their prey’s stomach contents), I add vegetables to the raw meat, bones, and organs they eat. The reason this process is “creative” will be explained below. I promise there are no gross photos behind the cut–unless vegetables frighten you.
My blog friend Shawn Lea made me aware Tuesday of an online activity called 30 Days of Creativity. In essence, every day of June, participants will be creating something, anything–to exercise the muscle that is the brain, then Tweeting/blogging/Facebooking their creations.
I have a somewhat challenging schedule this month, but I figured, Why not?
So on the first day of June, I used fabric sent by Marika, and ribbon from Tim’s birthday present from Laura C, and dressed Laura Lee (who’s named for Laura D, by the way–confused?) in a sundress that I whipped up this evening.
Welcome to a stylish beginning of what I suspect will be a long, hot summer!
Backdrop is part of a painting in progress by Timothy J. Lambert. Thanks Tim, Laura C, Marika, and Shawn for the inspiration.
