Gratitude

I’d pulled three coloring books off the shelf the other day to use for my next coloring pages, and this is the third of those (I’ve already pulled three more). It’s one of my favorites, but because the pages are on front and back, if I want to color a page, I scan it and print it on cardstock so I won’t lose the backing page (because some of the pens I use bleed through, and also, I like putting them in my big sketchbook when they’re finished).

Before I get to that though, I need to send a big thank you to the people who’ve made these last few days pleasant in so many ways (including texts, emails, and phone calls). Anyone who comments here lifts my spirits, and Mark has been catching up for the last few days, and it’s so much fun to go back to old posts and read and respond to his comments. I promise, Mark, even when you get caught up or miss, I will continue to anticipate our interactions with pleasure.

Getting comments here is always fun, and I thank my regulars, like Blue Sky Boy and Lynne, and the people who like leaving more cryptic names for fun (you know who you are), and my family members (including Tom, Ron, David, Debby, Geri, Lisa) and fellow writers (including my writing partners) who drop in from time to time and leave comments. I enjoy the occasional visits and comments from Nurse Lisa, Debbie D. in Canada, Gael who’s another LJ person from long ago. I may get more interaction on Instagram than here (though I post there infrequently except in October). There’s a different vibe to that: one is similar to passing someone I know (and like) in public, or having brief but pleasant interactions with strangers, and the other is like inviting someone to visit my home for a good conversation (even when brief), if that makes sense. There are also people, including family members, who read here regularly but respond via email, and that interaction is equally welcome.

Everyone has busy lives and endless places to direct their attention–jobs, time with friends and families, and in pursuit of interests like books, music, TV, movies, social media, traveling, and more physical activities. So a visit here is always appreciated.

Today’s coloring page was inspired by this photograph of Maxime De La Falaise wearing a fish-tailed striped gown designed by Paquin, as photographed by Cecil Beaton in Vogue, January 1950. I researched her, and wow, what an interesting person she was, and she had an intriguing family, as well. In this age, they’d definitely qualify as influencers, with huge groups of fans/admirers along with plenty of detractors, I’m sure. A current family comes to mind…

 

I liked being able to do the black stripes on this myself, and hope the contrast comes across in the photograph as well as on the page in front of me.

Another place, another time


Below is a page I colored last Friday and Saturday. It’s from the Sweden section in The Look coloring book. Two friends are walking the dog in Stockholm. This one’s in honor of a dear friend who lives in Sweden and of whom I was thinking while I colored.

I’ve named this dog Sabi (she’ll know why). Sabi’s a social media influencer who loves being the center of attention. He’s very big in Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. In fact, he paid for everything they’re wearing and their cell phones. Good dog! (Note: He would be a good dog even without his earning power. All dogs are good dogs, including complicated Jack.)

(And look, Mark–another zebra crossing!)

Tiny Tuesday!


This is a bird house I painted and decorated for a little girl in 2011. I called it a Fairy Roost in my blog post back then. I’m sure the bird house is long gone, but I’ll always have the pleasant memory of creating it.

That tiny bird house was on my mind lately because my most recent completed chapter in the Neverending Saga had fun information about birds and bird houses. In this case, though, the houses belonged to a family with the last name of Bird. Since I’m trying to gently redirect my focus back to writing, I chose this more literal concept of bird houses as my coloring page on Saturday and Monday.


The birds on the houses are more fun than realistic, so I looked at some California birds before I chose their colors.
Upper row, first house, the bird has the colors of a Stellar’s Jay; middle house, the bird on the roof has the colors of the Oak Titmouse, and inside the birdhouse, the bird has the colors of the Cedar Waxwing; third house, the bird has the colors of the Ruby-crowned Kinglet.
Lower row, the first house bird has the colors of the Mourning Dove; middle bird on the roof has the colors of the Yellow Warbler, and on the porch, the bird has the colors of the Loggerhead Shrike; third house, the bird has the colors of the House Finch.

I still have a page I colored this past weekend to share, maybe tomorrow. You know, I have an abundance of coloring books. Anything you’d like to see?

Mindful Monday


Today, as on every November 11, we honor our veterans. It’s a beautiful and breezy day here, so the flag was being borne upward in this shot, set against our magnolia and mimosa trees, with neighbors’ trees in the distance.

Respecting and caring for our veterans has always been something I’m passionate about. If it seems at odds for a pacifist to feel that way, wanting a world without wars is not meant to disrespect in any way those willing to put their lives on the line to keep our country, and the countries of our allies, protected. There’s a true line from generations of my forebears to me, including ancestors who fought in the American Revolution and beyond, to my father being an Army veteran who landed in Normandy on D Day and was career military, and to my brother, who served in the Air Force, and to my sister, who worked at a VA hospital facility for many years as a nurse.

Any policy that attempts to reduce or limit our nation’s care of veterans, including health care, should never be accepted by us no matter what party we vote for. When a service member or veteran is willing to make the ultimate sacrifice to self and family for you, no matter what your political affiliation, you should be willing to return that respect in kind, including as part of your tax dollars.

If you have a military cemetery near you, it can provide a quiet place to visit for mindful meditations on gratitude, care for others, courage, and peace.

Sunday Sundries


Taffy, who appears to be a golden retriever, tries to look innocent about where that hole came from, but the dirt on her nose and the fact that at least one of her pals seems to be pointing at her, gave her away. (All of these are Mattel dogs.) (ETA: I changed out this photo because I realized in this one, in the upper left, there’s a sliver of Delta watching from a distance. Who can’t have any cake because of the chocolate. Oh, the bitterness.)

That’s a cake I made to celebrate the 1.5-year May birthdays of Timothy and Rhonda. It was in May that our crazy weather and power outages began. Since then, several of us have dealt with sickness, some have traveled, and Lindsey and Timothy have had crazy busy work schedules. Today became the day we could finally all gather: Rhonda, Lindsey, (their dog Pepper), Timothy, Debby, Tom, and me for much needed friend time. Among us, we contributed “finger foods”: queso and chips, puff pastries with fig preserves and brie, chicken wings with three dipping sauces, tuna salad for petite sandwiches, fresh raw vegetables and fruits, turkey sausages, artichoke and jalapeño dip with crackers, guacamole, and hummus and pita chips. I didn’t take any photos except of the cake, though I did catch the two (May) birthday celebrants as we sang “Happy Birthday” to them.


It was lovely to be with friends again and to talk honestly and openly about how we’re all feeling and reacting right now. Our connections are important and to be cherished.


This is the book I colored from back in October of 2022. I think I posted it on Instagram but never on here. If you squint at the page I colored, you may be able to see how, for the framed pieces on the mantel, I chose to copy Rothko postcards that I own.


I thought Mr. Reynolds might be lonely, so I chose a different coloring book I found last year at, I think, Jo-Ann Fabrics and Crafts, to color a page to go opposite Ryan’s in my sketchbook. Is Mr. Reeves one of the best souls on the planet? Sometimes it seems that way. I found photos online of him in one of his kitchens at some time or another, and used a few of the details for my choices as I colored.

A cozy day reading with Ryan next to a fire in the library, or watching Keanu prepare a meal, sounds like a good time–though I’m content with how I spent my Sunday: good friends, family, dogs, and food.

Coloring my way to…something


When I reached the end of the sketchbook I use to save my coloring pages, I began using the reverse sides of pages starting at the back of the sketchbook. I was doing a lot of coloring in May and June, including the drawing below from an old repurposed calendar. But cat and chick took up only the upper part of the sketchbook page.

 

 

 

On Thursday, I looked through my very small coloring books to try to find something that would fit on the bottom part of the page, but most of the drawings are vertical. (Books shown below next to a roll of tape to give a sense of their size.)

I decided to color the drawing on the front of that top book (at the time, I didn’t notice that it was on the cover) because I could place it horizontally. It fit.

Here’s a better look at the finished drawing. I used mostly gel pens and one pencil.

I told you there might be a lot of coloring pages coming up. Coloring is one of the most calming activities I have, other than the email and text exchanges with friends who are constant reminders, along with you who comment here, of how fortunate I am to know so many good, smart people. I have a couple of fun coloring pages, one from 2022, and the other from yesterday, to share soon. Thank you for being patient with me as I navigate extreme anxiety.

What’s up, Thursday?


Same old thing. Not enough sleep. Should have eaten breakfast sooner. No interest in reading all the post-mortems because everybody’s a political genius after the fact. Mopped the library. Finished a coloring page from that book on the right. Thinking of a woman I know who loves horses. (A real person I used to work with, not a character.) Suspect there’ll be a lot of coloring in days to come.


Must sleep. Perchance to dream. May it be something to inspire my writing.

words for today

I will now get to learn how to manage depression and anxiety. I’ll be seriously curtailing my online time. This morning, I read the social media post of a personal friend. He’s a really good human. A gay man. Gifted. Smart. Compassionate. He was being encouraging to people who feel wounded by the election results. Reminding his readers to take the long view, knowing there are still ways we can make our world a better place for ourselves and the marginalized. There was nothing hateful in his words. Nothing objectionable. But his comments began filling up with people mocking him, verbally attacking him. Gloating. Even low-key threatening him.

I’m sure he’s not surprised. I’m not surprised.

I’ve never tolerated hatefulness on this blog since I began it in 2004. I will ask you do not comment here or speak to me elsewhere and tell me ALL [fill in the blank with whatever descriptor you identify as] are not like that. I know. I’ve been around a while. I’m not the one making hateful generalizations. In so many places in my life, I have to choose my words and remain kind with people I know, people who are friends and family members, who vote in ways that literally threaten the health, peaceful and full life, and happiness of people I love. Their choice.

But never try to justify to me that chaos, division, demonizing, mendacity, and mental, emotional, and physical cruelty are okay. Hide yourself in a cloak of something abhorrent to me, and know that even then, I will listen, for a while, anyway, to all the things you say and all the things you don’t even realize you say, and the only, ONLY, point when we are done is if you begin to insult and demean me or the ones I love. If you don’t like me, respect me, or love me, for who I am, step off. Find a better way to fill your time than wasting it on me. (I have people in my life who build me up. Who comfort me. Who started bright and early this morning sending messages of love and commiseration, and the reminder that I can breathe with them. We can speak frankly whether we’ve been friends since we were eighteen, or since 1989, ’92, ’93, ’94, ’97, 2005, 2007, 2011, or 2015, I’m there for them. They’re there for me. We connect in so many ways.) To them (or you if you need to hear it) I say:


And to the others of you…
If your candidate won, celebrate. Sit at home with a big smile on your face; have some champagne. Crack a beer. Grill your favorite meat. Call or gather with your likeminded friends and repeat all the things you’ve been saying out loud since 2016. Actually, since 2008. You’ve gotten what you wanted. You’ve taken the White House, the Senate, the Supreme Court, (as of this writing, the jury’s still out on the House), and you’re already anticipating how all your “enemies” will be punished, controlled, vanquished. Do that instead of traveling social media and finding the accounts of strangers (and celebrities, because they are your very favorite targets) to pester them. Go and live the idyllic life you’ve been promised.

Today, I’ve spent lovely hours with my dogs. (Starting at about 4:30 am, when they began nudging Tom and me to GET UP. He took them out but then made them come back to bed and wait for breakfast.) They’re all a little crazy in all their different ways, but they have so much love to give. I don’t mean to aspire to craziness when I try to be more like them. It’s just a bonus, I guess. I showered, dressed, left the house to wash my car (the weather is lovely), make a bank deposit, and grab Starbucks.

My heart hurts. I want to be nice to myself. I’m not sure if I have the focus to write. There’s so much I’m unsure about. But I sure am grateful for the love in my life. I’m grateful for the values and strength I was given by my family, and the family I’ve made since. I feel far away from and lonely for many of them, but I also feel the love. Thank you.