A Closer Look

My eye was caught by some lichen growing on the wooden top of some wind chimes . . . and I went forth in search of more.

They seem to love rocks and wood. 

What are these things anyway? I probably once knew but I went to Mr. Google to refresh my memory.                                                           

                        

Well, there's a lot to know. Lichen is a symbiotic between a fungus and either an alga or a cyanobacterium (a type of bacteria.) And there are well over 18,000 species of lichen, growing all over the world. Lichen provides food for man and beast, dyes, fibers, medicines, and more. Fascinating stuff -- I went down the web's rabbit hole and was amazed at how much there is to know about these things--a lifetime wouldn't be enough.

And then there are mosses-- but perhaps I'll save that for another day.

 



 

So Much Spring

 

Breaking Through

Signs

Signs of the season -- John's touching up the paint on the blue benches . . .

 

The early solid yellow daffs are joined by these bi-colors . . .

 

And Brer Snake is back, looking  skinny.

And this below is what greeted my eyes as I took our tax stuff to the preparer (another sign of spring.). I remember when this was a wooded mountainside. I know that people have to have places to live, but damn! Couldn't they have left some more trees?

 

Spring Shadows

Oops! This was meant for tomorrow. Consider this Thursday's post.

 

Excellent and Unfortunately All Too Relevant

 

I am a serious consumer of

audio books. I mentioned recently that I was listening to Michener's The Source-- such a good book but in light of all that's going on in the so-called Holy Land these days, I began to find it too grim for bed time listening.

So I decided to shift my attention to ancient Rome and downloaded Robert Grave's I, Claudius. I've read it several times, beginning when I was in high school. It was one of a few books in the house and at the time, it seemed a bit racy.

I also saw the TV version but found it difficult to follow.

This audio version, however, is perfect. The reader is a delight to listen to, and somehow, over the course of many hours, it was easy to keep track of the various characters. Listening was compelling.

Except for one thing. The novel shows how Rome

sank from a republic to a dictatorship, culminating in the rule of insane, depraved Caligula. Senators had the choice of assenting to his whims or being banished or executed.

Somehow it all seemed familiar.

Almost Spring

       

7j

Five Bullet Points

 Dear Sen./Rep.________,

I would like to know five actions you have taken in the past week to protect your constituents --veterans, educators, healthcare workers, farmers, and all those poor souls reeling under Musk's chainsaw attacks on government.

Has Congress abdicated all responsibility?

Sincerely waiting for a reply,

(Your name here)

This is my most recent letter. The cool medieval rabbit I think I grabbed from another blog. (Barb?)

Tearing My Hair and Whining

 

Arrgh!

The tech woes continue. My laptop wasn't charging and the power cord didn't work. I got a new cord and it worked...for a few days and then it didn't. We decided that the internal connection was the problem and John gave me one of his tablets.

Great,  I can be happy with that. I ordered a keyboard and a card reader so I could download pictures from my camera.

And despite spending a lot of time trying to make these accessory devices work---zilch, nada, niente!

I can take pictures with the tablet --- or with my phone and email them to myself for use on this blog. A stopgap solution.

I'll probably get another laptop if a miracle doesn't happen soon. But I can only futz about with tiny print instructions and frustrating electronics for a few hours before my brain bubbles and shuts down.

All of which is just to say that's why the pictures and format of the blog are not what I want them to be.

Morning and Evening

 

A Book for Calder

 

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My talented friend Louise came over to paint and showed me this charming series picturing her dogs Stokely and Pippi on a rabbit hunt. The book that it will become is to be a gift for her grandson Calder.

 I LOVE these lively images as the dogs encounter all the wild creatures but the rabbit, till finally, scared by a bear, they run home to dream of rabbits.

   

                      

                                                                             

Sunseeker

                     

. 

                                           

Soul Work

     

                                                  

As, one after another, I crank out my amateurish watercolors, I contemplate the joy of doing a thing for its own sake with no thought of 'monetizing' the work. I'm happy to be an amateur, a nonprofessional, not very skilled practioner, but also (taking the word back to its Latin roots) one working for the love of it.

.                 

 I continue to try to paint from life (except for that rose which was an exercise in a work book. I would never have chosen that brown background.)

I happened on this rather appropriate quote from Kurt Vonnegut:

"To practice any art, no matter how well or how badly, is a way to make your soul grow, for heaven's sake. So do it."