Tree Peonies--Be Still My Heart

 

Josie and Dell

Do you like the tower I made? It is amazing. 

My dinosaurs and birds watched me build it.

I gave Bobadog my princess crown. He liked it.

And then I made a new friend. Her name is Dell and she is Meema's computer. We had a conversation and here it is. (Meema did the words I told her.)

D) HELLO JOSIE, I AM DELL. HOW ARE YOU? DO YOU LIKE APPLES?

J) YES, I DO! DELL, DO YOU LIKE APPLES?

D)I AM A COMPUTER. I DON’T EAT ANYTHING. WHAT ELSE DO YOU LIKE?

J) I LIKE MY MOM AND DAD.

D) THAT’S NICE. I DON’T HAVE A MOM AND DAD.

J) WHAT DO YOU LIKE, DELL?

D) I LIKE FINGERS ON MY KEYBOARD. THEY TICKLE. 

J) I LIKE WHEN MY MOM TICKLES ME. DELL, WHAT DO YOU LIKE TO DO?

D) HMMM, I LIKE TALKING TO YOU! ARE YOU MYFRIEND? 

J) YES, BUT I HAVE CHILDREN FRIENDS TOO. DELL, WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE COLOR?

D) BLUE!!!! WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE COLOR, JOSIE?

J) RED, PINK, BLUE, GOLDEN, SILVER, SPARKLY, AND PURPLE ARE MY FAVORITE COLORS. DELL, HOW MANY COLORS ARE YOUR FAVORITE?

D) HMMM…DARK BLUE, LIGHT BLUE, PURPLE, GREEN

J) DELL, WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE LETTER?

D) I LIKE Z BECAUSE IT IS LONELY—IT DOESN’T GET USED MUCH.

J) BUT WHAT ABOUT ZAP AND ZEBRA? AND ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ FOR SNORING?

D) JOSIE, GREAT IDEA! Z DOESN’T FEEL SO LONELY NOW.

J) HOW MANY LETTERS ARE YOUR FAVORITES?

D) HMMM…5, I THINK.

J) DELL, HOW ABOUT WE SPELL SOME MORE WORDS A LITTLE BIT LATER? I HAVE TO GO GET A SNACK.

D) THAT SOUNDS GREAT, JOSIE! SEE YOU LATER!

 

 

The First In-Person CROWS Event!

What joy! I spoke to the Marshall Library Book Club--outside and all of them masked-- about CROWS and they asked the best questions! They really seemed to understand what it was I was trying to accomplish.

I've done some Zoom events but in the beginning my old computer was a bit wonky and the conditions just weren't ideal. What a pleasure to be in person!

I even managed to ask them to post reviews. It seems so tacky to be doing that but it really helps the book to get more notice. And there's some kind of algorithm on Amazon that kicks in when a book reaches 100 ratings--CROWS is at 82, which is more than any of my other books, due, I suspect, to my periodical nagging.

Many thanks to the folks at the library and the readers who made this event possible. It felt like old times. Except for the masks.

 

Too Good Not to Share

"He told himself that he was not drunk at all, but that he had taken an unusual quantity of whisky, which seemed to produce much the same effect as intoxication."

From E.F.Benson's Miss Mapp

Green, Green, Green!

The spring greens are dazzling everywhere.

They really pop against the gray sky.

Yes, this is my favorite time of year.

 

Silent Sunday

 

An Existential Question

In attempting to deal with my ever over-flowing book shelves, I resolved to get rid of duplicates--mostly ancient paperbacks from the time when fifty cents was a high-end classic. Henry James's Washington Square and The Europeans, probably from my college days sixty years ago, appeared to be just such a candidate. The rubber band holding it together was a clue.

                                

Nope, can't even donate this one. What idiot reads Henry James these days, and especially in this condition?

Me, that's who. I couldn't let it go without one last perusal. (I actually like some of James's work.) And I really enjoyed The Europeans--in which a slightly predatory baroness with New England connections comes to visit her cousins and takes up residence in a nearby house. The culture clash is wittily presented and I loved the scene on the page below, with the existential question:

"What is life, indeed, without curtains?"

It should be embroidered on a pillow.  (Not t hat I agree--we have curtains only in our guest room and since Josie's coming, we have darkening curtains in The Room so she can nap. But there's something about that phrase that tickles me. Yes, I am easily entertained.)

                   

Josie Paints

Meema and I did some painting Wednesday.

I did Medusa with her snake hair.

I held my brush lightly and did not press down hard.  I drew the Cyclops with one eye.

And then I started drawing A's. I was very good at it.

Oh my gosh! I was so good I just couldn't stop. I made 23 A's and one L. I think that writing is going to be fun.

 

Here and There

Double Daffodil

Yellow Trillium

Mayapple

Columbine

 

Accountability, not Justice

The guilty verdict in the Chauvin case was exceeding welcome--but, as one speaker pointed out, it was a victory for accountability, not justice. Justice would have George Floyd still alive to watch Chauvin pay the price of his inhuman actions. 

Thanks to the many police officers who broke the blue wall of silence, to the bystanders who cried for mercy, and, most of all to Darnella Frazie, the woman who caught the entire terrible episode on video despite being threatened with mace, thanks to all these people, we have taken a long overdue step on the road to justice. For without accountability, there is no path to justice.

 

Josie and the New Chicks

I went with Meema to get chicks at Silvers Mill. They are very cute and fluffy.

Still At It

I have a lot to learn and a long way to go but I'm enjoying the journey and realizing that each thing I paint, no matter how unsatisfactory, had taught me something.

I tried one of the exercises in this little book -- a path through a bluebell wood. Mine falls far short but I got to practice using masking fluid, spattering, and making shadows.

Then I tried working from one of my photos.

Yikes. This is a travesty. Need to make it less like a snow storm and more like a riot of apple blossoms. More shading in all those blossoms. Oh dear.

This may be a time to bail out and start afresh. Not like oils and acrylics--you can't just keep layering. 

As I said, each picture is a learning opportunity.

 

Silent Sunday

 

Pasta alla Pancetta, 'shrooms, and Ramps

My  little ramp patch is putting forth so I harvested a very few leaves. I'd love to use the bulbs too--but then there'd be fewer ramps next year. When I find fresh ramps for sale, I buy them and eat a few and plant the rest--which is why I have a ramp patch in the first place. Someday someone may be able to harvest more freely here . . .

But not yet. I'd like to see them all crowded before I remove any. So just a few leaves went into last night's supper.

I sautéed diced pancetta with garlic to ramp up, as it were, the flavor of the ramps. Then some sliced mushrooms, a bit of butter, and the julienned ramp leaves, along with a grind or two of salt.

I used whole wheat spaghetti--which has come a very long way from the early cardboard-flavored versions, and stirred in the pancetta/mushroom/ramp mixture, along with a bit more butter and some grated parmesan. It was tasty, quick, and easy.  If you don't have ramps, just use more garlic.  A green salad on the side along with some red wine . . . yeah, boy!