In 2010 I set myself a 365 day task to produce a portrait of my world every day and to run each day of the year. I did it.
In 2014 I completed four months of another resolution.
In 2022, we have become nomads and I have resurrected the blog. There are still 2 resolutions: Live life fully in many different countries and eventually find a forever home.
This is a once-weekly blog of something interesting in my life.
So, I have finished one month, eleven to go! 27F today (-2.7) and it felt warm. And, I broke the boundary of 4km! I ran 4.23km (2.62 miles) today, and quite comfortably too. I am amazed.
It was beautiful in the meadow, and I surprised a pair of American Robins, which look very similar to South African Cape Robins, which flew noisily away, their fat round tummies glowing orange. And a male cardinal sang his downhill song, reminding me of my dad whistling.
My beautiful boys and their little friend Chris, wearing the hat I knitted him for Christmas. They have known Chris since he was born and they all love one another very much.
And here is my self-portrait, taken on a very chilly day when Tim and I went to Plum Island to look for snowy owls and bald eagles. We didn't see any, only a few geese hunkered down at the far end of the beach. It was very very cold that day, and the wind whistled around my head climbing up the flights of stairs to the lookout. We were the only people for miles around, crazy South Africans!
Frigid temperatures today, 17F (-8.3). Ran 2.8km (1.73 miles). It always amazes me how a body can warm itself so much with exercise. I ended with just a long-sleeved t-shirt and tracksuit pants, having discarded my big coat, scarf, woolly hat, insulated ski-gloves and my hooded sweater too!
Winter in New England is black & white, bare trees, snow, colourless grass and blackened humus and my eyes crave colour. There are tulip buds in the stores and I have given them to quite a few friends, but I think tomorrow I will buy some for our house too. They are so beautiful, they open their delicate velvet petals as soon they feel themselves in water. I know that trees need the beauty sleep of winter in order to grow, but I wish it was a little shorter.
I found this cranefly drinking in my bathroom sink the other night, exquisite ethereal creature.
Nick told me about a speaker they had at their school yesterday who left everyone in tears. The students all exited the auditorium in silence, just a few sniffs here and there. The man was the father of a 7th grade boy who killed himself as a result of bullying 6 years ago in Vermont. He has been giving this talk at schools ever since, in the hope that his son's death will not have been completely in vain. He pointed out that bullying has taken on a new face with all our new technology, and cyber-bullying seems much much worse than regular bullying, because you can never get away from it, it's on Facebook, and AIM, and text-messaging, and this poor boy fell victim to the cruelty of other children.
I wonder if cruelty is the default behaviour in humans, that we learn kindness. I remember being relentlessly bullied by girls when I was in 2nd or 3rd grade, and just to think of it wounds me with such immediacy still.
This is me as a girl, contemplating in an island of confusion.
A bright sunny day but frigid, with 0F wind-chill, that is -17.7C! A dusting of snow from yesteray. I took Molly for a brief run, about 1km this afternoon, after Matthew and I had returned from his wisdom teeth operation in Boston.
Hard to watch him go into the operating room and then wait an hour for it all to be over, and worry and knit in the drab waiting room. He was really alert when it was over though, and talked the hind leg off a donkey, telling me everything that happened, because he remembered a whole lot, even though they told him he wouldn't remember anything. It is called "conscious sedation", so I suppose there are people who recall bits of memory from the operation itself.
I got the awful news today that the son of my best friend from childhood has ben diagnosed with leukaemia, so I have felt sad all day. I was so happy tonight to receive an email which said that they had received a good prognosis from the initial testing, so that sounds a bit better! Here's wishing great success to all the little warriors in Ben's body, battling the foe!
The wonders of modern technology allow me to take an image of my right hand and then look at it and draw it! Because that is something my left hand can't do, and that is draw. But I accidentally bumped a key which suddenly zoomed in on the photograph, so that I was enthralled by screen-high fingers! Which is what you see behind the hand, the pointing finger. That ring I have had for about 20 years, it is battered and bent, but I love it. Tim gave it to me. The turtle was given to me by Tim also, and the lower one on my ring finger has dolphins leaping, although you can't see that from the drawing - this one is from my ex-mother-in-law. The one above it was given to me by Emma, I think,and her little baby lovebird bit off some pieces in 1997, but it all remained intact and I love it.
27F and it snowed again today! This is Molly last year around about this date as I didn't take any pictures in the meadow today. What deep deep snow we had this time last year! Perhaps we are still in for heavy snow this winter, sigh..... I ran 2.91km today, although it felt like more than yesterday, but the pedometer doesn't lie, does it? Sometimes it is really hard the whole way, but other times, like today, I get into a rhythm which feels pretty good. I never thought I would experience anything like this. I've lived all my life believing that I couldn't run. Never say never indeed!
This look is skeptical, and also a bit thoughtful, wondering how Matthew's wisdom teeth extraction operation is going to go tomorrow morning. Also, I'm thinking of some friends of ours who have just adopted a little baby and they are struggling with learning her cries and her needs. She is a very lucky little girl, and no doubt they will soon all be a unit, but Tim and I were remembering how shocking it is to have a newborn baby, this new little delicate fragile thing, for whom you are utterly responsible, and it breaks your heart when they cry so tragically with colic or wind or whatever.
35F (1.6C) Beautiful sunny morning 3.47km (2.15miles) The day began frustratingly with me finishing the Beeline newsletter, my monthly nemesis! I had a lovely run though, my best in days, because it is so much easier to run on bare ground, not covered in snow! The entire Heartbreak Hill is free of snow, and my snow angel is no more. A picture of Molly at her shrine - THE BALL TREE.
Nick and I had to go to a dermatologist, about 40 miles away, so it was a long time driving, especially coming home, in rush hour. I looked over at Nick when he didn't respond to something I said, to see that he was asleep, somehow small and curled up, like a Great Dane lying there, and I felt such a rush of love for this long-limbed child of mine. He has always fallen asleep in cars, and prams, and supermarket trolleys, since he was a baby, whereas Matthew, his twin, always sat up, attentive and wide-eyed the entire time Nick slept. And I remembered how many times I have had to rescue him and get him to a doctor, or a hospital, this accident-prone boy! When he was four years old, I carried him about three miles from the Village Green to the doctor's office in High Street one day when his eardrum burst, and he was in such pain, lying on my back, a dead weight! But I carried him all the way, and went quite fast, and managed to hold Matthew's hand most of the way too, because that is what mothers do, they rescue their children, they make them better, they protect them, like fierce fierce tigers.
I had to have a mole biopsied, so I have this huge target-like band-aid on my face, and look like a dork. So this is my picture for today, looking a bit down, and downward. But I'm really feeling fine.
Saw this rocky heart in the snow on Sunday. The snow in the meadows has probably mostly melted now because of all the rain and high temperatures we have had, yesterday and today. But by Friday apparently we will be well below freezing again!
It is 4 years since my mother died. Jess, one of her granddaughters, wrote on FB, "Four years ago today an amazing woman died. She was the rock of our family and joy and light personified. She loved her children, grandchildren and great grandchildren with all her heart and soul and never failed to make each and every one of us feel special. She was an inspiration to me and I miss her everyday."
I miss being loved like that, no one ever loves you like your mother loves you. She possessed a bright swift mind and a broad knowledge, and would discuss anything and everything. She had wonderful hands which made so many beautiful things, knitting and cross-stitching and creating many gifts for her family and friends. She was beloved by many many people in her long life. She taught me how to love.
For the self-portrait, I just kind of doodled, almost, on an old piece of paper, without looking at a mirror, I always end up in my drawings looking like a Native American for some reason.
Saw this warthog made of ice crystals in a rockpool at Hampton Beach yesterday.
41F when Tim woke me up to say goodbye this morning! Ran downstairs to wish Matthew good luck (Nick had no exam today) Fed and watered all the myriad plants in my house, the delicate souls that can't survive a New England winter and have to be brought inside after the summer at the first hint of overnight frost. Gave words of encouragement to my Erythrina which has grown too tall to live with all the other plants and must endure alone in the Lily Lounge which is quite cold in winter. Fed geriatric piggy, wild birds and squirrels who pounce on the food as soon as I put it out, like they've been hanging about in the trees since sunrise waiting just for me. Fed ancient cat and crazy black dog. Brief run up to bees and back, persuaded Molly that she had to hurry up with the workings of her stomach, grabbed some rice and spinach and humus for my lunch, and then off to school! Where I had an inspection from the principal today, with a crazy 8th grade class who were surprisingly well-behaved! This afternoon, I had a very happy 11th grader when I gave him the good news that his work had won a Gold Key award in a state-wide art competition. Now it goes forward to a national competition in Washington!
I had to wait a long time for Nick after Journalism tonight. He apologized when he got into the car but I hadn’t even noticed the time, I had just lain back and watched the rain running down the windscreen, with the rain’s shadow on the dashboard going the other way, looking like it was running up, for some physical reason not immediately evident to my tired brain.. Taught 9th graders about profiles today, so tried to do one of my own.
38F, and predictions for 50F (10C) tomorrow! But it is going to pour with rain! I ran/walked 2.1km today, and that after a long walk on Hampton beach in New Hampshire, where we went to see a beautiful little screech owl sitting in a tree, with many enthusiastic people crowded around taking photographs and exclaiming happily. It was a lovely morning and Tim was in his element, taking many images of the owl and the sea. I also took some pictures with my beloved little point-and-shoot Canon, but my favourite shot of the day was from this afternoon's walk/run. This old apple tree dances in the second meadow, next to 'my' meadow.
The self-portrait with a charcoal pencil, very quick and simple, I ended up looking fairly serene, which is far from how I actually feel tonight, having struggled frustratedly for hours with the Beekeepers' Newsletter. Tim rescues me when I am foaming at the mouth. Sometimes I hate computer programmes so much! And myself, for volunteering for this position, which I must still hold for another whole year! But how lucky to have a knight in shining armour. Maybe that is why I look serene.
Mad Molly Malone in the sunny meadow. It was very cold this morning, and I only ran about 1km, too little time! But it was beautiful and sunny, warmed the cockles of my heart! I saw a magnificent red-tailed hawk on a tree by the side of the road on my way to fetch the boys from the Ipswich Y, and it was still there on the way back so I called Tim who was on a stakeout at a hole in another tree in Essex, watching out for a screech owl, who never appeared. He got some beautiful pictures of the hawk though!
We went to see 'The Lovely Bones' this afternoon with our old friends. Such a sad, emotionally draining movie. I was weeping uncontrollably in the car afterwards, and Tim gently pointed out that I had read the book, so I had known what was going to happen. But books are so different, you can imagine whatever you like, and put the book down if things get too much. Movies are so shockingly real and immediate.
So I am cheating tonight, because the little girls in the story reminded me of my dear little daughters, who are now grown-up. Also because I am too too tired to create something new. This is a self-portrait I did with my two small girls when I was newly divorced in 1983. We formed a self-contained little world, just the three of us.
35F , although that was only for a minute at noon, I think. The rest of the day was definitely below freezing. Bitter. I ran about 3km, I think, but I had forgotten my pedometer, so don't know for sure.
Feeling a bit blue today, with the general state of the world: Daughters living in other countries, being an orphan, Scott Brown, the Supreme Court decision, Haiti, too many balled-up socks that I have to unfurl before they go in the wash, and the cold weather with barely a scrap of sunshine!
This is on the causeway in Essex, always beautiful, this little scene.
The other night I had to pick up something at Home Depot, and as I was getting into my car some Canada Geese flew swiftly over, not too far above my head, in the newly dark sky, honking softly to one another, "lover by lover" as Yeats decribed the wild swans. I imagined two of them as my parents, kindly encouraging one another. My dad: "How are you doing, dear?" My mother: "I'm fine, it's just cold, and really dark, and I'm a little scared..." "Don't worry, dear, we're nearly there, just stick by me and we'll be there by and by." And off they flew, into the distant darkness.
The sun, o beauteous Sun! Snow sparkles, ice glitters, birds sing, Anne runs! 2.78km today. The sun weakly warm on my back once I have finished and am sitting on a rock getting my breath back.
And the snow angel slowly melts into the earth, part of sun and shadow, while Molly watches obediently, thinking, "What on earth? Why does she always make me wait here in the cold snow? What is she doing? Why doesn't she throw the ball already?"
Slightly elongated portrait, done with pen. I think I look a bit like a Native American here. I don't think I have ever examined my face as much as I am doing now, with this resolution. When I was little the only treatment for a bad asthma attack was for the doctor to come to the house and give me what was probably some type of anaesthetic, which basically knocked me out for hours, and it seemed to work, because everything, including the inflamed little bronchioli in my lungs, relaxed. I remember that it was so deep, that sleep, that when I finally clawed my way back to wakefulness, I felt as though I had died, and somehow come back to life. I would gaze at myself in the bathroom mirror and try to remember who I was, hope that I was still the same person. Strange to face such existential questions at such a young age.
Already the 20th January! Good grief! The older I get, the faster time disappears. I ran nearly 2km today, and as I returned home, it was snowing again! So much snow! So much shoveling.
Molly and the snow angel on the third day, after 2 more gentle snowfalls.
I was thinking deeply about the fact that the charismatic man won the Massachusetts vote yesterday, the "guy you can go and have a beer with", the "man who speaks his mind", while the woman candidate, the Attorney General, was described as "mild-mannered", "used to considering all sides of an argument", "not friendly enough", etc. As politicians, why don't we have any ordinary pleasant people: the lovers, the walkers in the woods, the poets, the teachers; not always the hunters, the predators, the egomaniacs, the ignorant by design?
It was really hard going so that I stopped quite often, it being almost like an obstacle course at times in the deep snow, like army training when they have to run across a field of rubber tires, putting their feet into the circles of ground inside each tire, so exhausting.
This is Molly waiting patiently (well, not really) for me to call her to come to me. I was inspecting my snow angel and made her stay at Refridgerator Corner so that she wouldn't gallop up and tread on it!
The snow angel was covered with a film of new snow, all the contours softened.
The self-portrait is how I am all wrapped up when I have to go out in the cold. The expression is something like I look when I don't want to have to shovel again. And also how I look tonight, so saddened by the news of the Republican candidate's win of the Massachusetts Senate seat formerly held by Ted Kennedy.
The eye on the left is much too big. And it might even be looking in another direction, like Marty Feldman's eyes. But it is virtually impossible to erase this kind of black soft pencil on this paper. The scarf around my neck is my lovely orange pashmina which I received from Emma for Christmas.
Today there was a slushy mix of an inch or two and on top of that about 5 inches of wet snow! So, hard-going, but I did walk again in the afternoon and made a snow-angel in the meadow. She's a garden angel.
When Jess was little she heard about guardian angels and thought they were a lovely idea, although she thought they were 'garden' angels, found in the garden and part of leaves and trees and flowers. So garden angels have protected our family ever since.
We spent so much time shovelling snow this afternoon, and when we were finished this evening I cleaned all the snow and ice off the car, and here is my self-portrait drawn on my car's side-window.
I felt very despondent this morning, missing my mother. The exercise from running seems to make me feel so much better. I know that marathon runners get the "runner's high", caused by endorphins surging through the limbic and prefrontal areas of their brains, which is apparently the same feeling you get from falling in love. Which sounds wonderful, but I hardly run a marathon distance! Perhaps my brain is so surprised with the experience of running, which has never happened in its life before, that it only requires a few endorphins for it to feel good.
This is Molly with her little yellow god.
This self-portrait looking down was done with a 5b pencil on a gloomy Sunday afternoon in front of the roaring wood-stove, when I found myself unexpectedly all alone at home. I was pleased with its delicate nature.
Beautiful day! 43F (6C) This is the legendary Frankie, the 13 year-old long-haired daschund, who trudged (and lolloped at times) more than 5km through the woods on his short little legs, with his tummy constantly grazed by the snow, his gallant heart undaunted.
I didn't run at all today but went for a long walk through the snowy woods with my friend and her daughter, (and Frankie and Molly) and got completely lost, which was a wonderful experience actually because we found our way back with humour and patience and enjoyment!
So my self-portrait today was as a tree, because I loved walking through their grandeur today, the deciduous trees in their dormant state, waiting patiently for Spring, when they will "plume forth, plume forth, and be splendid" as D H Lawrence wrote, and the evergreens stately and enduring, and all lit by the sparkling sun which was actually warm on our backs at times.
I added the oranges at the end because if I was a tree I would love to bear fruit, and oranges are beautiful in colour and in taste. And then I had to stop because it was nearly midnight and I needed to post this before the day was over.
36F (2.3C) 1.3km. (the first day that I have woken up and not wanted to run)
Lily the ancient cat decided that she wanted to go out the other day when it was SO cold. Tim said that I probably should have let her, she most likely wanted to walk off and die in the snow like the old Inuit do, when they have become a burden on their village. I told her that she couldn't, and kept her from the door every time it opened. Tim said that I would be the one in the Inuit village feeding all the old people, letting no one go off into the snow to die. I think that is a good thing.
Going on a field trip in the school-bus last year, one of the teachers asked me what my favourite animal was and 5 adjectives to describe it. I immediately began ecstatically describing the elephant, as enormous (the biggest land-animal on earth), matriarchal with strong family ties (the whole elephant society is run by the old matriarchs), so intelligent that they have a sense of humour (Joyce Poole discovered this), having empathy with others, and being able to communicate by using infrasound. The young teacher looked a bit non-plussed, and then quickly explained to me that it is a game and the animal you choose represents you, and all the adjectives you choose describe you, or how you see yourself! She mentioned that the other two teachers had both chosen the dog as their favourite animal, being loyal , trustworthy, happy etc.
Positively balmy today! 33F (0.5C) Ran 3.2km (struggled)
I wondered about all those poor people in Haiti, such chaos and devastation. And I thought about how awful it would be if an earthquake hit us, and I was at school in Cambridge, Tim at his work in Danvers, the boys at school in Manchester, Emma in London and Jess in South Africa! My mother hen mentality wishes they could all be near my sheltering wings.
Coming home from taking Nick to school I had to pull off the road on seeing this tree, glowing in the morning sun. I was walking back along the icy side of the road in order to take a photograph when a woman going the other way kindly stopped and asked me if I needed a ride.
I had a very contemplative day and this charcoal drawing reflects that. I immediately felt better once the boys were home, they always make me happy, make me laugh.
It is amazing how warm you get running. I shed clothing as I go, coat, hat, scarf, gloves, hoodie, always on the same tree, so that is where I will end my run. Today I looked up during my final sprint up Heartbreak Hill and all my clothes were standing at the finish line cheering me on!
The boys swam in a meet tonight and did very well, and then, exhausted, they still had to learn for a French mid-term tomorrow! They were asking me the meanings of vocabulary words that they had, and half of them I didn't know, although when put into the context of a sentence I could usually figure them out.
Our second and third (and any other extra) languages are stored in a separate part of our brains from our mother tongue, and sometimes they get confused in that part of my head, so the only word I can think of for 'often' for example, is 'dikwels' and the french word 'souvent' will elude me for a while, and vice versa. When I am alone in the car I sometimes sing loud verses of hymns and then try to sing them translated into Afrikaans and French too.
Trying to observe and set in only the lighter parts with a white pencil-crayon, sort of the opposite of usual drawing, in this image. I think I always make the eyes too big, but perhaps that is just how my images look.
No run today, school instead. I managed to inspire a kid who has been struggling to find something he is happy with, he usually destroys everything at the end of the period. I turned him on to Joan Miro's whimsical Constellation series!
So here is a picture I took in the car the other day with Matthew. Bird on a Wire. It's freezing cold, and there's this whole row of pigeons kind of huddled together, and then look, there's the individual, making his statement. Or he's Mr Grumpy. Or no one else likes him. Or he would rather be a hawk.
I am very tired tonight, and waiting up for the boys who have gone to a show, so here is a picture of what I would like to be doing right now!
How many nights have I waited up for children? It is only when you have to wait up for your own child that you realise what your own mother went through, all that worry, all that love.
Sunny cold day again - ran up to the meadow and back with Molly quickly before school.
This is my messy corner, taken in early December - no snow on the ground outside! The flowers are from Tim for 25 years together.
My hands are ink-stained tonight, after helping 8th graders with their pen & ink images. It is surprising, when you have known how to do something for such a long time that you can't even remember learning it yourself, to realise that these kids have never done such a thing, and it is a skill to be learned, to use a nibbed pen and dip it into an ink bottle and draw with it like you would with a pencil. I am old enough that I learnt to write with such a pen, each desk had an inkwell and you dipped your pen into it and scrawled messily across your page!
So tonight I took off my boots and sat on the couch in between cutting Matthew's hair and fetching Nick from Journalism. My feet rub slowly and companionably against one another, just as my fathers' feet used to, and just as Matthews' feet do, an affectionate genetic trait.
The skinny 20-year old calico cat Lily came and sat on me for a while, so I was petting with one hand and drawing with the other. Imagine having whiskers like that.
Crunching mouthfuls of snow is so delicious when you have just run a long way! I always sprint the last 50 meters or so, and then I am just finished! I bend over to catch my breath, panting hard, and Molly, who has run behind me the entire way, and run further because of her little hopeful circles and side-trips off to investigate interesting smells, bounces excitedly, "Oh, are you going to throw the ball now? Now! Yay! Yay! The ball! The ball!", her energy utterly undepleted!
Why do we make self-portraits? Is it vanity? Is it because we are always available to ourselves? Is it an attempt at self-knowledge?
Yes, yes and yes. It is fascinating that all through history people have created things and wanted people to know it was specifically their creation, even when they were forbidden to mark it as theirs, as in ancient potters inscribing on the bottoms of pots, "I made this", or monks in the Middle Ages somehow putting self-portrayals into their illuminated scripts. The invention of a relatively easy way to make mirrors in the 16th century led to a proliferation of self-portraits. An interesting woman artist I have discovered is Sofonisba Anguissola, who had a wonderful and fulfilled life. She created beautiful portraits and several self-portraits throughout her long life. She lived until she was 93.
2.91km - sunshine and cold 20F (-7C) Running past the place where I fell a couple of days ago, I noticed a sharp branch poking out just after my face-print in the snow. I must have landed a couple of millimeters from it, and it made me wonder how many times we elude death throughout the course of our lives. Tim was using the snow-blower in the street just outside our driveway entrance the other day and we were all shovelling further up the hill, when I saw a snow-plough coming past and noticed with horror how it almost ALMOST got him, nearly took him out, he had not noticed it coming and I don't think it saw him until the last minute. It is not only cats who have 9 lives!
Molly bounds with such limitless energy, I wished today for 4 legs instead of my 2, she bounces along with a constant spring, while I plod on relentlessly, with difficulty, with struggle, with not much grace at all. Perhaps it would be nice to be a dog, but I always thought how much I would miss reading.
This evening was my ECBA (Essex County Beekeepers' Association) meeting, where I am the recording secretary, which means that I have to take minutes and produce the monthly newsletter, called Beeline. So I have done a self-portrait as a bee. A queen bee.
I had to go into Boston today to drop off some students' artwork for a competition, the Scholastic Awards. So I only ran late this afternoon, and the light slowly faded as I ran. Molly and I have beaten quite a path through the snow, and others have made use of our little lane, as I noticed deer-tracks all along the way. On my second circuit, I suddenly noticed my pedometer lying in the snow! And it still seems to work! From the photograph, you can see that it was snowing softly, where the flash caught the snowflakes.
The portrait
I did a half-hour line-drawing this evening while waiting for the henna on my hair to work. There are so many lines on my face now! So strange to watch yourself grow old. My dad once said that he always felt as though he was about 27 or 28, and sometimes it was a shock to suddenly notice how old he really was. He lived until he was almost 89, a great old age, and when he visited me a year before he died, he still thought he was capable of cutting down a 100ft tree! He really believed himself strong and capable of doing anything still, as he had lived his whole life. I have his mouth.
I always carry my cellphone in the side pocket of my snowpants (which are hand-me-downs from Nick when he was 12), in case I fall and break my leg and then I can phone for help instead of literally freezing to death! (When we had been here a couple of months I asked Tim what could have possessed us to come and live in a place where you can die of the cold!) So today I tripped BAM over a fallen branch hidden in the snow, and went flying, landing on my hands and then my face, but was none the worse for wear except that my hands and face were rather cold and wet for a while. And a bit shocked, but carried on regardless, congratulating all my bones for not breaking.
The portrait
It is amazing how much time is spent doing stuff with all this snow we have here in the northeast. Tomorrow it is going to snow, so you have to prepare for it, so Nick and I went to the dump this afternoon to collect buckets and buckets of sand and salt to fill our bins all the way up our steep driveway. Prior to that I had brought many sled-loads of wood up from the woodpile to the house, to feed the ravenous woodstove that keeps us warm. And then when the snow comes, once it has stopped falling, and sometimes before it has stopped, the whole team (Tim, Anne, Nick, Matthew and any hangers-on, of which there are usually one or two) has to snowblow and shovel and sand for an hour or two! It is very good exercise but also time-consuming!
So this is very late, a watercolor of me drinking my lovely hot tea, which links me to my mother, who loved tea and had many cups each day, except hers was black and mine is milky and sweetened with honey.
It was beautiful in the meadow, and I surprised a pair of American Robins, which look very similar to South African Cape Robins, which flew noisily away, their fat round tummies glowing orange. And a male cardinal sang his downhill song, reminding me of my dad whistling. 
