Day 10

3.58km (2.22miles),  17F (-8C),  Sunshine

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.