9 Moons Ago

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Finally doing an image for Illustration Friday again!! This one is “Tranquility”. A nice cuppa. I’m about to go make one for myself right now!

A piece of my jewelry resting an my address book:

Last night consisted of a puzzle putting-together session with my Mom, sister and I working on the world’s most impossible 500 piece puzzle. My sister and I realized that on a Friday night doing this for fun means we are getting old.. Arghhhh!! Help!

And the night wrapped up with a very fun game called “Pig in the Face” in which my sister would throw a plush stuffed 10 and a half inch pink pig on the head on my 1 year old nephew which had us all, especially him, in fits of hearty giggles. It would bounce off his head or off his face, which sounds harsh, but he loved it. We laughed till our stomachs hurt. Ahhh, such is the life when you’ve been raised by a silly family. I must say, I can’t wait to do it again. *Whoop! Pig in the Face!* *Whoop! Pig in the Face* *Whoop! Pig in the Face*

And here’s a poem I wrote tonight:

Vincents Handiwork

Thumbing through the book called
Vincent Van Gogh,
I learn about primary colours
Japanese prints
Fishing Boats
Peach Trees and Almond Blossoms.
I view witty caricatures and less
Satirical portraits.
Vincent, this self made man, despite
A wearying illness, chose to
Embolden the world with light, colour, grace and
Pepper it with skewed perspective and eerie night scenes.
His self portraits haunt my mind.
His rain sings the beauty of France.
And the wheat field is the golden-est of golds,
Covered with an indigo blue sky that envelopes the
Thick black marks which capture the flight of crows.
All this and more prove to me what can be done
If one paints to live, and lives to paint.

Here’s a photoshop sketch I did today of Tammy playing with a friend’s dog:

I’ve been thinking of what kinds of things I want to say when I speak at her memorial service in September, so I read through some old letters tonight. I thought maybe they would make me sad, missing her, but instead I found myself laughing out loud in parts. I am so grateful that I saved those letters because they are as real and tactile today as they were thirteen years ago. It reminds me also of the lost art of writing letters. On my behalf anyway. Email kind of killed my letter writing drive, yet a lot of my friends still write to me from across the miles. So I hope to take up pen and paper this week and get back to it. Too many times I’ve said “Oh tomorrow”. It doesn’t take long once I start and the benefits are reaped on both sides. A good friendship can always be made stronger by wonderful letters written and sent with love. It’s how Tammy and I kept in touch for a great deal of our friendship. And those letters are treasured even moreso after her passing. Thanks to your faithful letters, “Little Miss”, I will always have your words to read when I need your laughter, wisdom, love and hope!