Auld Lang Syne

At my Friday watercolor class at Leu Gardens, (13 people), I realized Kathy, a dear friend of my dear friend, was sitting at the table behind me. Not really that unexpected; she and her husband had moved into her father’s Orlando house and renovated it after the old man had died. Caught up on our respective children and made real promises to get together. They live on the east side, but doable. We will see each other at our mutual friend’s son’s celebration of life in February.

Note: the technique we tried in class was coloring with white crayon to make places where the watercolor couldn’t attach to the paper, in this case, as snow on the trees. Since I couldn’t see where the wax was once I drew, it was a surprise where the snow appeared. I’m not sure this technique is for me.

Sunday, Susie and Joe came to lunch. La Leche League, homeschoolers, Clara daycare, they were a constant in our younger Fort Lauderdale lives, they too now live in Central Florida. We caught up on children, grandchildren, and a great-grandchild, with another due in April. Joe has a little female or male symbol tattoo on his forearm for each one. Susie is full-time nanny to her daughter’s 6- and 4-year-old, way more energy than I could manage, but a marvelous way to support each other. Again, east-siders and promises to meet up, but real. Perhaps we are settling in. (I baked an apple pie, Grant grilled chicken and cooked salted potatoes, Susie brought the ramen salad Grant requested.)