12 Oakdale

At the macro level, our dear leader has abducted a country’s president, bad guy that he is; ICE has murdered an American citizen; and war continues in Ukraine. Empathy is out of style. The golden rule has been abandoned. I write my representatives and despair. On the micro level, my life is good. That also makes me despair because life is so unfair. What to do? Because the weather has been delightful, I can spend time each morning painting, rather than having to be in the yard at o’dark hundred to avoid the heat. I have signed up with another online teacher and am completing her 30-day beginner boot camp, committing to painting every day for a month. I bought the large quill brush she recommended and am getting much better in creating large washes and shading. Already I can see vast improvement in my work. I am continuing with this year’s 100 Tiny Paintings with my original teacher. Another macro and micro. I am using a list making technique of “Must Do”, “Should Do”, and “Don’t You Da...

We turned the air conditioning off yesterday. Day temperatures under 78°; nights in the low 70s. However, the humidity is running at about 94%. The AC may get turned back on. With it being less hot, I’ve been able to shift my gardening to later in the morning, giving me time to paint first. Better for my brain and energy level. I’ve also started knocking off some of the projects I’ve been avoiding,  First up was making the buttonholes in the Halloween shirt Stephanie made for Kyle. That began with a search for the shirt, which I remembered as a cream color, but was actually black. Overlooked several times in the hunt, but eventually found in one of my craft stashes. Next was reading the online manual to re-learn how to use the automatic buttonholes on Steph’s machine. Neither she or I could find the right pressure foot, but luckily she has inherited another machine which had one. For the life of me, I could not get the machine’s buttonhole lever to stay down, and the computer would...

 A list of what I moved out of our house; stuff I let in; the things I considered, fondled, thought about, yet didn’t allow to join our household, at least so far; and items replaced. OUT: 01/5: Returned Trtl travel pillow to Amazon. Just didn’t quite fit, and why do I need something I’ll likely leave on an airplane like all the others I’ve bought? I sleep just fine without it. $51.11 back. 01/6: Christmas decorations. Although they are in cardboard boxes sitting on shelves in the garage for donation in October, I culled a whole big tote of decorations we haven’t used since we left Fort Lauderdale. 01/7: Red exercise bands left from PT that have sat, unused, on my nightstand for a year. To the trash. I’ll get new if ever needed. 01/23: Returned small messenger bag. Cute, however I couldn’t get my hand easily into the zippered opening. $89.90-$6 USPS return shipping. 01/28: Eight IKEA chairs out of our garage to Stephanie’s. New Year’s Eve tiara missing the “New”, found when we live...

We celebrated Epiphany by putting away our Christmas decorations. We were supposed to be ambassadors at LAWD, but it began raining in the night and continued all morning. Not weather that encourages first time visitors. I had my own epiphany: rather than put away all the decorations with the idea that I’d go through them in the fall (hasn’t happens the past 2 years, even though on the calendar), why not decide which ones I want to keep and box the rest up for donation? Aha!  I cleared our dining room table for the discards. I was ruthless. Out went all the shiny balls, even the ones from the 50’s and 60’s I’d collected. We aren’t having Christmas trees anymore so they aren’t needed. I had a moment of possible tears for our past, a brief wish we were still young with children at home. Sigh. We aren’t, life is good now too. The martini glasses with hand-pained Rudolph’s: gone. Box of large jingle bells I have used once: out. So on and so forth.  By the time I was done, we had on...

We had planned to drive to Fort Lauderdale on the Sunday two weeks beforeThanksgiving, eat dinner with son Patten, spend the night at a friend’s, then, the reason for the trip, I’d have my annual birthday breakfast with Deb and Pat, who share the same birthday. Deb and I have been celebrating together for almost 30 years; Pat joined us a few years ago.  But, after 7 years of waiting, that Monday was announced as the opening day of the trial of the alleged murderer of Deb’s dear friend. The jury was to be seated the week before, and the victim’s husband and son were to testify the first day. They had requested that Deb and her husband be there as support. If we were still living in Fort Lauderdale, I’d have joined them. This robbery-gone-wrong was the most horrific crime against one of the nicest persons I’ve known. She would have given the thug whatever he wanted. But, rather, she was brutally stabbed to death. The case got crazier when the alleged murderer, known in his neighborho...