It was a good weekend, Friday Mark got to play some music, Saturday night we went out to dinner with our friend Jim, and yesterday was a “lay around the crib” day. I did a couple of watercolors.
A view of the night sky
And a rather silly dragon image.
Today I stood on the edge of our section of the Rouge River, where all the rain and snow has made the river overrun its banks in places.
We will probably get more snow, but spring is certainly on its way. Please hurry.
Where I Stand Sunday is an ongoing photo essay examining the different places Lynn Krawczyk spends her life standing. Too often we take for granted the everyday places we spend our lives walking on. If you’d like to join her by posting a photo on Sunday of places you’ve been on your blog/photo hosting site/website, leave a comment on her Sunday posts telling her where she can find you/your photo and she’ll add a link to her sidebar so others can find you. I am one of those that Lynn has badgered into joining her, I have changed it to “where I stood”, because right now I’m sitting in front of the computer, not standing anywhere.
I’m usually pretty good at drawing snakes, or Celtic knots, but last night at the bar I wasn’t having much luck. I was there to watch Mark play drums for his buddy Dan. To pass the time and stop myself from sucking up too much beer too quickly, I drew. I kept making mistakes, though.
It was kinda dark in there.
And I was drinking beer.
I didn’t have a pencil, so I couldn’t sketch it out first. But still, I should be able to do better than this.
Finally!!
Please ignore the bright pink clothes pins holding it up, I finished it recently and it’s the best picture I could get right now.
First we visited our friends in Indiana.
Mark sells parts at the show.
My crocheted turtle Amanda, that Kate made me, burrows in the capacitor bins.
A few watercolors.
Well, we just returned from the surgeon’s office, and after discussion he recommends we try a few things before we resort to surgery for Mark’s back. We’ll be doing physical therapy, and some different pain management. This is the third doctor to tell me that you are basically in the same place a year later whether you have the surgery or not, and having the surgery is not more likely to correct nerve damage. So, we make more appointments, and wait and see.
Riding in the car is really difficult for Mark, ranging from uncomfortable to unbearable, so the trip to North Carolina was difficult for him, but he did manage to have some fun. We did get to spend a day wandering the shops of Asheville, if you’ve never been to Asheville I highly recommend it. They have an amazing artists’ community with many cool little shops of beautiful things. My very favorite craft supply store, Earth Guild, is there, I always wind up spending a lot there.
We also got to hang out one evening in the NoDa area of Charlotte. This is an area of many restaurants and galleries, and two Fridays a month the galleries are open late. We managed to be there for one of the late Fridays, I couldn’t believe how crowded the area was. We’ve been checking out this section of town every year, and it has grown by leaps and bounds. We had a hard time getting a meal, everyplace was full with overworked staff. It’s good to see the economy doing well someplace.
We don’t have any more trips planned in the immediate future, so Mark should be able to take it a little easy. I’m going to try to keep him out of the car, and hope for the best.
In between selling radio parts in North Carolina, I managed to carve four rubber stamps. As you see, I’m still really into the repeat thing.
Happy Easter!
We just got back from North Carolina, and I had to dye some eggs! Despite the unpacking and the mail and everything else I need to deal with, I decided it’s Easter, and I need eggs. That’s Harmony checking out the colored orbs, she doesn’t believe they are food. Food to her are hard crunchy little X’s, she’s a simple beast.
I’ll let you know more about the trip in coming days, right now I’ve too much to do!
Where I Stand Sunday is an ongoing photo essay examining the different places Lynn Krawczyk spends her life standing. Too often we take for granted the everyday places we spend our lives walking on. If you’d like to join her by posting a photo on Sunday of places you’ve been on your blog/photo hosting site/website, leave a comment on her Sunday posts telling her where she can find you/your photo and she’ll add a link to her sidebar so others can find you. I am one of those that Lynn has badgered into joining her, I have changed it to “where I stood”, because right now I’m sitting in front of the computer, not standing anywhere.
I’ll be without computer access for about a week. Have a happy St. Patrick’s Day and a great Easter!
With my nunzilla wind up toy. She used to spit sparks, but no more.
I just have to tell you this story. When I was at St. Henry’s in Lincoln Park, in fourth grade, we had a very bad student in our class. Her name was Jackie, and she was a bully who scared everyone, male or female. She had one friend, Nora. One day the music teacher left the classroom for a moment, someone teased Jackie, and she stood up and balled her fists, and everyone got out of their seats and ran to the corner of the room farthest from her. The teacher came back, (one of the few teachers that wasn’t a nun), and restored order. Shortly after this, perhaps the next day, Mother Superior came into our regular class, (that was taught by a nun) and spanked Jackie and Nora in front of the whole class. It was explained to us that Jackie was on the wrong path, and Nora was following her. The Mother Superior talked about what a sad day it was, she had never had to spank girls before. She just couldn’t believe it had come to this.
I was happy to be a good kid, I knew to stay away from Jackie, but I can’t deny there was some envy there. Jackie took the pain and humiliation like a man, she didn’t flinch, and she certainly had the respect of everyone in the class, and even a kind of respect from Mother Superior. Hell, Jackie even had a boy’s name, how cool. I was always the kind of kid you didn’t even notice.
I tell you this story because Wednesday night I met a woman who also, in her youth, had been spanked by her Mother Superior. And this is the remarkable thing. I had met her before, she is an amazing and prolific artist, someone I already felt had superpowers to do what she does. Now I find out she’s been spanked by Mother Superior. I won’t mention her name in case that’s a fact she doesn’t want tossed around, but I have to say, in my book this raises her to goddess status. To be spanked by Mother Superior! She didn’t even turn to crime, or drugs, she turned to art! Isn’t life delicious?
Where I Stand Sunday is an ongoing photo essay examining the different places Lynn Krawczyk spends her life standing. Too often we take for granted the everyday places we spend our lives walking on. If you’d like to join her by posting a photo on Sunday of places you’ve been on your blog/photo hosting site/website, leave a comment on her Sunday posts telling her where she can find you/your photo and she’ll add a link to her sidebar so others can find you. I am one of those that Lynn has badgered into joining her, I have changed it to “where I stood”, because right now I’m sitting in front of the computer, not standing anywhere.