patience

 

One thing I am learning about watercolor, is that sometimes I must Let It Dry before doing more with it. This does not come naturally to me. But I am trying.

Here's a watercolor sketch based on one of Harry Burton's black and white images documenting Howard Carter's excavation of Tutankhamun's tomb, exactly one hundred years ago:

I did this a couple of nights ago and wanted to continue with it but if I had carried on right away, it would have turned into a muddy, scrubby mess. So, like a grown-up, like a grown-up who has made a great many muddy, scrubby messes, I put it aside to Let It Dry.

The following night, I moved on to Phase Two:

Maybe the trick is to have two sketches going on at the same time so there is always something immediate to work on? I don't know. But Magpie's recent comment about painting made me think about Daily Markmaking. For a photographer, I sure am having fun with markmaking.

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harvest

Working my way through a laundry basket full of green tomatoes from the terrace garden. Haven't found my recipe for the wonderful green tomato chutney I made in Colorado many years ago, which is unfortunate since a kettle of chutney would have used up half that basket and left my entire house smelling delicious. Instead there have been baking sheets of halved tomatoes, lightly coated in olive oil and slow-roasted in the oven. Also a salad of sliced green tomatoes and sliced strawberries, drizzled with bleu cheese dressing. And just a few whole tomatoes frozen, because here's something I learned today: green tomatoes do not slip their skins the way ripe ones do after a minute in boiling water.

Suggestions welcome! There are probably two dozen tomatoes still waiting, and yesterday Della pointed out a few more in the garden bed between the barns...

...but I'm hoping they will be safe there until I see the bottom of that laundry basket.

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beech

 

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is it time?

Thank you to everyone who has been in touch during my unplanned hiatus - it has been very much appreciated. I've thought and thought about writing again. It's hard to know where to begin. And how to begin. And whether or not I should begin.

Perhaps the only way is to just dig in.

And see what I come up with.

 

Wish me luck?

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september 2nd

In 1752, a random immigrant settler in New England - oh, let's say a goatherd who had done the evening chores and was ready for bed - watched the sun go down on September 2nd and woke up to sunrise the next morning on September 14th. England - including of course our little Colony - had just switched, overnight, to the Gregorian calendar.

This is a bit the way time feels to me lately. While I am asleep - or at least, not paying attention - time is taking great leaps. But unlike the colonial goatherd who perhaps was  suspicious if not downright resentful at the disappearance of 12 days, I find that time also feels static. The static part is far more disorienting to me.

I want to thank everyone for their kind comments on my most recent post, and I appreciate very much that people who cannot comment here took the time to find another way to reach me. Your words really touched me, and it means a lot to know that Piper made so many online friends. I sometimes said that Piper and LeShodu each believed she ran the blog, and now they are both gone and I see that maybe they were right because in recent days I've had no words at all.

I will probably write Piper's story someday - it's a good story, a happy story - but words of any kind are oddly elusive right now. Yesterday I had to make a phonecall and felt like I was trying to communicate in a second language. This post is by far the most words I have strung together, writing or talking, since my previous post. I'm fine - we are all fine - it's just a very strange time right now.

Maybe I'll try to post images for a while.

Thank you again. So much.

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