july 15

the air is full of ash today and we're up in triple digits. it's a great day to stay in and sort out some odds and ends. My camera battery needed recharging before i could take pix off it. here are a few images for you:



this ancient lilac lives at Greenville Arms. in the Hudson River Valley. wonderful negative spaces.



A spot on the river bank where i walk in the morning. This photo was taken in April: high water.





March Walk: begun in early Spring, almost finished.



the newest addition to the household: Miss Ella. She sings jazz. She's six months old, very confident, loves the dog and has made herself Queen of everything. Otis is still afraid of her, after 3 weeks. I hope he calms down soon.

another note

it's in the high 90s here and very dry. Yesterday afternoon the air was full of smoke. It smelled like my neighbor might be burning wood. Turns out there was a range fire about 40 miles out of town. As of about midnight, 2000 acres, and at least one home, had burned. This morning when Sam and i walked, the air was so bad the particulates were visible. My car is coated with ash; the mountains were not visible (mostly have not been the last two weeks). This afternoon the air is more clear. I have not had an update, but assume that fire is now under control.
This was the second range fire *in this area* in the space of 10 days.

Several days ago there was an article in our paper about the relationship between fire season and global warming. Our regional fire season has increased by almost three months per year. This year, despite good moisture in early Spring, we are still dryer than we were last year (which was bad, the 7th or 8th consequtive drought year).

surfacing

here it is, well into July. The late Spring was such a busy time; cutting back on some of my involvements may have helped, who can tell, grin. I've been home for three weeks almost, with three more to go before a trip to Denver and then a week in Lowell. So far what i have managed to do is rest up a bit, deal with beaurocratic issues for my BIL, adopt a kitten to keep the older cat company (he is afraid of her, it might not work. sigh), paint the living room (1/4 of one wall to go!) and gradually get reacquainted with the studio.
I am in the process of revisiting and reclarifying my goals and intentions with an eye to streamlining.
It's a challenge right now, reinventing daily/weekly time structures to include the things i need to do for and with my BIL. This is not exactly a "sandwich generation" situation, but it is close. It isn't going to change; he is part of our daily lives and daily responsibilities. For me a major impact has been the diversion of my attention and energy. I am not able to fully concentrate on my work, haven't been able to since late Novemeber and it is making me more than a little owley. Strategies for dealing with this are gradually developing. Changing one's work habits is always a slow process.
meanwhile i have several small mixed media pieces, have been drwawing daily, espanding my approach to journaling, walking twice a day (great meditation!) and am slowly gettingback to the writing project. photos soon.