Insomnia, oil on canvas, 28” x 22”
Just Sharing Another Magical Moment From My Magical Life
Photo by Nancy Robinson
As I sauntered down the street one day last summer, a prairie storm drifted in front of me. The tempest lingered a few feet above my head. If I’d shimmied up a street lamp, I could have touched the clouds. If I’d scrambled onto a nimbus, I could have floated away, never to bother anyone or be bothered by anything again. But since I didn’t take any action besides looking upward with awe, here I am, still rattling around Planet Earth and wishing you a happy Spring.
Wild in the City
Did you hear about the bear sighting in my neighborhood? Yup, one night last summer someone spotted a bear wandering through some parking lots near my home. The hour was late and no humans were around except for all the people hanging out their windows in the artist buildings. Honestly, even a small, quiet bear isn’t guaranteed anonymity with all these insomniac photographers around.
I confess I felt worried about encountering the bear on my walk the following day. To keep myself safe, I stuck some pots and pans into a tote bag and slung it over my shoulder. I decided if the bear appeared in my path, I’d clang the pots and pans together and jump up and down, waving my arms to look bigger. I figured that even if such activity didn’t scare away the bear, the bear would at least get a good laugh out of the matter, allowing me time during its subsequent guffaws to remove myself from its proximity.
As luck would have it, I saw no bears that day or any day since then. I did, however, spot some interesting fauna. I’m sharing a photo of my favorite sighting, a creature especially dear to me.
You’re welcome.
Photo by Nancy Robinson
I Always Keep Busy With Projects in Winter
It’s January! Time to start planning my summer garden!
Sustainable Farming, oil on canvas, 36” x 36”
The Time God Put Me in Charge of Winter
Did I ever tell you about my first grade Christmas pageant? The one where I failed the audition for the lead because my mother, over my protests, always cut my hair short, and they wanted a girl with long hair for the lead? And everyone said “Stop blaming your mother… the real reason you didn’t get the part is because the play is a musical and you can’t carry a tune.” ? And then I got cast as a snowflake, which was a non-singing part, and my only job was to stand in the back waving my arms along with the other snowflakes until the end of the play, when we all fell down? And since the school could only afford costumes for the main characters in the play, and since all of the snowflakes were girls, we snowflakes had to wear our slips as our “costumes”? And I felt mortally embarrassed to appear in front of the entire school in my underwear? And all the other snowflakes came down with the stomach flu and stayed home on opening night, and I ended up having to perform alone?
You say I never told you that story? Well, now I’ve told you.
Who, Me? Yes, Me!
I’ve just had 15 minutes of fame!!!!!!!!
Let me rephrase that: I’ve just had 15 minutes of fame, give or take a few minutes. It depends on how long it takes you to read the article I’m featured in, and also whether you read the entire article or only read the part about me.
Here’s a link to “Lessons of the Pandemic: The art that emerges from isolation,” an article which appeared in The Villager newspaper on November 11, 2020: