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Sunday, April 18, 2010

Too nice not to paint

Spring is finally arriving, the birds are singing and the trees are beginning to bud.  Yesterday I invited a couple of friends over for an afternoon of painting and an evening of eating.  Both of these wonderful women have traveled here from India to further their education.  Bushra just received her doctorate in civil engineering and Udita is putting the final touches on the thesis she will present this week and prepare to receive her Master's Degree in Ecology.  We decided together to take time from the busyness of our lives and get together and paint.

This painting was started on location last spring in Mack Park in Smithfield, UT.  I'd never painted on watercolor board before and found it to be challenging yet fun.  Just as Bushra and Udita will be moving on back to India, this water is moving on.

De-cluttering My Life

This winter has been mild in the Cache Valley.  Very little snow yet I am tired of it.  Maybe it's been the extraordinary amount of winter days of bad air brought on by the inversion due to lack of snow or maybe it's just that I've been in the house for what seems like years rather than months but I am ready for warmer weather.

One project I have been working on is de-cluttering my life starting with getting rid of my huge book collection with the exception, of course, of my art books and my vegan cookbooks.  Those will remain at least for awhile.

It's embarrassing to admit but between Bob and me we have 47' of bookcases filled to the ceiling PLUS about 20 or more boxes of books.  These books have brought each of us many hours and weeks of pleasure.  One of the things we are doing as we plan for our future is take stock of where we want to live and what we would like our lives to be filled with.

Our time here in Utah has been good.  Actually it has been more than good.  We've especially loved being able to be near our son Mark and family.  There is nothing quite like the excitement that grandchildren exude when grandparents arrive.  We realize though that our children have their own lives and as they get older their calendars get more full.  It is time that we branch out and find new ways to live ours.

So the defining of what our future will bring begins now.  Whatever or wherever we live we know that we want to travel with less on our backs and in our homes.  So the cleaning out begins.