Forty-Six Years Ago Tonight

I was a new mom with a new baby son and no idea how to manage the whole thing. I had an idea since I'd done a lot of babysitting but that didn't prepare me for the hormonal component of new motherhood. And I had a lot of that. A. Lot. But I managed along with my traveling salesman husband, Durwood, and my parents. I don't think we did too much damage because he's turned out pretty okay. Absolutely fabulous, if I'm being honest. He's a good husband, a great father, and a successful business owner. Lots there to be proud of. And I am. I love you to the moon and back, DS!

The Red-bellied Woodpecker was a frequent visitor to the suet nuggets feeder today. I was surprised that it managed to cling to the feeder because it was sooooo windy all day. In the early part of the day it landed with its tail toward me so I could see the reddish patch on its belly but later in the day it landed with its back to me so I could see its red head. I like that view better so that's the one you get.

Later in the afternoon the Downy Woodpecker showed up and spent some time on my side of the suet cakes feeder. I could tell it was a male because it had the red swoop across the back of his head but that didn't show on the only shot I managed to take before he flew away.

For drawing practice today I pulled out Draw 500 Fabulous Flowers. I don't know what kind of flowers these are. The one in the middle looks like an artichoke to me. Is that a flower? I don't know.

And today's watercolor wildflower is Valerian. I've heard of it but never seen it that I know of. I made the flower clumps a bit too big because the stem is supposed to be much longer and the whole thing looks a lot more slender in the book. That's okay. I still like it and I like trying my hand at painting this stuff. I have moments when things turn out pretty well but I have fun even when they aren't the best, like today.

You know, usually I'm pretty steady emotionally. When I think of Durwood I smile. But today he got this piece of mail that just about sent me to my knees. It was an ad for a diamond pendant with a message engraved on the back. It said "Barbara, I loved you then, I love you still, I always have, I always will, Donald." Knocked the wind right outta me. I took its picture because it about destroyed me for the rest of the day and then I tossed it in the recycling. Out in the garage so I didn't catch sight of it again. Geez, the guy's been gone for six and a half years. I wish he'd stop getting mail.

I didn't let it stop my day. I ran errands--dropped off a couple old, broken Kindles at the place that will recycle them, went to the office store for a microSD card for my new Kindle, dropped off a bag of dishcloth cotton to KW so she can knit dishcloths when she needs some mindless knitting, and went to the grocery for bananas, blueberries, and borax. I've got some sheets that just aren't as clean as I'd like and borax is an old-timey laundry additive that's good at cleaning white things. They even had 20-Mule Team Borax which I remember ads for on black and white TV when I was a kid. In fact, I think they might have sponsored Wagon Train which my family was big fans of when there wasn't a lot to choose from that wasn't a Western.

And I signed into the silent writing Zoom on the Ad School site, spent 2 hours writing two new scenes, and wrote a total of 1996 words. I tell you, that silent writing Zoom is magic. I sit here during the day and nothing comes but at 5 o'clock I sign in and words come. Not swiftly and not always easily but they come. I'm grateful.

--Barbara