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Up and Down week

5/14/2020

2 Comments

 
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I feel like most of us are having these most weeks. This week has been especially so for me. I had a lovely mother's day visit on the patio with my folks, from a safe distance. Then the baby Cardinals finally hatched. And then they died overnight in the nest, I think from cold. It affected me in an outsized way, although I imagine some of that is just the grief and stress of these times also showing up, and it's not bad to push a little of that out occasionally. Plus Mr. Darcy came over and gave me big sloppy kisses to make me feel better.

I found that I needed to physically turn the page on this page of my sketchbook, so I drew my dinner last night. I've never cooked beets before. Thanks to Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything (which I think is going to be key for my CSA journey), it was super easy, and I've had a couple of truly lovely beet salads with goat cheese and slightly candied walnuts.

Then today was lovely again. I met Dad and Pat at his grandparent's house, my great grandparents, about half a mile from their daughter's (my grandmother's) house where I live now. I never knew my great grandparents, or the house, and it's recently been bought by a lovely woman who is lovingly restoring it and who wants to know the history of the house and of our family as she moves in. It's beyond special to have someone there who wants to know and carry forward those family stories. We've had such a great series of emails over the last week, and it means a tremendous amount. I sat afterwards and sketched the house to have more happiness in my journal from this time. My favorite thing, aside from getting to see the place, was finding out that the sunroom off the main bedroom was called "The Joint" because it was jointly owned by my dad (with his bed there for weekend visits) and his grandfather, who kept his desk in there.
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2 Comments
Nicola Pearson link
5/14/2020 11:14:24 pm

I think this is my favorite post so far both from the art work perspective and from your writing. I'm sorry the baby Cardinals died. I know how hard that is. I got 6 chicks from the feed store to add to my flock and 2 of them died in the first few days. I felt like a terrible mama to have lost them even though I know it's common for baby chicks to die and the other 4 are doing wonderfully. But still. It does feel like it's part of the emotional rawness we're carrying around right now. Like a wound that hasn't healed over that we just keep banging up against things. I'm glad you got the joy of being part a new chapter in your great grandparents' home, one that includes the owners wanting to know the previous chapters. Thanks for sharing so honestly, Martha. Your art, and stories, give lift to my days right now.

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Christina
5/15/2020 12:43:59 pm

I have How to Cook Everything and his newer one, How to Cook Everything Fast. They're on my counter for easy reference!

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    Martha Kelly is an artist and illustrator who lives and works in Memphis, Tennessee.


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