Great Blue Heron

Birds are messengers with wings.
The Blue Heron was at the pond again. He sits so still...I think he probably has been standing there many times while I hang out the laundry or pick blue and red berries. He's watching me go about my chores.
I bought new shoes today...a symbol as well..of going ...traveling.. Also some maps of Costa Rica. Ty and I might go there for a warm month or so this winter. The Social Security Administration gives the widow 255.00 death benefit. I went there to sign some papers...to say you were gone. How far away can I get for 255.00.
Tomorrow is Kelc's birthday. We'll spread Bill's ashes then celebrate a birth.
Bought new paint brushes to motivate me. I'll bring some paint and canvasses up and put them in the office ...better light in daytime ..it used to shine right in your face while you sat at the computer in the morning. Thanks for listening.

Tangerine wall

I finally found someone to come and give me an estimate on chipping the huge brush piles I made all around the woods. When I needed to get outside after being caregiver all day I'd go out with my bow saw and cut cut cut and pile the branches in a big mound. So I had to call in the big guns and a small crew will chip my piles leaving me great stacks of mulch in their place.
Then I painted the last wall in the TV room tangerine orange..just having color and a brush in my hands felt good...maybe that's how you get past artists block...get a big brush and paint the wall. Tomorrow I'll clean out the basement. Thanks for reading.

Kingfisher

A drizzly day on coast of Maine. I awoke to the hammering of a Piliated Woodpecker ( the Woody Woodpecker kind) outside near the pond. They are so big they look like wooden carved versions. The big dead tree overhanging the water is riddled with holes the big birds have drilled over the years. Then after tea I saw the blue grey Kingfisher glide across the pond and settle in a tree to watch the schools of minnows where they gather near the deck waiting for their morning sprinkle of breadcrumbs.
Several times this morning I caught myself forgetting that my husband had just passed away and I have to remind myself that I will have to prepare for winter and take care of land and buildings myself. I then spent time locating and labeling all the keys to doors in the house and garages...I made room for stacking stove wood in both garages...cleaned up part of the garden and removed an old wood stove from the garage apartment...to make room for a new one to be delivered in a few weeks. I keep thinking I'll fix, repair, and ready the house for winter then I can clean the studio and get back to what I'd rather be doing...painting. I signed up for a local November art show to give me a goal to make and show new work. Thanks for reading.

Art after death

I used to keep journals a very long time ago. I got out of the habit as life became too busy. I missed writing and and thinking on paper so I am hoping to find the same time for reflection by blogging.
I am a painter living on the coast of Maine. I'll tell you stories of our small village, about the house and land where I live and create, what creatures pass by my windows and why I have to start over again as an artist after the passing of my husband of 32 years. It's been a long year of Dr's, hospitals and chemo and in the end...I am left with a house in the woods, a studio I have neglected for too long and one silver koi.
Thanks for reading .