I love Sandhill Cranes & getting a good closeup of one is always a wonderful thing. Tonight it kind of hit me that I've been falling out of touch with my artistic side because of all of this stuff going on with the house-there is always something & before we closed on it back in May, there was the almost year long search which took up too much of my mental energy & I haven't drawn anything for around 2 years? It's been so long, I can't remember & it might have something to do with a certain kind of sadness that I feel...For instance I was looking at a guy's page on Facebook & his wonderful pencil drawings & there was that feeling of sadness, the only thing that could compare to it is homesickness. If I don't draw, I do need to get out more with my camera.
It's been so friggin cold in Florida, unseasonably cold & for a long time. We are in the middle of painting the house during the work shutdown//holiday vacation & got slowed down by the weather (between the rain & cold & wind) & there isn't any sign that it will let up anytime soon, so this project is feeling like it will take forever. What we've gotten done so far looks good & that's the bummer of it-I want to keep going!! Tomorrow I return to work & it won't leave much time for painting afterwards & it will be cold again this weekend. By Northern standards we are probably a couple of pussies!
Speaking of homesickness, after 25 years of being away from my little hometown near Pittsburgh, PA, I still feel a desire to return.. But after this extended cold snap down here I'm not so sure because it's starting to depress me a little. It's too confining for someone who wants to be outside to do things! I'm not sure if I would want to mentally deal with months of frigid weather.
My favorite memory of winter was the heavy snowfalls that came at night. I would bundle up for a long walk in the later hours after the snow had been falling for some time & I would walk the streets of town just enjoying the clean fresh quiet, the only sound being that squeaky rub of my boots across the snow when I kicked up my feet. I let it fall in my face & in my hair when I looked up at it coming down in thick flakes through the streetlights. Maybe someday again I would like to experience something like that, it is such perfect solitude.