Finished this picture earlier in the week. It's for an online show with the theme of Lemurs, which only live on the large island of Madagascar and are critically endangered. This is the ring-tailed lemur, the one most people are familiar with. It's a female & she's looking to see what the rest of her troop are doing.The picture is 12 in. x 16 in. done in pen, brush & ink, acrylic and pencil on Bristol board, a thick paper suitable  for many techniques. My sister came up with the title, which is "Eager Lemur".

  Some of you who have been reading me for awhile may remember this entry.

 Today would be Mrs. Miller's birthday. She was one of the most influential people in my life. She was my first grade teacher,  but we kept in contact until her death in the early 1990's.

   In the classroom she was strict, but not rigid.This was in the mid-1960's when the turmoil from the outside world was beginning to affect the neighborhood, but there was an almost Buddhist stillness surrounding the 30 or so students as we learned. She taught me the advanced techniques of reading, a skill I shall always be grateful for. Short & stout, with hair that was snowy white even then, I can still picture her in a navy blue dress with a string of pearls. She not only had patience, but expectations of each of us, so that one wanted to do their best so as to prove her right.

   The summer after first grade Mrs. Miller sent me a postcard from the Smokey Mountains of 2 bear cubs. I wrote back to thank her & a correspondence was begun that lasted over 30 years. It must've been interesting to see my letters evolve from clumsy block letters through careful handwriting to the typed missives I sent almost monthly. There was one student from each year of her 40-some years of teaching that she kept in contact with, it was a wonderful coincidence.  If my mediums changed over the years, hers never did, it was always the straight, spacious printing that had adorned my lessons in elementary school. I would always smile when I saw an envelope with that distinctive, comforting handwriting. I have saved all of her letters, tied with ribbon.

   Her letters were full of the wonders of everyday; the birds & flowers in the garden of her apartment, things she & her husband saw on their travels, shops she frequented, poems she enjoyed. Over the decades, she encouraged me with my artistic pursuits, reading adventures & whatever I was most enthusiastic about at the time. She sent lovely gifts-exotic teas, Celtic items & always books. One that especially touched me was from that very same first grade classroom, a children's book about fawns called "Dash & Dart"that I had read twenty years earlier. I could never repay her generosity, but when she got unable to go out much, I would send her fruit baskets which surprised and pleased her.

    From her, I learned to see the beauty of everyday things & treasure the momentary joy they bring & try to express that in writing. Her acceptance & lack of judgement was an example to me, though I mostly fail to live up to it. I don't think I could ever have the patience she had in a roomful of noisy little kids. Never mind the encouragement & praise she lavished on all of her students. It was the mark of sterling character. A teacher in the wider sense of the word.

    It seems that my writing skill is not adequate in expressing a proper tribute to someone who had such a profound effect on me. I shall always be glad she was my teacher and then my friend. I miss her still.

1. What is your occupation? freelance wildlife artist   

2. What color are your socks right now? dark blue

3. What are you listening to right now? My guinea pig, Rufus, bumbling around in his cage & chewing on things

4. What was the last thing that you ate? A muffin for breakfast

5. Can you drive a stick shift? no

6. If you were a crayon what color would you be? blue green

7. Last person you spoke to on the phone? my sister

8. Do you like the person who sent this to you? I took this from helenofpasta's blog & she seems a nice person

9. How old are you today? same as yesterday

10. Favorite drink? Iced tea

11. What is your favorite sport to watch? I seldom watch sports, but when I do, it's soccer, horse racing or baseball

12. Have you ever dyed your hair? no

13.Pets Little red guinea pig, Rufus and 3 freshwater aquariums-I have 5 but only 3 are occupied at the moment

14. Favorite food? hamburgers, my mother's potato salad, blueberry pie

15. What was the last movie you watched and did you like it? "Jarhead" with Jake Gyllenhal as a soldier in the first Gulf War. I wouldn't say I liked it, but was fascinated with an experience & atmosphere that is so far removed from my daily life.

16. Favorite month? May

18. What were your favorite toys as a kid? little plastic animals-(wild & farm), I had a bagful of them, all named & would set them around on the floor or the yard & make them interact

19. What is your favorite, fall or spring? Spring, because all of nature is awakening

20. Hugs or kisses? I get more hugs, but that doesn't mean I like them better

21. Cherries or Blueberries? Blueberries!

22. Living arrangments? apartment with my guinea pig, Rufus & aquariums

23.When was the last time you cried? today, reading the newspaper

24. What is on the floor of your closet? boxes, lots of boxes 

25. Who is the friend you have had the longest? Elaine, whom I met in a book group in the eighties and still email regularly, though she moved to Chicago

26. What did you do last night? Watched TV(Jon Stewart, Jay Leno, Craig Ferguson) , read a book, painted

29. Favorite smells? lilacs, oilcloth, baking brownies

30. What inspires you? Nature, God

31. What are you afraid of? War, burglars, lots of other stuff

32. Plain, cheese or spicy hamburgers? Plain, though sometimes cheeseburgers are good too

33. Favorite dog breed? I love German Shepherds

34. Number of keys on your key ring? car keys=3, house keys=12, includes some to locks I no longer have

35. How many years at your current job? I've wanted to be a wildlife artist my entire life

36. Favorite day of the week? Wednesday

37. What states have you lived in? just Ohio

38. Favorite holidays? St. Patrick's Day, because I'm mostly Irish, but I don't drink alcohol 

39. Ever driven a motorcycle or heavy machinery? I had a moped, does that count?

Happy Valentine's Day!

Here is some icicles on the front of my apartment building. The one on the left must be close to 3 feet/a meter long. My mouth dropped open when I saw it. Some of the others are more than half as long. It doesn't say much for the gutter's condition, but it sure is pretty.

This was the 13th day of temperatures below freezing in northeast Ohio. They are expected to last at least another week.The harsh winds has blown the snow into drifts and left the grass poking through in other places. The snow went "scrunch, scrunch, scrunch" when I walked on it. I like that noise, but could do with a bit more warmth.

Found this quiz on ESL_Teacher_Cynthia  's blog and decided to see what I was. It's not completley accurate, as I'm definitely not a neat freak.There's a link at the bottom if you'd like to take it too.

You Are Bert

Extremely serious and a little eccentric, people find you loveable - even if you don't love them! You are usually feeling: Logical - you rarely let your emotions rule you You are famous for: Being smart, a total neat freak, and maybe just a little evil How you life your life: With passion, even if your odd passions (like bottle caps and pigeons) are baffling to others

    Yesterday's colonoscopy went well. The sedative made me sleepy, but alert, I watched most of the procedure on the monitor & there was hardly any pain. The dr. didn't find anything suspicious, so unless the biopsies shows different, there's nothing going on but my usual u.colitis. Everyone at the clinic was nice, dealing with my excessive anxiety well. They even give patients juice & crackers afterwards. I was really groggy the rest of the day despite a long nap, but am feeling much better today, though not yet back to normal. It's recommended that I have the procedure again next year, but that's a long time away.

    The diabetic doctor visit also went OK on Monday. My glucose was in the normal range & my weight was the same as it was in July. I hadn't lost any, but then I haven't gained any either. I had blood/lab tests done as well & haven't been notified of anything drastic, so that's a good sign... I return in 4 months, so I need to work harder on losing some weight before that time. He increased my insulin a bit, which seems to be lowering my recent upswing. Perhaps now that the stress of the colonoscopy is over, my system will settle down & stabilize. In any case, I'm just relieved that this week is over.

Happy  Groundhog  Day!