Detour

Another poem with my Sister in mind. It has generated some strong comments at PoetrySoup.com.

"Detour"

Carefree childhood
School days
Wedding Day
Beautiful girls
Creative seamstress
Met Soul Mate
Daily joy
Togetherness
Forever after
Cancer
Detour

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All art, poetry and writings are copyright & cannot be reproduced in any form without written permission from Judith Angell Meyer --

Fireflies

Fireflies

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The surrounding night
wraps itself around my sleeping senses,
and awakens them.
~
Sitting on the edge of the bed,
I stare out the window
into the deep velvety darkness.
~
In the other room my sister sleeps --
Sleeping the sleep of a soul
preparing for life after death.
~
I notice a small glow out back by the trees,
then another, flashing on and off.
Fireflies!
~
I watch their waltz in the night,
against the dark trees, by the garden,
making a halo around the house.
~
My sisters light
still shines.
~
And finally I sleep.

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All art, poetry and writings are copyright & cannot be reproduced in any form without written permission from Judith Angell Meyer --

"Hunter"

Well, today I just pointed and clicked for a painting. And got this little piece. The title is "Hunter" and it is about 5" X 7" and a watercolor. I have used this one as my Avatar on most of my art website's. Also on poetrysoup.com. This particular Coyote lives in the Denver Zoo, and he was particularly agreeable to let me take his photograph. But I think that I have caught the "zoo look." I don't think that he looks like a wild critter, searching out his next meal, or being particularly interested in his surroundings. What do you think?

But he was a great study, and I collect the opportunity to photo up close for details, that which I normally only catch at a distance in the wild. I have to admit, however, where I live there is quite a group of them on the river bottom, and they come into my pasture from time to time. When they get to singing to each other over that range, it can get pretty erie out there. Super neat, but the sound still inspires goose bumps. Once they dragged a partial deer carcass up into my pasture, and each day for a while the carcass got smaller and smaller. There is only a leg bone left now.

I think it is a good thing that we don't lose touch with the wild side of this earth. At least for as long as it lasts. We certainly are driving that part of this world out fast. Enjoy it while you can!

All art, poetry and writings are copyright & cannot be reproduced in any form without written permission from Judith Angell Meyer

Pencil Drawing of Me

Well, I have been asked to give some information about my Avatar. This was done a very long time ago when I was in a university non-Baccalaureate Masters program. This was my first drawing class, and I was delighted and honored to be in this program.

The actual photograph of me was taken by a friend of mine. I was in my studio. I don't remember what the occasion was that I needed a photo, but she took quite a few, and this was one of them. Remember Genie? The second photo was one I took when I was out looking for and at old buildings, specifically doors and doorways. This was a photo of a door and I just loved the peeling paint and that smooth and worn door knocker.

At the time I was at the university. I was at the end of my child rearing days, and had spent so many years feeling the door mat, that I thought the peeling paint and the door knocker added the right touch for a self portrait. So melded the two together, showing me merging out of that phase of my life and becoming my own person again. I must say that it was pretty modernist for my usual art choices. But then here, at the university, I could do whatever I wanted to do, and not have to worry about if it would sell.

I enjoyed this time even thought it didn't last too long. And this has always been a favorite drawing. Favorite of my husband too. He loved it when I took off into "left field" and drew or painted different things. He was a great support. I miss him.

All art, poetry and writings are copyright & cannot be reproduced in any form without written permission from Judith Angell Meyer

Coyote - Mountain Man

Well, this isn't the picture I thought I was uploading. But it will do. As a wildlife artist, I found painting mountain man reinactors to be an easy transition. This guy's mountain man name is Coyote, and he is wearing a coat made from coyote hides. Shirt is leather most likely from tanned deer hide. I think the painting caught the wild side and it took on an authentic look.

This piece was done some time ago, and the mountain man series was very popular. I am looking forward to getting back to doing new work. I have new and exciting ideas to explore, but am in the middle of a project that has taken more time than I had hoped. I'll get there. 2008 will be the year I can do what I want, and actually make it to some shows.

Special morning today. At 5 a.m. I happened to look out the window and there were two doe deer. They were stretching their necks high to nibble on the leaves of the elm in my front yard. The light was just so that you almost couldn't see them. Every thing had the same blended gray. They wandered out of the driveway and stood at the edge of the road for a few minutes. Looking and listening. When they thought it was safe, they kicked in their after burners and raced across the road, jumped the fence, and were into the middle of the next pasture quick as a flash. They safely wandered away toward the river bottom.

I am on my way in the morning to visit my sister. She is in Kansas, so will have about a 10 hour drive. Looking forward to the visit, and she sounded excited that Gizmo and I were coming. It might well be the last time I see her.

See you when I get back.

All art, poetry and writings are copyright & cannot be reproduced in any form without written permission from Judith Angell Meyer

"Four Horse Power"

This painting is a watercolor and from the series from the Pagosa Junction area lumber camp operation. I call this "Four Horse Power." These work horses did a lot of heavy hauling. Without the modern equipment of today, logging was a very hard and dangerous job.

Trains were used to bring supplies into camp, and they also brought up temporary housing. They looked like railroad cars converted to housing, but were smaller. In one of the photos an engine was off the track. Possibly the rails spread from the rains and heavy mud, or just got top heavy with the load. The men got the horse teams out and managed to pull the train back up onto the tracks. Amazing what a few men and a few horses can accomplish. Without cranes!
Time to sleep. Will try to get more up soon.

All art, poetry and writings are copyright & cannot be reproduced in any form without written permission from Judith Angell Meyer

"Bless the Beasts and the Children"

Enough with the snake already. Time to get out another painting. This one is "Bless the Beasts and the Children." It is a watercolor painting. My reference source is a photograph taken in about 1917, at a lumber camp in the Pagosa Junction area of south west Colorado.

~

What drew me to this woman were her hands. You can look at her and see a young, or maybe more accurately, a naive or unworldly person, but her hands are very worse for wear. They show an incredibly hard life. Yet she holds the kid goat with a gentleness that belies her age.

~

This might have been a Sunday or a special occasion as she is wearing a dress made with fabric with designs on it, and a home made shawl. Not quite a shawl, but a decorative shoulder drape to accent the occasion.

~

Other pictures in the series have her three sons. They have to be her children as they wear the same bowl hair cut. They are showing off new Montgomery Wards overalls, with the youngest wearing the newest of the hand-me-downs.

All art, poetry and writings are copyright & cannot be reproduced in any form without written permission from Judith Angell Meyer

A new guest

Sorry this guy is a little blurry. He is a beautiful King snake who actually startled the heck out of me. I had stepped out of the barn door with a stack of hay in front of my face, (feeding time at the zoo), and almost stepped on him. At the time, he was stretched out full length on the driveway, soaking up the sun on a very warm day. It took up almost half the width. Really long, but skinny and his skin was still loose. Clearly out for the first time, and maybe hoping to pick up a meal. By the time I got back from the house with the camera, he had moved to what he thought would be the safety of the grass. I hope he hangs around. We had a King snake here before that was really large. Around his middle had to have been about 14". He was out sunning himself and my son's wife didn't see him, and she tripped over him. I'm thinking it took days for her to stop shivering after that.

Well, this being Mother's Day and all. I have things to do before I go to the kid's for dinner. Hope all you mothers out there have a wonderful day.

My Lilacs are in full fragrance!

This first photo is the front of the Studio.

This is the back of the Studio. In close for the fragrance.

This one is closer yet! Close enough to draw from!!

I'm sure I have gone over board with the photos here. But you have no idea how hard it was to wait so long for my lilacs to bloom. The late frost took them at the bud for the last two years. And I just love sitting on the porch taking in their wonderful fragrance.

This of course is the back of the Studio, but you can see both of the bushes.

I got all three of them on Mother's Day as my little kids could afford to get a starter bush. It was always fun to pick out the next spot. They all took to their locations just fine. I think the reason that the kids stopped getting them for me was that we decided to start a long row of them across the front. But the front is north, and the bushes didn't do well, until they finally quit trying. These remaining three are the light of my spring!

I just have to make a comment

I feel I just have to comment .. This is the first time blogspot has allowed me to sign in for days now, and I finally found a work around that worked. Usually I can go to my friends blog and click on her link to my blog, and I can at least get the sign on link. From there sometimes I can get the sign on box and sometimes I can't. Today the box came up with the error message that the page could not be found. So knowing it was looking for a different page than I was on, I did a right click on the blank sign on box and refreshed the page. It worked!! Probably only this once, but since I actually got in, I knew I had to write something. Let me add a picture for you ... hang on!

~

Okay, this is a pencil drawing that I did while participating in a challenge draw on WetCanvas.com I call this "The pout." I loved doing this drawing and it was a good practice for me to get back into drawing. Also, it was so well received that I ended up with the job of choosing photos and running the monthly challenge myself. I guess that was to take me out of the competition! (Not really!) The photos are copyright free donations to the Wet Canvas library.

~

Okay now, any questions be sure to ask.

All art, poetry and writings are copyright & cannot be reproduced in any form without written permission from Judith Angell Meyer

Many Fire's Quiet Strength

I decided that today I would get out an old painting, and tell you its story. You saw earlier the drawing of my husband Big Foot, the Mountain Man.

The title of this painting is, "Quiet Strength," which speaks of the man as well as the lodge.
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It is time to let the lodge work its magic. It has been a long winter this year, and it's time for my husband and his fraternity of brothers to get away for a few days. Several years ago they found a place near Chadron, Nebraska, that, for them, has great healing powers. They stop to visit The Museum of the Fur Trade and then find a site to set up camp.

The lodge goes up in about thirty minutes. There are fifteen, twenty-four foot poles that serve as its frame. First a tripod is raised and anchored, then four poles are placed in each of the three partitions. One of the back four is used as a lifting pole for the cover, and there is an anchor peg every two feet of the circumference. The dimension inside the lodge is twenty-one feet from front to back and eighteen feet from side to side. There is a lining inside that ties to the poles. The lining is from four to six feet high, and the bottom drags the ground. By placing your bedding, boxes, or some rocks on the skirt you seal the lodge from drafts on the floor. The space between the outer cover and the liner creates a flu for the fire so the smoke is drawn up and out through the smoke flaps.

My husband sets the lodge up without many modern conveniences. It works best this way. The last to be set in place is Many Fires, the buffalo skull "alter" piece where the friendship pipe is kept. There is a lot of peace derived from Many Fire's quiet strength.

When it's late at night and the fire is flickering away to embers there is a warm glow in the lodge. As you look up, the stars shining through the smoke flaps, your eyes are slowly drawn back down the poles. The poles encircle you like a protective hand. Falling to sleep without a care, complete with a feeling of being safely tucked in, is illusive for most adults today. But not when you surrender yourself to the lodge.

Big Foot and his friends will come home shed of the stress of their everyday responsibilities. They will be able to draw on the peace until next year when the promise of spring calls them back.
___________________________________________


My husband is gone now and the memories are as strong as if he were here. Then one day I got to playing with the two pictures. The drawing I made of him, and the painting of Many Fires. When I superimposed the black and white drawing on the painting, it looked like he was a part of the fire's smoke, still here yet spiriting away. I will someday put the two together in a print at least in an edition large enough for me and our kids. Then, who knows ...

All art, poetry and writings are copyright & cannot be reproduced in any form without written permission from Judith Angell Meyer

Do Not Blink...

Do not blink...

A fast and sad tale
by Judith Angell Meyer


How do I pen a cliche’
so it isn’t the cliche’,
but the reality.

My skin has soft little wrinkles
that look like ripples on water.
Yesterday it didn’t.

When did I start needing naps,
that have now become mini comas.
Yesterday I was working until I got my second wind.

The mirror seems to feel the need to taunt me
with an image of someone I do not know.
Yesterday the image was 18.

When I forget and sit too long,
it takes the length of the room to work out the stiffness and pain.
Yesterday, I didn’t have time to sit.

I won’t think about this today
I’ll do it tomorrow
But, tomorrow was yesterday, and the year is gone.

I must have blinked while laughing in the face of spring,
a brief summer warmth on my eye lids as they go down,
and as they started up again, fall is turning to winter.

Hans' Birthday

This is my husband Hans' birthday month, and I decided that I needed to get this portrait out again. He would have been 67 this year. I did the portrait on one of the years that we couldn't afford to buy Christmas presents for each other, saving what we had for the kids.

We were Mountain Man enthusiasts and enjoyed going to rendezvous with our friends. We would set up our lodge and enjoy a week or a weekend pretending that there was no rush hour anywhere, that the kids weren't tempted by drugs, that there weren't any bills to pay nor a hundred things pulling us this way and that each and every day.

Hans was a professional baker, and he could make an apple pie in a dutch oven over the coals that was to die for. And his biscuits! But when it came to getting the meat for dinner, he relied on my eye looking down the barrel of my .45 caliber green river black powder rifle.

I enjoy catching a person's special look in a portrait like this one done with a pencil. This one is an 8x10, but I enjoy going on to a full portrait in watercolor too. One of these days I'll have to compliment this one with a watercolor portrait.

Have a good day all. Thanks for stopping by.

All art, poetry and writings are copyright & cannot be reproduced in any form without written permission from Judith Angell Meyer

Finally an entry!

I cannot begin to tell you how much trouble it was to use and write in my blog today. I had to change settings in my computer just to be allowed to sign onto a site I have used for quite a while now with no trouble at all. I have to tell you, if this continues, I'll have to go back to Live Journal permanently. So ...

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We have had some wonderful rain the last couple of days. This is most welcome on this desert prairie. But today dawned sunshiny and warm. Got to 55 degrees even. When I went out I discovered that the lilacs are only a day or two away from blooming, and the apple tree has begun to bud out. This just all means that it is going to hail within the next few days. It has been three years in a row now that one thing or another took my lilacs away from me. But they have a much better start now than they have had in all those years. Cross your fingers for me.

~

My Gizmo has something ... don't know what he got into, but he has suffered with the dine-a-rena's all day which results in a bottom bath after each trip to the tall weeds. He threw up this morning too. I'm sure this will be better tomorrow, but in the meantime ...

~

I'd best get to my work. Have a website to try to finish soon, and several illustrations to get back to. Should not have wasted the time here, but hey, it WAS time to say hello!

April 13, 2007 -- Known as Friday the 13th

There will be no pictures with this story, it will be brief, and it started the 12th.

Friday the 13th I was scheduled for a colonoscopy. Three years ago I had a couple of very small polyps. I didn't schedule a further check then because I didn't have the insurance, nor the funds. So finally I could have it done. But the day before I could only have liquids, excluding anything with pulp, milk, or coffee with milk. Also was not to drink anything that was red or purple. (Don't ask, I don't know.) But at 4:00 p.m. I also had to take this Fleet phosphate stuff. 1.5 oz of it in 4 oz of water. Luckily the pharmacist suggested it was okay to put it into a lemonade ... anyway I got it down. It was a struggle, but I did. (I absolutely cannot do oral/liquid medicines.) Now the action was supposed to start between 30 minutes and 3 hours but it didn't. Finally at the 6 hour mark things got to going through. But of course I was up way late. I spent the time reading and cleaning the toilet in between the cannon shots. (A seriously gross event.)

Now this is Friday, and I had to repeat this grossness at 5:00 in the a.m.. Actually was supposed to be 3 hours before seeing the Dr., but gave it four considering how long it took to start the night before. And it took even longer as this time I had to stop and gag over every little swallow. I was barely through when my ride showed up, and time to go.

The Dr. gave me a sedative so that I would hopefully take a nap while he was working, but while I think I must have dozed off for a while, I was awake to watch the progress of the final two polyps he snipped off.

They called my ride, and I was home again. My ride wanted to escort me back into the house, but I felt quite awake, and off he went. It was about 11:30 a.m. so the first thing I did was make me some oatmeal with blueberries, and then lay down for a nap. I didn't wake up until 4:00 p.m.. Nice nap! But 4:00 is when I feed the horses, so out I went.

Now I still think it was just an accidental slip of my foot, and was not because of the earlier sedative, but I stepped to the gate to reach the grain to Sassy, and my foot slipped down and rolled over on itself. If I hadn't fallen, I would have ended up standing on the top of my foot. But I did fall, and I am starting some really spectacular bruises on my left calf, hip, and shoulder. I don't really feel anything on my head. Must just be too hard. I hit the gate with my calf, the cement floor with my hip, and the barn door frame with my shoulder. I have to admit, I just laid there for a while, with Sassy snorting at me because I spilled her grain, and the most of it was on my side of the gate.

The shoes I had on were my regular Ropers slip ons, but over time they have stretched out of shape, and are loose, and to add to the problem, I had thin and slippery socks on. But I have taken care of that. Today, wearing the same comfy shoes, I have on a pair of hospital sock/slippers with the rubber tread on the bottom. My shoes do not slip at all now!!

My Little Easter Story - April 8, 2007

Like I said, Saturday was bitter cold. And when I was out helping some of my guests to their cars, I noticed that my three tulip buds, just about to be in bloom were laying flat to the ground and they had translucent spots on the buds and leaves that meant that they were freezing, if not frozen. I was broken hearted then decided that the least I could do is bring them into the house where it was warm. So cut them and brought them into the kitchen. I had been watching for them to open, and while two of them were ready, I hadn't held out much hope for the third one as it was still pretty tight.

I put them in one vase, but the tulips just hung their cold heads and stalks down all the way to the table. So I found a taller vase to give them some support. I poured some temped water into the vase, and that was that. Later, on my way to bed, I moved them from the counter top and put them on the table.

Well, you know me ... or maybe you don't ... and going to bed usually means that I first take Gizmo out to water the bushes. Then as I go through the house locking up and shutting everything down, I always find something else that needs to be done. Mostly checking the email one last time for the day, and of course there is always something on the computer to side-track me. The result, of course, bed time gets pretty late.

Sunday morning, in the process of starting the routine again, but in reverse, I could hardly believe my eyes when I stepped into the kitchen for my first cup of coffee. The two tulips were actually upright in the vase. Not only struggling to get upright, but they were opening their blossoms up. They were lovely, and such a wonderful Easter Morning surprise. So of course I had to take a picture of them.

Later when I was putting the photos into the computer to take a look, I saw that the cabinet behind the flowers formed a cross where the four doors came together.

What a wonderful way to remember Easter. My own little resurrection to remind me of the day so many years ago when Jesus rose from the dead and ascended into Heaven.

Since Easter the blossoms not only have continued to grow, but the tight little bud, for which I had no hope for it to open, opened and is the reddest color. It has a scar on its side where it was frozen.

I guess there is always a miracle somewhere in front of us, if we only open our hearts to see it.

April 7, 2007 - Poetry Club Day

Today was Poetry Club. I have been nervous about this day because it was the first time I hosted the group in my own home. It is customary for some of us to reserve the meeting room at the public library. Mostly because some of us don't have the room for a group of (usually 12), and others don't want to do the work, which is understandable. No cleaning involved in using the library. I pretty much have the room, and had gotten to the point where I hated to carry all the stuff to the meeting place, so decided to give it a try.

Now lets jump back a day to Friday which I had set aside to plan goodies, and clean. Well, my son-in-law and my grand kids were up from New Mexico for his father's retirement party on the 7th, so they had this Friday to spend some time with me. Which is great. I don't get to see my grands very often, and my son-in-law was fairly recently back from Afghanistan, and I enjoy conversation with him. Well, they showed up Friday at 10 a.m. I had, had a 1 p.m. appointment, so they all went to lunch while I took care of that, then they were back a little after 2 p.m. and stayed until 10 p.m. No complaints here at all ... but now I have to start my cleaning. Finally quit at 3 a.m. Saturday morning. Got back up at 8 to finish what I had started, but then I needed to go to a dedication of a bench, created for a good friend who had passed away. It was placed in the Memorial Garden at the AIMS community college where he worked for over 30 years.

It was seriously bitter cold and the wind was blowing to beat the band. Gratefully then, the dedication was short and sweet and I was back home in time for all the finishing touches. There were only 9 at the meeting, and it all went very well. I'll probably continue to host at my home.

As the group was leaving, I noticed that the flowers that were trying to bloom, were laying on the ground frozen. That brings me to Sunday, and my little Easter Story.

Reading

Well then ... it is late and I'm tired. Nothing new. I gave myself permission to take enough time to finish the book I was reading. Started somewhere between 9:00 p.m. and 10:00 and just finished a while ago. Enjoyed the session. I was reading "Alone," by Lisa Gardner. It was a good book, and finally came together, but it was hard to get into and stay with at first. Don't know why for sure. I don't think I "took" to her characters this time. The next one of her's is "Gone," and this one has my favorite character of hers. Just my type of guy! Quincey. Looking forward to reading that one, but have other things to do first.

The whole time I was reading tonight, and still, the wind has been howling relentlessly. I think the wind is all we here on the great plains of Colorado are going to get out of this latest storm. It is snowing in the mountains, and there was some talk about tornado warnings in the very north east corner of the state. Haven't heard any more about that.

The only other thing I had to do today was get dog food and blueberries. Done. I guess I'm going to have to buy a battery for my Taurus. Have tried for several days now and the one in there now will not take a charge. During the fall, the battery was dying over night. Did not think it was the battery, but maybe a problem with the ground. Will have to find out. It is my fun car to drive during the "no snow on the ground" season.

Rain

The rain is over. I'd say finally, but any moisture is welcomed here in this parched area. Friday, right at 6:00 p.m. The skies got dark fast, and there was the beginnings of thunder. As it wound up, lightening began dancing around in the sky soon followed by the much closer peels of thunder. The wind was blowing furiously and at the height of this activity the rain started, but as it got going it turned into hail. The hail was small, pea sized or smaller, but it blustered in as if to show me that this was only the beginning. "Soon I'll catch my stride and there will be glorious storms." I watched from my place on the porch wrapped in one of my husbands large flannel jackshirts, sipping a cup of hot coffee. It was the first spring storm.

The storm settled down into a very nice steady rain. This nice steady rain did not stop until Saturday afternoon around 2:00 in the afternoon. I can't even tell you how long it has been since we had a real soaker like that. The rainbow was taken during another spring, years ago.

Today, Sunday, the 25th of March has dawned a beautiful day. The sun is bright, the shadows long and the thermometer reads 62 degrees. Yesterday I treated myself to reading a book. Novel by Lisa Gardner. Have enjoyed her work so far. Also rereading some of the samples of work by artist J.D. Hillberry, "Drawing Realistic Textures in Pencil" His drawing techniques are supurb, and I want to refresh my thoughts for a part of the illustration I'm working on. He uses charcoal pencils along with the graphite pencils, and I find that hard to do. Am using it sometimes though, and it can be quite effective.

Will be working on one of the current illustrations for the Adoption Series today. Need to hustle. But that is normal. I am also typing up all the poems for our Poetry Club Chap Book. There is no rush on that, but it doesn't take long. There are five submitted poems for each club member, and one member at a time goes pretty quickly. A break from drawing when needed. I need to get enough time to do at least another page on a website I'm working on. The fun is never done!

Make yourself a wonderful day!

Today's Poem

The Guest

We had a guest my Gizmo and me,

We met on a midnight walk.

He was small and had a fluffy tail,

so Gizmo went to talk.

Tomato juice and baths til' 3 -

We had a guest, my Gizmo and me.

~*~

It is Officially Porch!

It's official. It is time for porch! That might sound a little odd, but it is a tradition in our household. We have this huge porch that wraps around the house. All our friends have always stopped by for some porch when they needed some solitude, or our particular brand of therapy and humor. On the corner we have a large round whiskey barrel table, and the chairs were also made from whiskey barrels. These are showing great wear now days. We bought them, if I remember correctly in 1973/4. They are too large to move, so they sit there during the winters as well.

The porch is sided to look like a vacation cabin somewhere in the Rockies, and it gives you that flavor. In actuality, it is part of an old mansion that was purchsed for the one room that this porch wraps around.

This first picture is the east side of the porch, and my husband restored this buggy in the late '70's. The plaque on it says it was made by Case Buggy, which became Case Tractors.

This next photo is also the east side, but now shows you the barrel table/chairs on the corner. Well, almost. These were all taken in the fall about 4/5 years ago, but it would photo exactly the same today. Right to your right of the green lawn chair, which is right at the corner, is a door that goes into the room. The mansion was built in the late 1800's and belonged to the bank owner at the time. During that time also, banks "made" their own money. Meaning that I have a $20 bill that has a picture and the name of the bank, and the bill is signed by the treasurer who was the bank owner and the man who lived in the mansion.

This last one shows the side of the porch facing south. You can better see the barrels and you can still see the buggy. The strings you see are distracting, but in the summer they have morning glories growing on them, and when they are thick and full they add extra privacy and cool to the porch. It is a wonderful place. The dog sitting there belongs to the neighbor. His name was Wizzer, and he was a bear to keep on his side of the fence. But the cat is mine. A wild barn cat. Can you find him? He is peeking around the corner of the closest barrel, but all you can see is a bit of his black head, and the glow from his eyes. Well I tell you. It is lunch time here, and the porch is calling. Bye for today.

Abused Daisy - And her new home!

Okay ... this is another in the "Think Adoption First" canine series. This is a story of a sweet dog who belonged to the daughter of the man of the house, and when she moved off to California and she couldn't take Daisy with her, her father was supposed to take care of her. A couple of men rescued her and took her to the shelter.
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She had a bad cut on her hind foot, and her collar was embedded into her neck. She had no water and was seldom fed.
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The gal who came to the shelter and rescued her, named her Krasny which is a Czech name for "beautiful." They were a perfect match.
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Many times the pairing of a rescue dog and a new owner is more rewarding than raising a dog from a pup.
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And this, then, is Daisy and her new owner!


And by the way, the models for this drawing are my own daugher, and her dog Spunky.
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Today was another beautiful day. Perfect except for the wind kept trying to take hold of the afternoon and run away with it.

~

Enter, Naomi

Okay, I have been promising to post a picture of my new great grand baby. So here she is. Red hair, blue eyes, and probably freckles when the time comes. Her name is Naomi, and she is a little charmer. Grandpa is pretty proud of her too. She is very active and didn't get into smiling until she was put on the floor to wiggle around to suit herself. She is going to be on the go all the time.

Okay, this is all for now. Not much, but I was lucky to get this far! I hope you all had a fun St. Patrick's Day, and enjoy your Sunday ...

And I'm still not in bed!

A fun night this turned out to be! When I left you before it was time to go to bed, and the routine is to let my little dog Gizmo out for a quick watering of the bushes. So I am waiting for him at the door, and he takes off into the driveway. I go right out behind him, and just as I cleared the car, there it was. He had taken off after a skunk. When I got out there, it was pawing at the ground and threatening me. I spotted Gizmo by the front of the car, and as soon as I picked him up I knew he had been sprayed. We went the long way back into the house so as not to run into the skunk again.
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I put Gizmo right into the bath tub and told him to stay there while I looked for something tomato. I knew there wasn't any tomato juice, but found a can of tomato sause. I put it in a pot and diluted it with warm water and headed back for the bathroom. Scrubbing that tomato into his thick fur took quite a while, but really needed to be sure to get it clear to his skin. After he shook tomato all over the bath tub and near walls, I rinsed him off and started the shampo bath. Now he is running around the house to dry off while I'm here to tell you the tale.
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This is the stinker dog I'm talking about!
I have all the towels and all my clothes in the washmachine, and rinsed down the walls.
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Now maybe I can get some rest. Hey, it's only 2:23 a.m. ... lots of time.

Can't believe a whole week has gone by!
Well, and here a week has gone by. So much for staying the course! But most of my time has been spent in updating a website that I am working on. It is for a restaurant, and you can't believe how fun it is to match pictures to descriptions, and keeping prices current. But I really like the family I'm working for, so I enjoy what I am doing. You cannot believe, though, how fast the time goes when I'm working on website construction!
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I am going to use an older painting for "show and tell" today. This is one of my favorite watercolors. So far I have only shown you my graphite work, so now here is a watercolor. The Title is "Peeper's Ponies".
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The painting was inspired while attending a Mountain Man rendezvous in Cheyenne Wells, Colorado. It was one of the best gatherings because so many of us brought horses. Sometimes that just isn't feasible. On this trip we had the whole family with us which made it a lot of fun.We had a friend who got herself a new mountain name when she started slicing carrots in my husbands fried potatoes and onions. He started picking them out as fast as she was slicing them in. Since then he called her "Carrot Woman" and every time he got the chance, he would dump a truck load on carronts on her driveway or doorstep.
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These two horses were tethered at this low tree in the shade, and the thing that attracted me to paint it was that the spotted shade with the spotted coloring on the horses made for a neat camoflage pattern. And they are pretty too!
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Tomorrow is a big day for me. I have a Dr. appointment. I have been putting my medical needs on hold until I had the help with medical expenses from Medicare. Now to work through the long list of things that need to be checked or done. And, I suppose that if I'm going to make a 9:00 a.m. appointment, I'd best go to bed. See you all tomorrow

Adoption Series

I have been involved in illustrating several books since last year. The series is "Think Adoption First" and there is a Canine Series, a Feline Series, and now starting a small furry critter series. The idea was to illustrate a dog that was down on his luck, and then give him a new home and show how happy the dog and his new owner can be without having to buy an expensive pure bred dog. This is the happy picture of Sal, and one of my previous posts show the very sad Sal after his first family died.

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So little by little I'll either illustrate my post with these drawings, or just display a sad and happy dog or cat. I hope you enjoy that.

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Today here was glorious. We almost hit 60°, there was no wind, and there are only a few puddles left here and there where the drifts were the deepest. And there is nothing quite a blue as a Colorado sky! Unless it might be a Wyoming sky!

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I finally got to meet my first great granddaughter Sunday. She is three months old, and a charmer. She is also a very red headed little girl, so I"m sure she will live up to her heritage.

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I have to go and layout another furry little critter now. See you tomorrow.

Searchers

I think a lot of us learned to insulate ourselves from the pain of 911. I know I did. It was too large to encompass all at once. And as I learned more and more I took on more and more. But beyond the first day when I sat motionless for 24 hours watching the horror unfold before my eyes, I never really cried. But yesterday was different.

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I heard a story where a poet read in the New York Times about the dogs who were trained to find a missing person by smelling a small article of scent. The dogs were tireless and worked and worked to please their master and satisfy their training. Which was to follow a scent, find the missing person, and bring him to his master to bask in earned praise.

The poet, D. Nurkse , wrote a poem about the story he read.

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"Searchers"

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We gave our dogs a button to sniff,

or a tissue, and they bounded off

confident in their training,

in the power of their senses

to re-create the body.

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but after eighteen hours in rubble

where even steel was pulverized

they curled on themselves

and stared up at us

and in their soft huge eyes

we saw mirrored the longing for death:

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then we had to beg a stranger

to be a victim and crouch

behind a girder, and let the dogs

discover him and tug him

proudly, with suppressed yaps.

Back to Command and the rows

of empty triage tables.

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But who will hide from us?

Who will keep digging for us

here in the cloud of ashes?

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Yesterday, I cried.

Poetry Club Today

I had to race yesterday to get a post here before midnight when I turn into a frog. Figured that if I only wrote one quick line, posted it, then went back and edited it, I would have a post for March 2nd. HA ... I turned into a frog. (And didn't even find a Prince.) So here I am today, still rushing the deadline.

Poetry Club is held on every first Saturday of the month from September through June. As secretary/treasurer I had minutes and stuff to do, and barely got it all done before 2:00 p.m. Saturday. I'm bad. Just too many things on my plate right now, and don't seem to organize like I would want to.

Anyway. The theme for this months poetry was to write from memory. We are using Ted Kooser's lessons this year. What is important, Kooser says, "when you write a memory poem pour all the details into your first draft and then go back and stroll through that room, like walking between overloaded tables at an estate sale. Carry a little basket of your poem and pick up only those details that you really want to use. The rest of the room is in your notebook, and still somewhere in your memory, and you can enjoy sitting there eating that hot cinnamon roll at another time."

By the way, Te Kooser was Poet Laureate appointed by the Librarian of Congress for the 2004/2005 year.

My poem for the day:

Of an October

Today when I woke up, the world was enshrouded in fog.

Gray, and thick, and cold.

Coffee warms the soul enough to get on the road.

It's a hunting morning.

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Settling in, I hunker down,

back resting against a tree,

gun loaded and at the ready.

Sipping the last of the coffee the sun begins to come up.

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Slowly, the fog begins to illuminate,

taking on a glow from within.

Here and there ghost trees are beginning to show.

The sun comes up farther.

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Intensely bright the fog takes on a gold hue.

Burning off a little, the rays reflect at a frantic rate

off the moisture creating fanciful illusions.

My mind floats into the dream as it evelves before me.

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Watching from the edge of the fog

as I sit spinning memories;

memories of past hunts,

I become aware of the game for which I wait,

but as I dream;

this day;

I forget to shoot.

~

Copyright by Judith Angell Meyer, 2007

"Buster"

Good morning all. Today is sunshiney and the wind is beginning to pick up. It is 36 degrees and is going to feel colder. But at least the pump at the horse trough is unfrozen. Yeah! No more running the hose across an acre and back. So okay, I'm exagerating, but that is what it feels like when I have to run it out there, drain out the water when I'm finished, and carry/drag it back to the mud porch so it doesn't freeze over night.

Last night I didn't get to sleep until sometime after 4 a.m. so am definately going to be looking for a nap this after noon. Arthritic hip did not want to settle down.

Saturday is Poetry Club, and I don't even have the minutes started from the last meeting a month ago, much less have taken the time to think through the poem I'm writing, about the wind gathering speed to joyfully race over the country side, faster and faster, laughing at itself all the way. I'll post it when I have it done.

Todays drawing is Buster. I did not do it today, but it was finished 2/25/2007 and sent off to my friend Lynn Thomas on this Monday. As of today, I'll officially start being anxious that it has arrived okay. She lives where the snow has drifted as high as the corral fences and on a bad day the mail carrier doesn't get through. They are a hardy bunch out there and usually figure it out.

Time to get the day underway. Should have been started four hours ago. Sigh ....

"Bad Hair Day"

This is a graphite drawing. A study for a commissioned painting, finished 2/7/2007. When my customer saw the drawing, the comment was that, "He looks so happy! He never looks happy." The commission will be a full portrait of Pepper, and will be done in watercolor. Pepper is a wild horse breed.

Testing and editing

This is a test run. Not much to say at 2:12 a.m. Just want to get set up, and go to bed!

G'nite.