Stairway art, part 1.

I’ll do part 2 tomorrow as I didn’t get a particularly crisp picture of that part of the wall.

The “Life is Very Short”….finger is a new piece made to look old. I got it at the Country Living Fair several years ago as a present for Don.

Next to it, a modern print that Don loves.

Above and to the left, an oil painted by my Great-aunt Ruth. She was a talented artist. This hung in my grandmother’s home for years.

Next to that a cow print that we love.

Above the cow print, a little framed piece that I found in an antique shop and a piece of architectural salvage.

To the right: two oil paintings by my dad. The top painting is of a beach and waves breaking on rocks. The other, below it, is of our cottage. My dad painted this for us right after we moved in. What makes this especially delightful is the yellow exterior. Our exterior is a green-gray, but Dad looked at the photo and thought it was yellow.

Top row, on the left: a Norman Rockwell print of Main Street in Stockbridge, Massachusetts, including the building in which he had a studio.

Next to that, a very old landscape that we found in San Diego. It needs a good cleaning, but I sort of love its dark tones.

Next to that, another oil painting by my Aunt Ruth, this time of their childhood home on the family farm in Orillia, Ontario.

________

It’s rainy and gray today. Most of the snow is gone. We may be getting more tomorrow night. We’re headed to the grocery store this morning and will be running a few errands, as well.

We watched Stagecoach  on TCM last night. It’s one of my favorite movies. Don was reluctant, but I managed to persuade him and, in the end, he loved seeing it again. A great old John Ford movie with a very young John Wayne and a cast of wonderful actors. It’s my favorite John Wayne performance and Claire Trevor breaks my heart, every darned time.

Happy Tuesday.

That’s all I’ve got for you. We woke up at 4:30, which is way too early. I’ll have to watch myself today. I’ve already been ‘prickly’ this morning – a word Don used, and he’s right. I wish I was the sort who could get by on less sleep, but I’ve never been that way. Not even when I was a kid. But I sure wish I was.

Anyway. It’s now 3 hours later and Don is making sugar-free pancakes because we need a treat and then I’ll get ready to take my car to the dealer for two new tires. Don’s car is still in the shop. Hopefully, he’ll get it back today. I spent an inordinate amount of time yesterday trying to figure out the logistics of getting to Hartford, but in the end, I can’t do anything until I see how the weather turns out tomorrow. It’s not looking good. I informed the Stage Manager of my dilemma and she mentioned that if I do indeed end up there on Friday rather than Thursday, I would need to spend the night as there will be no time for me to give notes at the end of the run-through and I’d have to give them on Saturday at rehearsal. It’s all rather complicated at the moment and I’m just going to concentrate on getting the new tires and running a couple of errands today.

We’re watching Collateral  on Netflix, a British limited-run series. Very, very good. It’s only four episodes and we’ll watch the last one tonight.

In the past couple of days, I’ve read a couple of posts on IG and Facebook from people I know defending Trump. In one case, I engaged, which is always fruitless. In another I engaged but immediately deleted my post – that was this morning. In all cases, I feel such disappointment that someone I thought I knew and respected would still  be supporting – after all we now know – this man. I suppose they feel the same about me. It’s all so disillusioning. As Don says, it’s as if they never read “The Book.” “The Book” is a symbol for how we were raised: how you treat people, what is right and what is wrong, how you address your elders, that it’s wrong to lie, that’s it’s wrong to bully people, that it’s wrong to call people names, that it’s wrong to break the law, that it’s wrong to make fun of the disabled or of anyone, that we are all one, and that it is wrong to treat anyone as ‘less than.’ I was raised by the rules of that book, raised on the Ten Commandments. Yet there are a lot of people supporting and condoning the actions of someone who actively flouts all of those things and is proud of it.

I’ve come to the conclusion that it’s baffling and will remain so. It’s as if everything my parents believed to be true and upright and good and just plain decent behavior has been tossed out the window. Actually, it’s been trampled on. I know I’m tired at the moment I’m writing this, but I felt the same thing yesterday. And every day since 2016. Was I simply naive about the world? I think I must have been.

Anyway, enough. I am always cheered by the goodness I read about every day. That’s what I have to concentrate on. The truly good deeds done on a daily basis. I have to believe that is who we really  are. Isn’t there something in the Bible about ‘lost lambs?’ Hopefully, they’ll find their way home.

Much love to you.

Happy Wednesday,

A quick post this morning. When it rains, it pours; this morning Don heard a grinding sound coming from his brakes, so we have to take it in. It’s most likely the rotors. Tomorrow, I have to pay for new tires. And, in a couple of weeks, for a 30,000 mile check-up.

$$$$

I’m also dealing with some potential weather problems this week – a week in which I have to make it to Hartford, either Thursday or Friday, for a run-through. Tomorrow night we are supposed to get 3- 5 inches of snow which will turn to – you guessed it – ice  on Thursday morning. There’s no way I’ll get out of here for a run-through on Thursday. So we have to hope we can clear all the snow and ice out by Friday so I can get to Hartford then.

I briefly considered going there today, but I don’t want to drive there without my new tires on the car and that won’t happen until tomorrow.

And I have to have dental work done in the not-too-distant future.

Suddenly, I’m feeling overwhelmed.

I want to leave you with this quote from Transcription  by Kate Atkinson, which takes place (partly) in wartime London – I read it this morning and marked it to share with you:

“The future was coming nearer, one relentless goose step after the next. Juliet could still remember when Hitler had seemed like a harmless clown. No one was amused now. (“The clowns are the dangerous ones,” Perry said.)”

Sound familiar?

This isn’t the cheeriest post, is it? Ah well. Life happens.

Leanne, if you read this, I need your phone number for Barbara – she can’t ship from Canada to the United States without a phone number for customs. I sent you an email last week and haven’t heard from you.

Happy Tuesday.