Graduation Day

I have been busy getting ready for an art show I had agreed to be in.  Originally I thought it was just the members of our art class but later found out there were many more established artists in the show. That kind of made me nervous.  I mean, while I have shown my photographs before, this was the first time my painting would be on public display.  I always say I'm painter, not an artist, but will admit I've been working on the transition and had hopes to move on up the ladder.

About 23 of us took part in That Art Thing and it was a wonderful event.  It got it's name because, when ever we referred to it, the questions and statements always came out like, "What day is that art thing?"  "How many paintings can we bring to that art thing?"  Or, "I just finished a new painting for that art thing."  That's what we knew it by, so the rest of the world might as well too. 

The day before That Art Thing was beautiful. The weather was perfect for cleaning up the garden and doing other necessary outdoor chores before the cold weather arrives. Luckily for us, the day of the event was a little wetter and cooler.  Not so bad though, that people decided to stay home, but just bad enough that they could not do other things around the house.  It was just perfect for visiting That Art Thing.  And visiting was what they did.

At other art shows people tend to come in, look at the art, maybe talk to the artist for a moment, and then wander back out, with or without a purchase.  That Art Thing was located in a tiny village and many of the people who came in found other people they had not seen for quite a while, and not only did they look at the art, but they stayed for a visit.  It was a very happy, friendly crowd, and a really fun day.  Most of us, in fact, actually made a new friend or two. 

If I had known earlier that it wasn't going to just be our paint class showing off what we had accomplished, I probably would have shown photographs, or maybe even digital art instead.  I have more confidence with those.  But my paintings were well accepted by both the public and the other artists, so I think I just graduated. I'm not just a painter any more.  Now, I'm an artist.

A Grandma By Any Other Name ....

I raised an autistic child and was well aware that he often took the things I said literally.  I guess I forgot that other small children can be equally confused by our choice of words.

My oldest grandson will soon be eight years old.  He came to visit, and after spending some time playing with his Grandfather, he sat with me for a while.  He asked me, "Nana, why don't I have a Grandmother?" 

I was shocked, but informed him he did, in fact, have two Grandmothers. (well three if we want to get technical, but let's not just now).  He said, "No I don't." And I said, "I'm your Grandmother, and Budda is your other Grandmother."  Instantly I saw the problem.  While the other one was Gramma in the beginning, the wee one couldn't pronounce that and one day it came out as Budda, and that has stuck. Me, I've always been Nana because I had a Nana and a Nanny myself while growing up.  So, while this grandson knew his Mother had both a Grandmother and a Grandfather, known to him as GG and GGPaw, he though he just had a Grandfather and no Grandmothers.

After being straightened out on this matter, he sat quietly for a while thinking about it. I guess he got it straight because when he spoke again, he said, "So, my mommy had me and my brother, and you had Daddy and Uncle Steve, right?"  I assured him that this was so.  I think he was relieved to discover that he did actually have Grandmothers, even if he calls us something else.  He wasn't so deprived after all.  Grandmothers are special people you know.

Produce From the Medical Centre

Our local medical centre has created a new program aimed at helping us eat healthier.  They call it the Good Food Box.  Once a month orders can be placed for a box or bag of fresh fruits and/or vegetables.  The price is basically by the pound, I believe. For instance you can pay $5 for 5 pounds of either fruit or vegetables, $10 for 10 pounds of either or a mix of the two, and I think there is a $25 dollar option as well, That's probably of a mixture of both fruit and vegetables and would be suitable for a family. It would include a 10 pound bag of potatoes, from what I saw when  I picked my order up.

There are just two of us here, and I have to walk half a mile each way to both order (and pay for) and pick up my produce. For these reasons I decided to try the $5 bag, and chose vegetables this month.  As I was on my way over there to pick them up, it suddenly dawned on me that, at this time of year, there might be squash and sweet potatoes in the mix. Nobody here cares for either of those.

I notice the medical centre has also created a companion program called Cooking from the Box. That's a community cooking class where you get to make food using the things found in the current months box.  If a sweet potato or squash had shown up there I might have attended, just to see if I could learn a way to make something we would find palatable from these ingredients..

Luckily for us, there were neither  in my bag, and only things I buy regularly anyway.  That's not very exciting, but at today's prices, I think I came out ahead.  What do you think?