Studio Helpers

Ike

Bitsy

Simba

Several people have been sharing pictures of their studio helpers, from Linda Blondheim's Studio Dog to a Face Book friend who shared a picture of his black cat, lounging.

I used to have Toto, a Cairn Terrier, who sat under my feet while I was at my desk. I still miss putting my feet on her silky fur. She died at age 17. We got another dog, Pluto, but that is a one person dog. He stays with my daughter constantly.

But, the cats migrate toward me at meal time and nap time, for them, which is a lot of the day.

I covered my drawing table, in front of my window, with newspapers, for painting. Of course, the cats like to sleep there, or just look out the window !

In the photos, there is, at the top, the visiting, solid black tomcat, named Ike. He came to our door the night that the rain started as Hurricane Ike was moving in. We gave him shelter for a few days, then he left. But, he comes back several times a day, to eat Iams cat food, drink, and nap. Then he leaves. He has found a way to get into the house around the bathtup pipes, so, if we don't open the door when he wants to come in, he just makes his own way in and out of the house.

He is a large, gorgeous cat, like a small panther.

Long ago, when dreaming of things I wanted in the future, I thought I would like to have, not an ordinary Cadillac, but a solid white four door Jaguar with white leather interior. And, instead of diamonds, I wanted emeralds. And I wanted, instead of a fancy dog, a gorgeous panther. I guess we sort of have a panther, now. Ike is solid black, with green eyes, and very quiet.

In the center photo, during nap time, I put a couple of soft blankets on my bed, and Bitsy takes a nap there. Bitsy is 23, and still hanging on, though she is a sick lady with renal failure. She has lost so much weight, but she is still Bitsy and can outrun me!

Simba has been sitting on the back of my chair while I am either on the computer or at my drawing table. He is in the bottom photo. Simba is the king of the house-the Alpha male. He is very smart, and cuddly, usually, keeps the dog and everyone else under control. In the photo, he is on the back of the chair which is covered with one of my painting shirts to keep the little claws out of my leather chair! You can see Ike curled up on the table in the background.

The window is a good place for cats to watch squirrels and rabbits romping in the yard and Oak trees, and the birds that like to perch in the Crepe Myrtle in front of the window. And it is a good place for me to watch the changing light and shadows, and the occasional car that passes by.

My human helpers are not so interested anymore. They are more into computers and games, these days.

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Have you had the Swine Flu?

I don't like "politically correct", or numbers, so, to me, it is going to stay the Swine Flu. Once I've learned something one way, it's hard to change to fit someone's whims. I heard a story today, on the news, saying that a worker from Mexico, in Canada, spread the Swine Flu to the pigs he was working with. It's all very confusing, to people all over the world. Now they are saying that the flu may be dying down some, but could return, even changed, and worse in the fall.

Personally, I don't want the flu, swine or otherwise. We're washing hands more and hoping that it doesn't get worse. The people who seem to be having the worst time with it, are those who already have some medical problems.

Esther Read's granddaughters made the cutest video about Swine Flu! It should be put on You Tube or somewhere.

Have you done a picture about Swine Flu? I did one a while back and put it on my blog, but that was about having the flu long ago. I'll have to do something about the current illness.

I think it was Geraldo Rivera who was reporting about Swine Flu last week, and he said that, everytime he does a segment on the flu, or hears a story about it, he starts feeling sick-sore throat, feverish, etc. I am that way too! My throat starts hurting every time they talk about the flu! But, in a little while, with another story, I'm cured! I'm not usually that easily influenced.

Hope that you all stay well! Go away, Swine Flu! -And allergies!

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I've been reminiscing by looking through old Trevalcs, the Calvert High School yearbook. That started as I was looking for old pictures to use on the groups I started for Calvert High School Trojans alumni on Yahoo and on Facebook. If you went to school in Calvert, join the groups and share your pictures. I enjoyed seeing the addition of a photo of the Calvert Cemetery, with several memories from growing up in Calvert. Remember walking past there, between the park and the cemetery, at night, after a movie at the Eloia, or a football or basketball game at the school?

I walked from the Eloia to my house, near the school, at night, or back home after visiting a friend, a few times, and I was plenty scared! I almost ran from street light to street light. I think the worst time was after watching one of those scarey movies about space, and then having to walk home in the dark. I just knew that space ships with monsters were going to appear from out of the stars and swoop down from the school to my house! I usually convinced a friend to walk at least part of the way home with me, but that didn't get me past the park and cemetery with protection.

Of course, we just had to walk through the cemetery during Halloween parties! Well, that's another story.

During the day, it was a peaceful place to walk and spend time. The iron benches through the cemetery and some of the stone benches were nice to sit and rest on, especially on a hot day.

I've already shared our experiences of giving wild flowers to people who were coming out of the cemetery after funerals in an earlier post. You can find those under Older Posts.

I also started a group for people who are interested in Calvert, and that is where Judy R. added the cemetery picture and memories. That is an open group for anyone to join on Face Book.

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Thanks for reading and sharing!

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There will be no meeting of the Brazos Valley Art League tomorrow, but, instead, there will be a luncheon at the Art Center on May 12th. See their newsletter for May or the website for more information.

They are also having the Lone Start Art Guild Convention starting on Friday at the Brazos Center. More information about that, too, on the website and in the newsletter, as well as the LSAG website.

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I added two links under Interesting Sites on my sidebar. One is a link to the trailer for the PBS series, "We Shall Remain" -The Cherokee.

The other is a link to the website "Der Familiename Konitzer/Conitzer. This is the very interesting website from Germany for those interested in Polish/Prussian/German genealogy and information.

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Join my Followers or my groups, if you haven't already. You can also subscribe to my blog, if you haven't done so already.

I appreciate your interest!

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Saturday Secrets

Saturday Secrets

pencil sketch

10" x 15"

Virginia Field Park Calvert, Texas

Saturday morning. A quick breakfast of Rice Krispies, a banana, and fresh squeezed orange juice, or, my favorite, Pablum. Maybe toast, biscuits, bacon, eggs, ham, french toast, doughnuts, or whatever Mama fixed that day. Playing with the cats for a little while, arranging my dolls on my bed, dressing in girls bluejeans or shorts, then draping myself over the chair with the nailheads around the edges, to listen to "Buster Brown", "Jack Armstrong" and "Sky King" on the radio.

I rolled my bike that Daddy had bought from Jane, and I painted with a 10 cent can of enamel from Fink's Variety Store, out from the garage out back and into the front yard. "I'm going to the library," I shouted over my shoulder as I rolled the bike down the little hill in our front yard to the street. I rode around the streets outside the park to avoid the sand in the road inside the park, and on to the little library that had once been a club house for women. It was just like it had always been, from my grandmother's day.

I looked through the books for what seemed like hours and picked out a stack of books to take home for the week. I probably would never read all those books, but I had good intentions. During the school year, I also had all those books from school, plus those I checked out of the school library, and books that I had of my own to read.

I loaded my books into the basket of my bike and thought of how I would curl up in a chair, in front of the stove in the living room, in winter, or by a window in hot weather and read so many books. And I would also buy some comic books and movie magazines from the drugstore to read. And, I would spread out on the floor to read the funny papers from the newspaper and magazines. A lot of reading, but I think I did more dreaming than actual reading.

I rode up the gentle hill toward home. I pedaled my bike up the street, avoiding gravel on the side, and between the two large white rocks at the entrance to the park. I pushed my bike over the hard walk up to the old fashioned bandstand and leaned it against the steps while I walked over to the birdbath/drinking fountain for a cold drink of water. I never was sure it it was a birdbath, although that's what it looked like to me. I guess we humans had to share it with the birds! It did have steps on the sides for short people to stand on, and a couple of metal drinking faucets, so it would seem to be for people to drink from. But it was concrete and curved to hold water, which would have served the birds, too.

I looked into the large structure to see if anybody was there to talk to and play with, yet. No one was there, so I got on my bike and pedaled out the east side over the walk, past the clay tennis court and the huge glider swing. I walked my bike carefully as I crossed the drive way that surrounded the park. Spots of sand made walking difficult and could turn a car that was going too fast, completely around.

I passed Edie's house and the empty lots between us, and pushed the bike up the hill to my house, and left the bike on the small front porch. With my books parked safely on top of the chest of drawers, I still had a long time before dinner when Daddy would come home from the store to eat. I could have read one of those books, I guess, but, no. This was Saturday. No school! Time for friends, relaxing, and a good shoot-em-up at the Eloia followed by a trip to Taliaferro's Drug Store for an ice cream cone or Coke and reading the latest movie magazines and funny books.

Mama was busy in the kitchen, and I walked back over to the park. This was a good place to be with friends. Not so much fun, alone. It was kind of big, spooky, and overwhelming, for a kid alone. No telling what might be there. A spider, a snake, a monster or a ghost! Not to mention those weird horney toads and the big red ants that had some good sized beds in certain places in the park. We never thought that there could be anyone lurking in the park who might harm us.

"Are you going to the show this afternoon?" I met a friend from school inside the bandstand. Light reflected off the blue gray floor as I sat down on a bench beside her.

"I don't know. Is anyone else going?" She asked.

"Probably so, but I haven't talked to anyone. Do you know what's on?"

"I don't know. It's in the paper that they send out at the post office."

"Yeah, I know that. But I just wondered."

" Think there'll be any cute boys there? Or will it just be the dumb old boys from school?"

" You know that all the cute boys are somewhere else!" I laughed.

"Let's save our money and go on the bus to the Chatmas, and to Waco!"

"Okay. Think we can go?" I asked, thinking of our shopping trips to other places, but always with adults.

"Sure! I do it all the time!"

It was hard to believe, but other kids, all of whom were older than I was, did take the bus and go to Hearne or Bryan or Waco, to shop, eat, and go to a movie.

"Well, I have to go home and wash my hair before I can go to the show," I said. "And Daddy is going to be home for dinner soon."

"I've got to wash my hair, too." She walked to the edge of the wooden floor and down the steps. "I'll see you later at the show. I don't think that Tim Holt is on today. It may even be Tarzan, or the Three Stooges. Or, I think I saw that they are going to have Whip Wilson one Saturday."

We both doubled up with laughter. "Whip Wilson!" (That's what we called one of our algebra teachers/coaches. He seemed to be quick on the draw with his paddle for misbehaving kids. )

"Just so it isn't Victor Mature. Kathryn said he looks like someone just threw a bucket of slop in his face, and he does!"

Daddy's little coupe chugged and clattered past the park and I ran home to eat dinner.

The park was a nice place to spend time with friends. The bandstand, with its sturdy enameled floor. was a good place to get out of the sun or weather, away from the eyes of grownups, where secrets, hopes, and dreams could be shared. Towering Crepe Myrtles all around the sides of the park and beds filled with flowers, assured some privacy from passing cars, as well as neighbors. A basketball hoop on one of the posts provided a place for the boys to practice before we had a gym, or for the kids to come and try their skill at playing basketball, if they could find a basketball. The floor made a good roller rink and a place to settle in and play games like jacks. Benches provided a place for an audience where we could practice acting, singing, and dancing, or they might become seats in an airplane, a boat, a train, or whatever object we could imagine. The sides of the bandstand made a good place to hide from pirates or the bad guys while we played with our toy guns. Some were even brave enough to venture a little way under the bandstand to play house, complete with mudpies.

Last weekend was another Saturday, many years later. My sister and I descended on the park, not with our cap pistols or toy dishes, or jacks, or bikes, but with folding chairs, sketchbooks, and pens and pencils, and a cold drink. She picked a spot in the bandstand overlooking the west entrance, while I went to the opposite side, picked a bench to settle on , and looked out toward the school and our old neighborhood, the merry-go-round, and one of the two remaining small pavillions on the norhtheast corner.

After beginning our day with a kolache and a visit with Jody at Zamykal Kolaches, we spent the morning in the park, sketching the place where we spent a lot of time playing, when we were growing up. It was a hot day, but the bandstand provided us with a lot of shade, and there was a little breeze to cool us off.

I worked in pencil on a watercolor pad, while my sister used her sketchbook and a pen. I had thoughts of, at some time, painting my drawing later. I also chose to take some photos of where we were working. All the while, I was thinking of the things that we used to do in the park, and how it is still so much the same. A real comfort as so many people love that park, and have over the years. Our great-grandfather came over from Prussia the year before the park and the town became official.

I thought of the friends we knew and the events that took place in the park and I missed the cold water in the fountain, the great Crepe Myrtles around the park, the baseball field where almost nightly summer ball games were held, (and, in between, we brought out our bats and balls and had games of our own), the children's swings, the big white glider and the bench made from a plank that had been placed between two oak trees, years ago, the clay tennis court, the road around the park, and my sister noticed that even the concrete ping pong table is gone. It's still a nice place with so much potential.

As we sketched, two young girls came into the bandstand to exercise and enjoy each other's company. They laughed, giggled, and talked softly, ran up and down the steps a few times, then drank bottled water. (I thought how handy the drinking fountain would have been for them! After all, people come from cities just to drink some of that good Calvert water!) They sat on the benches, talking softly and I thought of young girls sharing their time and their secrets, over many years, there in the park. Eventually, they asked if I was through sketching the merry-go-round, and, when I told them I was, they wandered over to the playground area where they took a few spins around on the merry-go-round. Returning to the bandstand, they sat on benches opposite each other, to talk.

"Aha! There's some pictures!" I thought. Kids talking on a Saturday in the park, playing on the merry-go-round, and the way that it used to be. Saturdays used to seem so long and we did so much, with no rush. I placed the girls in my sketch, looking at them, but used the photo above to finish the placement of things like posts and dividers. I added in the baseball field, concession stand, and the little road around the park in the background. I thought of styles of the past and gave my girls pigtails and a pony tail.

I couldn't help but wonder what they were talking about. Was it anything like the conversations that we had? How much have the thoughts and feelings of the young girls changed from my grandmother's day to now?

I do suspect that they were not talking about going to the Saturday afternoon picture show at the Eloia, since it is not operatong. And I do know that it was refreshing to see such nice, respectful young ladies. I don't know who they are, but it gave me a little scarey thought for a story. They walked away toward the cemetery across the street. Now there's an idea for a story. I think I have watched ghost programs with my daughter, too much!

I have more pictures that I took during our last Saturday sketch crawl to share, and some more sketches that I have been doing.

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Speaking of Calvert, they are looking forward to the big Victorian Tea and Gala with a Street Fair Octobler 4. Jody Powers told me that they are still looking for vendors for the street fair. They have a lot of things lined up, but they need more vendors. So, if you like to sell your wares that can be considered Victorian , look at their website for more information, or contact Jody at Zamykal Kolache Shop in Calvert. If you make aprons, quilts, make jewelry, paint, demonstrate how to do something, have a civic group that would like to participate, or whatever it is that you do, get in touch with her. I have a link to her shop in my sidebar, or, you could just call her. There is also an online application. I do believe that they want everyone to dress in Victorian attire. It isn't require of people attending, but it is encouraged, if you would like to dress up.

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Did you see "On The Road" on KBTX tv Thursday? If not, you can go to their website and take a look at the video. They reported on the news from Robertson County as part of their "On The Road" weekly series. They had to pack up early, though, because rain with thunder and lightning were coming. It was an interesting segment.

If you missed it, you can go to the KBTX website and, on the right, there is a place to click to see "On The Road" for the previous weeks. The segment on Robertson County, included quite a bit about Calvert. They don't have the whole program online, but do show Hammond House, Jody in costume showing fan ettiquette, and taught one of the anchors how to waltz, the old Calvert Hotel, the cemetery, and some of the stores downtown. I wish they would have left in the part where Jody is in her shop, talking and singing.

One thing that was not correct was that children have never lived in the Calvert Hotel. The Dirr family, who originally owned the hotel, had children and grandchildren living there. I practically lived there, myself when my cousins were at their grandmother's hotel. That made such a great place to play!

Another thing that I noticed was that the front of the buildings on Main Street were actually the back, by the railroad. They did load freight from the trains through there and had entrances at the back, but the fronts were where they are now, on Main Street. I have pictures from the early days, and there are the Sanford Fire Insurance Maps. Main Street once had cisterns and water wells in the middle, but the street was very wide allowing big wagons with teams to turn around easily. There was also another track that ran behind the buildings on the west side of the street, and freight was loaded from there. When I was young, there were still tracks visible in the street where little spurs were built on the side streets to busy stores . There were also tracks by the Fagan house. I was told those were trolley tracks. Calvert had a trolley while Dallas and Ft. Worth were not much more than an Army outpost.

Calvert was said to have been almost wiped out by the Yellow Fever Epidemic. About half the population died and left a population of 2,5oo, which is what it was still, all the years that I was growing up. They could never know how many died exactly because people were being buried day and night. I'm sure that they missed where some people were actually buried. But, they did make sure to bury people with the fever at an angle so that no one would ever try to dig them up and release whatever caused the epidemic into the atmosphere to make more people sick. They didn't know what caused it. Even doctors died. There probably is some record from the City Cemetery of most of the people in that one cemetery. But, apparently, records were not kept for some other burial places.

My great-grandfather had a "Chinaman" working for him in his cobbler shop. The man was among those who died. None of my family caught it, though. What a scarey time that was!

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Tonight is the Scottish Invasion with events in Dallas Ft. Worth, and Houston, that I know of.

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We lost another of our schoolmates this week. Linda was the prettiest little girl, and the prettiest and sweetest lady when she grew up! She worked so hard in her chosen career and was devoted to her family. It was so nice to talk to her and to have her fix my hair. I know that she is going to be greatly missed.

Here is a sketch of an angel for Linda. I tried it in watercolors, but I'm not happy with it. Wrong kind of paper, I think. I'll have to try it again.

Expressions of Sympathy

Expressions of Sympathy

8.5" x 11"

pencil

Several posts back, I wrote about going to the cemetery to meet people coming out after a funeral. Several of us would pick wildflowers, maybe put them in a fruit jar with water, and present them to people who were leaving the cemetery after a funeral. We thought they might be sad and deserved some flowers, too. And, of course, being children, we didn't have money to contribute toward flowers for the deceased. We wouldn't have known how to go about that, anyway.

Usually, we didn't even know who the person was who died, or any of the mourners. We could tell there was going to be a funeral when the grave was being dug in the cemetery in the next block. Edie lived right across the street and I lived in the next house toward the school, so we always knew when there were funerals.

In this drawing, I showed Judy on the left, waiting to give her flowers. Edie is handing her flowers to a well dressed lady who was wearing a hat with a veil, which most ladies did back then. I'm standing next to Edie, and Tootsie is on the right. Inside the cemetery gate, a couple is leaving and my brave little sister was there, giving her flowers to the lady. (We probably either pushed her in there, or she thought that we were right behind her! Or, maybe, she just saw those people and headed for them while we stopped at the gate.) We weren't brave enough to actually go into the cemetery, with all those strangers. Most likely, we had been warned to leave those people alone and stay away from the funeral. So, this was as close as we went, the street by Edie's house.

I do know that we waited on the little hill of Edie's front yard, and went back there as soon as we had given our flowers. We watched in silence as the people left and the hearse pulled away from the drive through the cemetery. We thought of what we would do for the next funeral, wondered when it might be, and who were these people that we had given flowers to, where did they live, and who did they leave behind in the cemetery. We couldn't help but wonder about death and what it was like and hope that it wouldn't come to us in the night.

There was an empty lot between Edie's house and mine, that was solid with red Indian Paintbrushes in the spring. On the other side of my house, between there and the school, was an empty half of a block that was also filled with the Indian Paintbrushes. Along with the Indian Paintbrushes, there were always some small yellow, pink, purple, and white flowers. And sometimes we could find a good stand of Sour Grass to chew on, or pretty Queen Annes Lace to add to our arrangements.

There also was a coffee weed that grew between our houses, that was good to add to our play-like soup or mud pies. It had bean pods growing on it. Daddy warned us about eating it, though, because he said it was poisonous.

Wild plum trees grew along the fence line at the back of the lots. That made for some wonderful homemade plum jelly, and beautiful spring blossoms.

We had plenty to pick from for our flower arrangements. We didn't seem to have any Bluebonnets, though. There were lots of flowers in flower beds around the neighborhood and in the park, but we knew we would get into trouble if we picked any of those.

The cemetery in Calvert is a lovely park-like place. Beautiful old statues in there, and many interesting tombstones. Before fire ants struck our area, it was a pleasant place to sit and reflect or just read about and think of the people who are resting there.

I thought I would add this drawing today, thinking of another former Calvert resident and member of one of the old families, who has died at age 95. I remember that, when I was a child, he returned to Calvert in his blue Navy uniform during or just after WWII. I remember him coming to Sneed Memorial Methodist Church, wearing the uniform. I remember hearing of "Sock" Norton, but I don't recall any of what was said. Maybe just that he was in the service, or that he was home, or something from Calvert High School days, long before my time there. I also remember him being in his father's clothing store, Norton's.

I was reading his obituary in" the Marlin Democrat", and thought about funerals, the cemtery, and Calvert. Hammond Norton's son, Bill, has restored the old Norton homeplace, now the Hammond House B&B. Most of us remember it as the old courthouse, which turned out to be all wrong. It seems that it was actually built to be a jail. You can read more about the Hammond House and it's history, with pictures, online. I have a link to it in my sidebar.

Like many who have roots in Calvert, Ham seems to have had a long and outstanding life.

I know that his family, and those who knew him, have many wonderful memories of him. They gathered on Saturday to celebrate his life in a place near the Brazos that was dear to him.

Do you remember that almost everyone in Calvert had a nickname, or they were known as Mr. or Miss, no matter if they were married or not? I can hear my dad, my uncles, and Grandpa, people in town, saying those names and bits and pieces about them. But what did they say about them? I don't remember. Wish I had written things down.

We had "Toot", "Honey", "Pappy", "Uncle Doc", "Uncle Tom", "Bupsie", "Shrimp", "Snucky", "BB", "Uncle Goose", "ED", "Dee" in our family. There was "Jolly", "Tootsie", "Chi Chi", "T-Bone", "Slick", "Sooky", "Missie", "Estella", "Goo", among others in school. Around town, there were nicknames like "Lightning", "Hoss", and "Possum". There were lots more, but those just came to me.

Some of us never got a nickname, and was I glad to be in that group. I thought that someone would probably come up with a horrible name for me, something that would be really embarrassing. I was relieved to get through school without that happening.

One time, about 5th or 6th grade, we all decided that we would not write out our names on our papers in school, and would just put initials instead. We were really looking for shortcuts with our writing as those corns on our fingers got really sore sometimes! And, besides, if we could manage to get away with something and put something over on the teachers, that would be so great! Dutifully, one day, we all put our initials on our papers, along with our school, class, and date.

The next day, when the teacher was returning our papers, she just embarrassed us rather than just telling us not to do that anymore or it wasn't acceptable. She called out, not our names, but what the initials might spell or stand for. The first paper was for "Cap". Another was from "Eb", and there was one for "an Oak tree". She pulled mine out from the bottom of the stack and said, "Oh , here is one from the Calvert Chamber of Commerce!" I wanted to melt into the floor! I looked at the floor, and sweated, as I walked to her desk to retrieve my paper, and back. It wasn't such a good grade anyway. I shouldn't have claimed it, but she knew who I was. She knew all of us, despite our efforts to change our identitity and confuse the teacher, with all her many assignments.

Most of those nicknames were wonderful. They made us wonder how they came about, and sometimes they just really fit the person. For some people, we only knew them by nicknames, and their real names just didn't seem to fit, if we ever even knew what those real names were.

Some of those nicknames became legend, in the stories of the school and town. As the older people and families pass on, however, those names and stories are being lost.

I know that some people didn't like their nicknames, or their real names. The more they didn't like something, the more it stuck.

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I can't believe that it is July already. What happened to June! I thought that I had a few days left, and, boom! All of a sudden it was the end of June!

I hope that you are planning some patriotic activities and family events for the Fourth and for the month of July.

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More Calvert Drawings

Barbara sketched the Calvert City Cemetery

In the top photo, Barbara is sitting by the car, sketching one of the gates to the cemetery in Calvert. Her sketch is the drawing below the photo.

This lovely park-like cemetery is the final resting place for many of our family members, friends, neighbors, and members of the community.

We grew up just a few houses away from the cemetery.

I remember that, at one time, Edie, who lived next door to the cemetery, would alert us kids to a funeral going on. Several of us would go home and get a fruit jar, put water in it, and pick wildflowers that grew in the empty lots around us. As mourners left the cemetery, we timidly presented them with a jar or a handful of Indian Paintbrushes or tiny little yellow, purple or blue flowers.

We had a lot of Indian Paintbrushes, but I know of only one spot where there were Bluebonnets growing wild at the edge of town near the school. Of course, we believed that we would be put in jail immediatly, if we picked a Bluebonnet, so those were not even considered. There were lots of flowers in the park across the street, but we dared not pick any of those, either. The temptation was great, but, if Mrs. Sneed saw you pick a flower in the park, well, it would be too bad! And, on top of it, there was supposed to be a $5 fine if you got caught picking a flower in the park. We knew better than to pick any of the flowers from the beds of the neighborhood ladies' homes. And, the wildflowers were really pretty and cheerful.

I thought that the deceased would have a lot of flowers on their grave. But those left behind must feel sad at leaving their loved one in the cemetery. So, maybe they could use some pretty flowers to make them a little happier.

The dark clad recipients quietly thanked us and left the cemetery as we walked backward into Edie's yard to watch.

I don't have any idea who the people were, or who had died. It just seemed like something we should do since we were so close to the cemetery.

In this cemetery, there are quite a few graves that are at an angle. These are victims of the terrible Yellow Fever epidemic that wiped out about half the town. No one knew what caused Yellow Fever, so the graves were put at an angle in hopes that no one would ever open those graves and allow the germs or whatever might be causing the illness, to escape and cause another outbreak of Yellow Fever. The population was over 4, 000 at that time, and, after the epidemic, about 2,500 remained. The population remained in that range, even when I was in school.

Since they were burying people, night and day, I don't think that anyone will ever know exactly how many people died then, or even who they all were.

My great-grandfather had a cobbler shop, one of the first businesses in town. He had a "Chinaman" working for him who contracted Yellow Fever and died. That's the closest that any of my family members came to the disease, as far as I have been able to find out. But old timers talked about it, and it is still a topic of conversation even today.

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Stork Update!

The nest in Przygodzic has 3 babies in it! Three eggs have hatched, with 2 more to go! I haven't been able to see them as one of the storks is always sitting on the nest when I have taken time to look. But I can tell about the eggs from the animated little eggs at the bottom or their camera shot.

You can check out the other links, and the link I have that says Stork Cams, which has a list of many cameras trained on stork nests in various places.

Hope the babies make it this year!

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I added something for those of you who are Hillary Clinton supporters and for those who just like to design t-shirts. It's under Design a T Shirt. She had a "widget" on her website to add to your blog, where you can design a t-shirt for her campaign. Unfortunately, the whole thing doesn't show, but I think enough is showing so that you can design a shirt, or click on links you want.

I know one thing. After my recent experience of trying to paint a t-shirt with acrylics on a stretchy t-shirt, I'll try not to do that again! I started it a year ago, and I'm still not finished! That material is so hard to paint on!

I don't know how anyone can paint enough t-shirts to make a living at it, go to shows, and that sort of thing. One was enough for me! I have another shirt to paint, but this one may just remain plain-unless I really get in the mood for doing something frustrating! (I guess that should read challenging. I think that painting on fabric is a lot more than challenging, though. It's sort of like sewing. It doesn't take long before I am ready to throw the sewing machine in the garbage can, when I try to sew! Not nearly enough patience.)

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I enjoyed watching Bill Stubbs on Houston PBS tv. "Moment of Luxury" took us to New York last night. Really enjoyed the trip. In our area, the program is on Monday night at 8 p.m. Check your listings to see when it is shown in your area.

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Thank you for reading and sharing.

Let me know if you see something that interests you.

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Something About April

My Child

watercolor

What is it about April? Especially the time around the 20th through the 25th.

It should be a time for thoughts of spring, pretty flowers blooming, new life emerging. Thoughts of growth and renewal. April showers and May flowers. A beautiful moon, cool nights, and warm days. Kids playing outside, people gardening and planting, looking forward to summer days and vacations. Heading into the last days of school for the year.

Instead, something always happens, or I am, somehow, reminded of death, while wanting to cling to a loved one. Of wanting to reach down and with all my might, pull the dead from the grave-bring them back to experience life again. You don't ever want to lose that connection to someone, yet they are snatched away and hidden from you, no matter what you do.

It happened long ago. Still, you never want to let go-to stop reaching for them.

And, now, when spring and the end of April is here, more reminders. Another train hit a truck in that same county, killing the truck driver. This time, there were pictures of the truck in the news. It was almost on that same day, but years later.

And now we learn of the death of someone just a bit older than I am. Someone who lived a full life and was a truly good man, dedicated to, not only his family, but to his community. I know that his family will miss him terribly, but the town will, too. His presence and his deeds were truly blessings.

Today, I'm thinking of Wesley, a truck driver who was a stranger, little Otto from so very long ago, and little Marvin, also from many years ago, and Jamey, and Sherril and Bicker. Not all of them on this month, of course, but all of them gone too soon. They are all missed.

I remember watching the late afternoon sun through my window, filtering through the rich green leaves of spring, making lacey patterns that danced in a soft breeze Just like the days have been in the past week. How could something so unreal happen on such a beautiful day.

We can't touch, anymore, but we can remember.

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The watercolor above was done on 300# watercolor paper using a limited palette of blue and brown Winsor Newton watercolors.

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Next weekend, May 3 & 4, Calvert, Texas will have their 2008 tour of homes, with related events. Click on the link at the top of my page to find more information.

The town truly is a treasure and you should enjoy your visit there.

I have several links to various places around Calvert and Robertson county in my sidebar.

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