A Drive In The Country

All pinned up. If I didn’t admit that I’ve felt a little confined, I’d be lying. I’m a creative and need to be creating. My kids are sick of me. Literally, they are sick of me. I don’t like them to be on their screens all day every day. I’ve had them working in the garden, helping me with household chores and little projects. (let me address the photo of the little girl before I go on too much and forget) My friend challenged me to watercolor a little girl with the cutest big eyes. I used my light box in the studio for the very first time. So I’ve even had the kids creating art with me. Libbie loves the light box and wants to trace everything. Now back to why the kids are over their mamma… They have cleaned out their closets and drawers. Hoot has helped me with a few design projects and they are absolutely over it. Honestly, they just want to interact with someone, anyone, who isn’t Mother. I can feel them cringe when I call their names. We usually see my mom every other month or so. The kids typically spend Spring Break at Nana’s Resort. They’re getting to the age that they really enjoy time with their friends, so this year they opted to stay home for Spring Break. Our calendar was booked for the week. We planned a day in Galveston, another day in Houston touring museums and shopping. A big Spring Break tradition in Houston is spending a day at the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo. We met a group of friends at the show and had a wonderful time. This was the day before the show was cancelled due to the Covid crisis. That was it for our Spring Break. We spent the next few days glued to our television waiting for updates. The rest is history and we’ve been homebound since. My mom is having grandkids withdraws. She hasn’t seen them since New Years Day. This weekend my niece turns 14 and my kids wanted nothing more than to celebrate with her. Today, we met half way between Houston and Dallas and Nana picked up her loves. We didn’t hug or touch each other and we all wore our masks. We didn’t interact with anyone. She took my kids and drove North on Hwy 45. Please don’t judge me… I pulled out headed south and then stopped. I wasn’t ready to go back home. I wanted to drive in the country. I packed my camera just incase I felt inspired to document something. It never fails. I see something amazing and then realize I don’t have my camera. I am getting better at using my phone, but I love the feel of holding my camera to my eye and seeing things through that beautiful glass. All the spring calfs were out with their mammas. The wildflowers litter the country roads. The weather was perfect and it was the best day to just drive. I had nowhere to be or anything I needed to be doing. I just drove. It was glorious. I’ve been taking an oil painting class and working on a cloud study. I photographed little meadows that I’ll print and paint later this week. It will be blazing hot within a few weeks and all the blooms will all be gone. Today I slowed down enough to take it all in. I opened the sunroof and rolled the windows down. It smells good in the country. The cows were not too sure about me. Every time I got out to photograph them, they would stand up and start backing away slowly. They were socially distant. I love spring and new growth and baby calfs. I feel inspired and refreshed. A long drive in the country is a good thing. A blueberry basil martini at the end of the day is also a good thing. My kids will be home Sunday and we’ll start on more projects! Have a wonderful weekend.