An unusually hot spring

It was 80 degrees yesterday and the magnolias all burst into bloom.

We’re taken by surprise.

Things that gain by being painted

Sei Shonagon lists  “Things that gain by being painted: Pines. Autumn fields. Mountain villages and paths. Cranes and deer. A cold winter scene; an unspeakably hot summer scene.”

For Elizabeth, my mother, it was leopards chasing a gazelle. A bicycle race in Italy. A courtyard. Peonies in bloom. Goats.

For years she wanted a show of her work. When she moved to the nursing home I invited her friends to come over and choose something from her work to remember her with. She had her show at last.