Hellebores in my sketchbook. This spring I took up the practice of painting in my sketchbook first thing in the morning. Generally I shift my “first thing activity” every six weeks or so, always giving priority to a remembered dream. Other activities have included writing fiction and embroidery. As we approach the Equinox I am considering again what activity I will take up first thing, because currently it has been puzzles, which are not quite the caliber of activity that benefits my inner world. And I absolutely have to sit in bed for nearly an hour before I can do anything else. Might as well make it a good hour!

Notebooks in their natural habitat. Though scientists report that populations of notebooks are on the decline worldwide, due in part to the viral toxic effects of invasive technologies, they can still be found proliferating in certain ecosystems: riverbanks and forest paths, for one, but also in more cultivated environs such as libraries, sofa nooks, and cluttered desktops. Despite urban myth suggesting otherwise, they are not doing well in cafes and schoolhouses.

A big thank you to Tom Cox on Substack for his generous spirit, (he sent his beautiful book to me for the cost of shipping! Though I tried to properly compensate him by adding more than he asked for). The book is a delight and an inspiration. Also his parents did the artwork!

This is my dog. His name is Togo. He is as big as he looks. Bigger even. He is 100 lbs of muscle and teeth. He is not really cute—he is a very serious working dog. I’m not going to say he’d never bite you because actually he would. 

But he also knows how to play. And perhaps because he is so enormous and ferocious looking his goofy play antics are that much more endearing to watch. 

I’ve been thinking a lot about play. How important it is for me to have a playful stance towards life. And I’m doing everything I can to bring that mindset to the domain, even though I’m also, in my heart, a very serious working woman. What woman these days isn’t? And curiously, one of the best ways I know to keep up the play mindset is to hang out with dogs. Because even the most serious of them know how to leap and chase and run with wild abandon. 

Also, there’s nothing better than a good ole fashioned howl fest! 

Dogs. Keepin it real since 23,000 BCE (more or less).

I went to the garden with my basket to pick tulsi. Holy basil. The whole garden was wrapped in her fragrance; the bees worked the flowers with the buzz of happiness.

I was not happy. I was stretched and irritable. The sun was a glare of heat, the air thick and still.

I knelt on the ground and plucked stem after stem, breathing deep that cosmic medicine. My basket began to fill. The bees ignored my unhappiness. They have eyes only for flowers.

Once my basket was full I went back inside, filled the dehydrator, then made a half gallon of tulsi tea, sweetened with a big scoop of honey.

That’s 2 million and 32 thousand flowers. Plus tulsi. And suddenly I was humbled, and happy.

This is the inside of a box I’m working on. It’s part snake (I mean, it’s definitely a snake), but also part labyrinth, and part ouroboros (only partly because it’s not eating its tail). But you get the idea. I love painting boxes and putting surprise images on the inside.

Which isn’t very fair, considering it’s the last month of Summer weather. But I guess that’s the point. It’s hot and humid and it feels like the whole world is 9 months pregnant.

But this summer I feel a little different, and I think the reason why is I finally get it. After Summer Solstice, it’s time to reorient myself to Relax Mode. Which can take a bit. And I’ve not entirely figured out how to relax, but I think I’m getting there.