December morning greetings to you friends. Day has barely broken in the city of angles and I have risen early to start the fire in my virtual hearth. Here, let me just light the candles and commence the clattering out of this post. it’s almost Christmas isn’t it? Whether you’ll be spending it alone like me or in the safe company of your household pod I do wish you abundant happiness in these darkest days of the year. Dark but filled with twinkles, good scents, pots of stew bubbling on the stove, and warm cats that like to plop down on top of your journal or sketchbook and insist on cuddles.
Where shall I begin?
My daily art practice for December turned into birds. Unplanned, but a welcome retreat into beaks and feathers and wings.
It began with an impromptu gull I had taken a photo of when I was on the coast last month.
Then one thing led to another, as these things do, and soon I decided on a bird a day for this month.
I’m using the pages in a sketchbook that I haven’t liked up till now. It’s positively NO good for watercolor because the paper is too smooth, but it takes matte paint and gouache very nicely.
This is a strawberry tree. They are also known as Pacific Madrone and have gorgeous red peeling bark which I don’t have a picture of, but I did manage to capture their flowers and fruit which are on the tree at the same time! They are in glorious bloom here and have clusters of bright fruit that hang like cherries all over the tree.
Ginko season is wrapping up. These bright beauties are almost finished with their leaf carpet factories. To stand anywhere near one and look up or down is a real pleasure. I have my favorites I like to visit to see the progression. I have tucked a few of the fan shaped leaves into my journal for safe-keeping.
This is what I do. Walk among the bright colors of December then home to roost.
My 3 week winter holiday from school marm duties officially started as of Monday. How lovely to have these days ahead to draw & paint birds. No Zoom meetings spent trying to convince & encourage children to turn in their assignments. No faculty meetings listening to important lectures and slide shows on incredible relevant topics about which I was heretofore ignorant. No thinking up new ways to motivate and inspire. No classroom visits from helpful admin with excellent tips on how to improve. No siree. Madame School Marm has left the building. Her boat has become unmoored and she is blissfully lost somewhere at sea. Unreachable until January 11. Kindly deliver instructional tips, useful information, and advice to my digital inbox so I can read it and take notes then place it in the proper receptacle at a later date.
When not drifting in my sailing vessel, I spend time basking in the sunshine of patio or porch. Emptying my mind of unnecessary stuff.
To study my growing things and marvel at the winter garden, oh it is glorious!
We’ve had no rain yet so I continue the hand-watering routine.
All plant life in these three photos I’ve started from cuttings. The Copa D’Oro vine, aloe, aeonium, and various succulents.
Even the smallest cutting can turn into a large plant if one has patience. With a year-round growing climate, we Southern Californians have plenty of that.
Our winter thus far has been far warmer and dryer than any in recent memory. I miss the wet cool gray days of winter, but am relishing extra time outside. How good it is to sit outside and write in my journal, lift my face to the sun, and absorb some extra vitamin D.
Still, what I wouldn’t give for a snowstorm and a roaring fire in an enchanted cabin in the Canadian Rockies.
It goes without saying that it is a cold dark winter for many here in America and other places where the virus is spreading like wildfire. I listened to an excellent episode of On The Media (NY public radio) about mourning during the time of the pandemic. Really worth a listen and the 2 recited poems are lovely.
During the last 9 months I have often reflected on the incongruous nature of the global pandemic. Hunkering down at home is not a hardship for me, but I have sympathy for those who are having a difficult time of it. I’ve got plenty of cozy pursuits to keep me feeling okay about everything. Then, I am fortunate to have people I can socialize with via video chats and zoom meet-ups. After all, despite my solitary ways, I am still a social creature. I imagine there are plenty of people who could be feeling very isolated and lonely if they are cut off from all manner of social activity. If that’s you, hold on. You’ll be up to your usual tricks inside of a year. Not much comfort if you’ve already hit rock bottom, I know. There is never a better time to learn to marshal your inner powers and settle into yourself more deeply. It’s the project of a lifetime, but for some a condensed crash course during this pandemic. Come on kids! You can do it. Our country, our world has been through much more difficult and trying times than these.
Those on the front lines of this pandemic appreciate our efforts. My sister Carol is receiving her vaccine this week! As you may know, she is a nurse in busy city hospital in Kansas City. I couldn’t be more relieved. The Moss family has been lucky so far, no casualties in the virus war. If you have not been so lucky, my deepest truest condolences.
One thing that feels like pure comfort lately is to have a big fire going on either my television or big imac screen. They have all sorts of excellent long fireplace videos on Youtube. I like the ones that are not loops and where you can hear the crackle, pop, and hiss of the wood. I almost always have it going when I’m creating or writing in the evenings. If, like me, you don’t have an actual fireplace, I hope a virtual one makes you as happy as it makes me!
For the first time ever, I had the brilliant idea to put potted poinsettias in the empty window boxes. I like to see their velvety leaves waving at me when I’m in the living room.
On woodsy walks at Descanso I always find trees to lean against and gaze up into the leafy canopy. What solace one can find in the company of trees!
Streams and ponds are plentiful and capture the reflection of the branches and leaves.
How I enjoy seeing the leaves that have let go of their branches and are now floating and sinking in the ponds.
Soft piles of yellow.
The camelias have started to bloom.
The aloes are holding their bright torches aloft.
Look at us! We bear tidings of comfort and joy!
My front garden is never better than in December. Nature’s Christmas decorations.
More birds…
Streaks and piles of clouds.
If I don’t tune in before Christmas, merry merry. May it be good despite the pandemic. May you have time to be still. To walk among trees. To pursue some creative act. To come home to yourself in the darkest part of the year.
Do chime in if you get my smoke signal. Sent out into the milky sky of morning to wherever you may be. It’s bright pink smoke. You can see it with your naked eyes.
xo
Color, color everywhere….so pretty especially like the birds and their backgrounds….someone is having fun
As usual your post gave me the happies. Love your pictures, your birds and your sharing. Happy belated Christmas from Montreal.
thank you again for taking me on a little journey. LOVE your birds, they are beautiful and inspiring. i want to run and take out my paints now!
i so appreciate your stunning photos and most especially your way of ‘seeing’ . may your next year be soft and luscious…full of startling color and
surprises. bless you for all your heartfelt sharing. sincerely, karen i-k
Thank you for your ever inspirational words, art and photos. Merry Christmas!
Dear MaryAnn,
Pease, please sign me up one last time for ROM & Full Tilt Boogie one last time. Now that I’m retired, I finally have time to create, & those 2 classes have always been my favorites!
I forgot how to pay you. Was it PayPal? Let me know what steps I need to take to sign up.
I always enjoy your blog, often saving it for a “quiet time” when I can read it slowly & enjoy all your gorgeous photos.
I also am amazed at all your computer skills. I haven’t the foggiest idea how to do much on the computer except send & read emails. But you are amazing! Learning all the steps to online teaching this past year & everything that goes along with it – you are brilliant!!
I also feel a kind of kindred spirit with you as I, too, am an introvert & prefer solitude. Your blogs have taken me on many wonderful journeys. Thank you for that.
Hope to hear from you soon regarding the classes.
Merry Holidays!
Nan Dodson
Your words and photos are a comfort to me as we hunker down during the end of the year. It looks like you have everything you need in your lovely abode, with family to connect to and cats to pet. May your vacation from work be calm, bright and merry!
I enjoyed your words and images from start to finish, as always. These feel like special little gifts from you- words of wisdom and hope and calm. What we can all use at the moment. Thank you, and enjoy your vacation.
Oh my dear Mary Ann, I absolutely loved your post. It felt as though I was with you on a meander through the woods. What a way you have with words, they paint a lovely picture. Cosy pursuits indeed. Happy, merry , joy to you.
What a beautiful post! Merry Christmas to you!
Lovely post. Merry Christmas from the Maine woods.
I love each and every post you do-I look forward to them–your photos and your commentary. Your bird paintings are wonderful–very Nathalie Lete! Enjoy your holiday from school.
I adore your birds! Really — so charming! And which colored pencils did you buy more of? 😉 I’m a colored pencil freak!
Thanks for taking me on your wonderful walks through breathtaking plants, trees, and your sensational paintings, and inviting us into your home, it gives me a sense of hope, it really means something to me during this difficult time.
Oh Mary Ann, you bring me tidings of comfort and joy. You know how much I love birds, and your whimsical winged lovelies are a delight. I don’t have access to outdoor spaces like I used to, so I devour your images of flowers and your walks. Holiday blessings, my friend. Your posts are a gift that gladdens my heart in a hard time.
Methinks I should like to borrow that lovely bird planter/brush holder thingy. 🤗 Such a pleasure, as always, reading your post. Merry Christmas and many blessings in the new year.
that’s an ebay acquisition a friend thought I needed. She was right! Merry Christmas dear Jane. xo
Hey there, Mary Ann, as usual your dispatch from LA bring good tidings of great joy. Unlike those who pontificate on my tv screen or in the almost daily paper with their tales of doom and gloom, through your writing and gorgeous photos you show the other side where there’s hope and contentment. Thank you, dear MAM. Please don’t hold it against me that I comment so infrequently. Just know that I’m up here in Portland, basking in your sunshiny dispatches. Merry Christmas.
Dear Jo, I will never hold anything against you. Please send me some cool rainy gray days from Portland. My garden thanks you in advance. xo
The unpredictable arrival of your posts in my inbox is always a pleasant surprise. Thank you for all the lovely photos and thoughts. Merriest of Holidays to you!
Chiming in from the Q, your sister may have reported that we’ve had a delicious warm December and BOOM! Today the jetstream brought us bitter cold winds. I’ve put a little heater in my bird bath, hoping it will keep it from freezing into one big icicle. We’re hunkered down, not leaving the house much. I get my groceries delivered every other week until I can’t stand it and need an outing. I want to pick out my own pears, dammit! SusanW and I have had one zoom art date-I admit I resisted her ovations several times, feeling anxious it was going to be weird with long uncomfortable silences. Turns out there were silences, but they were comfortable, just like when we play together in person. Thank you for continuing the blog posts, I know they’re an effort but goodness you make me laugh. Merry Christmas my internet friend and I hope you’re blessed mightily in the new year.
Too bad Susan can’t make you some of her New Mexican enchiladas over Zoom. I still remember sitting in her kitchen while she prepared them with NM chilies. So delicious and fun to visit her. When I return post pandemic I want an art date with both of you!
Thank you, thank you. Your pictures are so beautiful and your words so sweet and up lifting. Merry Christmas!!
Happy Christmas, Mary Ann! Thank you so much for another delightful year of bringing me joy with your wise words, books to read (or avoid), artwork, travel and photos. You are the best and I have loved and appreciated every post. Enjoy your vacation! Wishing you all good things. Sally in Northern California 😁😷
Sally, Last year I was in Cazadero, perhaps near your bolt-hole. I loved it. This year I’m going to Mendocino for a nice long stretch. See you there for a walk on the headlands xoxo
I always enjoy your dispatches, MA. Today’s was no exception. It makes me smile to see your vacation shenanigans. The joy brought by a seemingly random artistic pursuit (a bird painting a day) can be just the focused activity to get someone through the day.
Today I cobbled together a glue book from a few goods found in the craft cave. It got me jazzed about journaling and arting in the next few days.
I like to imagine that we’re creating with some of our friends in the glow of a video fireplace and maybe drinking one of Carol’s special cocktails.
Lovely pictures. Your place looks so cozy and lovely. Stay safe and happy holidays
Way past my bedtime but won’t sleep if I don’t post this..in case you don’t know…apparently some poinsettias are toxic to cats.
Off to the land of nod now but lovely to read your post see your pics, always and particularly lovely before zzz’s. 😉
O merry, merry, you painter of birds and taker of beautiful photographs. I so appreciate your “eye” and your sharing all you notice. Reading your post was like getting an early Christmas gift! Thank you. Blessings to you for the New Year. XO
Your very welcome X-mas card made me laugh and laugh. Always love hearing from you dear Michele. Maybe we’ll get back to traveling long-distance in late 2021.
Hullo from a more northern part of California-
Your note is replenishing and refreshing. Your dedication to creation, awe inspiring, and what you notice, what you give precedence to, motivating.
No matter what else the rest of your life looks like, I appreciate this side that you show…the side that prioritizes that which enables you to move forward and which clearly enriches your soul. It’s instructive, always has been.
Reading your dispatches has historically been an undeclared joy of mine. Few of the people I hold dear quite understand the gravitational pull of of reading a blog of an art school teacher, global art traveler, devoted cat mother, sister, daughter.
I’d be fibbing if I said that I didn’t strive to find the same kind of balance displayed in your pages (again, no matter how representative they are of your actual lived life). Mostly I fail, but your blog posts consistently, cannily, don’t. I’m so grateful for that.
Merry holidays to you and yours from me and mine.
books, walks, reads, writes, cats, art making, porch sitting, travel within our great state of california, plus occasional real life visits with homo sapiens. this is my “actual lived life” as i know it. and very soon it will include a trip up north. i can’t wait! see you in the redwoods.
Happy Holidays, Mary Ann. Enjoy your time off! I’m off until Jan. 4 myself.
Sadly, my Uncle Frank died earlier this week. He did not have COVID–he was 88 and would have been 89 on Boxing Day. My dad’s only brother. My dad has been gone since 1988. I couldn’t attend the funeral because the governor of Pa. is asking us to stay home. I did see Frank in late summer, and I’m glad I did. He seemed so frail.
It will be a very quiet Christmas this year, which is fine with me.
truly sorry to hear about Uncle Frank. I just watched an Amazon Prime Video movie by the same name. An absolute treasure.
thank you, MAM. For some reason, the blog is not sending me your replies to my comments so I did not see this until today. Hope all is well with you. Thank you for your kind words about my uncle’s passing. I haven’t seen the film yet, but perhaps I’ll add it to my ever-growing watchlist!
Happy holidays!!! Thanks for the wonderful images of your garden, the scenes from your walks, your lovely bird journal, and people pictures. Always inspiring!
What a lovely post, full of hope and beauty. Happy Christmas Mary-Ann!
Mary Ann, Your post was like a present to me. Thank you. I love hearing from you and love all that you do. Your birds are fantastic. I have been busy feeding all my chickadees. I fill half oranges, that I’ve hollowed out ,with seeds. I try to decorate the trees with treats for my fine feathered friends. I wish you a very merry Christmas and. Hope for a better New Year. Sharon
oranges with seeds. i would love to see that. quite lovely i imagine. happy days to you dear sharon xo
Merry Merry to you too Mary Ann. It is a treat when you come into my in box. Years ago I stumbled upon your Remains of the Day journal class. I made one. It was so fun. I love making all types of journals. Thanks so much for your creative spirit!! xx00
well hello Eileen. Nothing beats a handmade journal!
Thank you for this beautiful missive filled with love, hope and well wishes for the holidays…..oh, and all the gorgeous photos of your world and arty explorations! All the best to you for this holiday season and for a beautiful New Year!
“And now we welcome the new year, full of things that have never been” – Rilke
Dear Susan, I have written that quote in my brand new journal which i am taking with me up north in a few days time. it is absolutely perfect and not one i had seen before. Loved your smoke signal… xo
As I await my electricity being turned off because of fire danger from high winds, your blog today was a pleasant respite from working feverishly in my inadequate kitchen to prepare for the next two days. You always come through for me! Lovely post. Merry Christmas my friend. Sending many kisses your way along with smoke signals.💋💋💋
Caught & received! thinking of you over there in your outdoor gazebo. living the good life xoxo
We have a hedge of Strawberry tree, Arbutus unedo, along the street side of our one acre lot. We planted it 40 years ago and have to regularly prune it back to leave parking spaces for visitors. The berries are edible but not delicious. We leave them for the birds to eat.
For podcasts about the pandemic, I highly recommend “In The Bubble” by Andy Slavitt. I have been following him on Twitter since April. He has a daily thread about the current state of the pandemic. A must follow. He worked during the Obama administration in charge of Medicare and Medicaid.
Andy Slavitt, duly noted. Thanks, Kate!
Hi Mary Ann. Thanks for your wonderful writings. You have such a gift with words! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
You are such a pleasure to find in my email. I love your writing cadence. The pictures and your writing spot, tea and warm fire going are very soothing. Maybe the fire isnt warm afterall. I get it however. All the trips we have gone with you that are so wonderful. Thanks for all you do in your 🌎.
Blogging is a funny thing , giving snippets of yourself freely asking for nothing but smoke signal in return.
One lone person in Arizona hopes you never quit. Selfish, I know.
Karen,
Thanks for sending me your very own smoke signal. It arrived in a gentle puff over the roof of my cottage. It is nice to send out a dispatch and receive a small note in return. I love reading them. xo
Well my coffee got cold while i wandered happily in the words of this morning’s dispatch…xoxox
hello friend. i look forward to more porch sits with YOU and meetings at our special spot in the new year.