It’s Sunday Monday in the city of angels, dear readers. No school! I’m basking in the last school holiday of my life. 11 school days ahead of me and then I’m soaring off towards an unknown future. Allowing the sails of this old ship to billow with wind and pull me out to sea. Try as I might to stay here, I’m having trouble focusing on the here and now. My mind is racing ahead to an uncertain glorious future. Kelli came over on Saturday and we had an art playdate on the patio.
This morning I zipped out into the cool gray morning and headed across town – just west of Virgil Village on Melrose to Marion Matho for a jambon beurre (cold ham & thick slabs of butter) sandwich. They make their baguettes on site and they are GOOD.
How good it was to drive around my old stomping grounds where I lived in the 90’s. I was in my 30’s then. Now I’m in my 60’s and how forward I look to getting up early in this fall, but instead of driving to Chinatown for a predictable day of jackassery in the classroom, going for a scenic walk in my old neighborhood of Echo Park and Silverlake.
As usual I’ve been journaling outside. It’s cool and gray in the morning and might creep into the low 70’s this afternoon. The Jacaranda trees are billowing masses of purple across the city.
Most of my sketchbookery has been confined to the classroom this year. My court reporter’s sketchbook of all the faculty meetings only has a few blank pages left. Without the heavy weight of classroom life, I look forward to deepening my practice of drawing and painting my world.
Pretty retirement flowers from my friends are on the porch and patio.
Liseli, Tammy, and Joyce took me out for a really sweet retirement dinner at the San Antonio Winery. There’s sangria all over the bottom half of my shirt.
I drove home basking in the pleasure of a 3-day weekend.
Home to another retirement gift in the form of a rare blazing orange epiphylum.
A student did this drawing of me in 3 minutes. We take turn posing for 3 minutes at the end of some days. Don’t let this fool you into thinking we’re singing Kumbaya and banging tambourines all day. Lord of the Flies has been this year’s theme and old Schoolmarm Moss has had it! HAD IT! but sanity and peace are on the horizon. I can already start to feel the bees flying out of my bonnet and heading out the nearest window.
Thanks for all the comments on the last post where I was working through some exasperating tech issues. Your smoke signals were appreciated! I have a new subscription button somewhere in case you want to receive my posts newsletter style.
See you soon, friends. I’ll just be here, out on the porch.
