Abstract Sidewalk Art

Asher and I have just discovered the joys of sidewalk paint this past Saturday. We've played around with chalk before but this sidewalk paint, let me tell you! It just knocks sidewalk graffiti up a whole notch or two in my book. From what started as whining from Asher turned out to be the highlight of my day.

You see he just found a birthday present from way back in March that I've been pushing aside. Okay I was hiding it, I admit it. It just seemed like one of those kid things that was gonna be one big mess that I had to clean up then to add insult to injury, a nice scream fest to top it off. No thank you.

But since having found it a few days prior, he's been hounding me to get this stuff out. Now you all know, I'm all for creative play. But this was Saturday and I really hadn't planned on getting out of my robe for most or all of the day. Besides it was like 50 something degrees out there... ick.

But Asher managed to talk me into it. Code for: drove me nuts until I caved. So I annoyingly got my clothes on, all the while telling him that he could do it himself and that I was going to sit inside while he did it. He accepted, just thrilled to try out the new stuff. So I get him set up and show him what to do, it came with a roller and a brush, and I went back inside to do more lounging.

Well I started to feel a twinge of guilt since he is now in school and I really don't spend much time playing like that anymore with him. I looked out the window and he looked so cute slopping the paint and rolling away. Not only that, I started to get a little envious. He painted with abandon. Sloshing paint this way and that. What fun! So I went out there and asked him if I could join in. Happily, he said I could and then proceeded to tell me I could use the brush because he like the roller. Yippee! So it began.

mine is on the left and Asher's is on the right in case you can't tell ;)

Of course he was totally tired of it within 10 minutes, so I thought well I don't want to waste the paint that had already been poured out so I kept painting (about 30 minutes) and came up with what you see here. I still ended up having to clean it all up, but hey, it was well worth it.

Just so you know, it looks much prettier when sidewalk paint is wet. The dog trotted all over it, but it surprisingly dries fast. The cat couldn't care less. It's amazing the color combinations you can create with hot pink, blue and yellow... although it takes a little extra work. Also, I don't think it's gonna come off. Oy!

You Spin Me Right Round Baby Right Round

Some autumn fun in Murphy Park on the infamous merry-go-round that he chipped his front tooth on.

It's times like these that make me think, ok... time is going too fast and I'd like to stay just in this moment.

Of all the events and times I won't remember, I hope I never forget the feelings.

If you can't tell, I'm not getting much of anything done but playing around and it's great.

Summer is almost gone!

I cannot believe that summer is almost over! Where has it gone? Just like so many things in my life... it passes too quickly. While I adore fall I am sad to see the carefree days of summer gone. I loathe winter. I hate being cold. I already miss my outdoor flowers, the ones that need a drink as I write this... It's like I get in a rush to get all kinds of things done. Like the end of summer means the end of everything. Not really, but I feel a certain melancholy to the last days of August. Even though summer really isn't over until Sept. 20th or so, to me September means fall. Even though I can still pick tomatoes into October if we don't have an early frost or the blight kills them all.

Fall ushers in arts and crafts shows, the great West Side Nut Club's Fall Festival, crisper nights, brighter stars and with the soon to be changing leaves a bit of an exciting and mysterious feel to its days. The smell of fall is wonderful and I just relish the thought of the fog sweeping in and out around the low spots where I live. It's so deliciously spooky. One great thing I always look forward to is Halloween and the great feel that comes with it. Call me weird, but I love to wander through old graveyards in the fall and take pictures and just listen to the sounds. Maybe pick up some pretty leaves or strange rocks and pebbles. Listen to the wind whisper through the drying leaves. It makes me feel alive (pardon the pun). Alive with a sense of one day too, I will be just another scrawling on a rock adding to the history. Alive with a sense that I need to try to leave more of a mark in this world than I have. Or, perhaps not. Maybe just being alive and here now is enough. The best I can do it is leave a mark on the hearts of the people I love. That's all I really need to do. Isn't that what's truly important?