(Pro tip: Click on the title to see this post as I intended it to look!)

I’m sure it’s not news to you that life is full of sudden sharp turns and stressful detours as well as beautiful vistas and delightful surprises. I didn’t start this blog to dwell on the hard parts, so here is a little beauty for a mini-break from thinking about those.

Hard to believe it’s been more than a decade since David and I were on what we called our Year of Adventure (which actually took 13 months). It was the reason this blog was started in the first place. [Here’s the first one if you want to see how it all began.]

Lately, I’ve been looking through a lot of my old photos for painting ideas. I’ve just finished a class on painting with acrylics and have completed (maybe, sort of) my first two canvases.

I doubt you remember the original photo from a post in October 2014, but I did, and the teacher let me go for it. Some of his best advice was to put the photo away at some point and let the painting be its own thing. That was freeing! One of the things I love about painting with acrylics is there are no permanent mistakes. Anything can be touched up or painted over. Wouldn’t that be handy for other parts of life?

Here’s my second:

This one’s even less closely tied to the original photo, because the teacher wanted more water reflections. Of course I wanted fewer, since I had no idea how to paint them, but I obeyed. Still don’t really know the real technique. I just basically smeared paint sideways instead of dabbing it on. Probably should google it! Class is over, but I won’t stop now. Having too much fun!

Besides playing with paint, I’m still doing some songwriting with various teams at church, and that also is a delight. We’ve got a new song we’re planning to introduce next week for advent, and I hope there will be more to come.

But above all, my greatest joys are the people in my life, including these two rascals:

Well, that didn’t go as he’d planned, but he seems unbothered. If only we could all navigate life with such sangfroid.  Somehow, even after my [unspecified number of] decades, I cannot predict the future with any accuracy. All I can do is trust God, who is much wiser than I am, help where I can, and find the bright side as much as possible.

There are still so many things to be grateful for, like you who continue to read my meanderings and enjoy my photos. Grace and peace to you always.