Is this month over yet?

 It isn't just me, right?

January feels like it's a season unto itself

and not just a month!

 

It isn't the cold; I can do cold;

in fact, I seem to seek it out; 

I've somehow established a tradition of going 'Up North"

to see family in WI -

with a stop in Chicago along the way.

To see girls growing into young women -

who clearly are more intent on TicToc and Insta 

than conversing with the old people! 

In other words, perfectly normal kids.

At least one of them was paying attention ...

There's something uncluttered about rural WI that acts as a palate cleanser for me -

especially after the over stimulation of Christmas.

Something about the starkness and quietness that calms and soothes me.

Once the subzero temperatures let up a bit, walking in the Land Trust was even do-able.

Birches, creeks and snow cover are always a good combination.

Yet even a palate cleanser can't remove one from the reality of what else the month held ...

political nonsense and performative idiocy -

which will be the topic on another day;

a hospitalization that has resolved itself

with minimal trauma and anticipated good results.

There has even been time - dare I say - necessary time 

for artistic expression (also self care) in the form of what I'm calling

"Interior Landscapes" -

which, as always, don't have to mean anything to anyone other than myself.

 

I was able to use paper from my stash of National Geographic pages, 

altered with Citrasolv

which I tore and glued to 3" wooden circles.

Don't ask me why; it just seemed like the thing to do!

 

Then there was this - sent to me by a friend.

Hahahahaha ...

my biggest fear!

Not a chance!