2022, Art, Family, Health, History, Travel, Uncategorized

Draw Two Sketches and Call Me in the Morning

62 Comments

Today’s post comes from Clyde

For twenty years I have been using various kinds of activities to ease my pain, especially rhythmic activities, which is why I rode a bike for so long. Which is why I drew/painted with pastels. I still don’t know if that is drawing or painting. I guess painting. However aging has taken both of those activities away from me. Life has added monumental stress and a diagnosis of migraines, which my neurologist says I have had for 30 years at least.

So I went back to art, at a much more forgiving level, sketching, in other words, at a level where I can accept the sudden jerks of my hands and my poor close range eyesight issues. I can be in a severe headache and force myself to sketch, get lost in the process, and then realize 15-30 minutes later how much lower my pain is. My neurologist is surprised by this. I pointed her towards the medical literature on it.

I sketch from photographs, some as old as 75 years. I get lost in the memory of the people, places, and events. Among my favorite are travel photographs, which I group together. So I thought I might spin off VS’s game. So can you identify, despite my poor hand where I was? Some are specific places, such as 1, 6, and 7. Or maybe you can identify the area or a similar area in 2, 3, 4, and 5. Two places should be easily identifiable to two Baboons, but then there is my weak art skill. A hint: I have only traveled in 46 states and four Canadian province.

December is proving to be a hard load to carry. How does December go for you?

62 thoughts on “Draw Two Sketches and Call Me in the Morning”

  1. I always told my family that I was going to live to a healthy 100! At 82 I am well on my way to that goal. My problem is “healthy”. I missed out on the major diseases such as diabetes and heart disease but have accumulated several less lethal problems. My arthritis has effected my mobility requiring daily assistance from my daughter. The high blood pressure is a minor inconvenience. My biggest problems are fibromyalgia and lymphedema, both painful conditions.

    Fortunately for me I have a lifelong plan. Every year I had the goal to do or learn something new each year. If I learned 6 things in a year they belonged to that year. No carrying forward. So now that moving is difficult I have a lot of wonderful memories to occupy my time! One thing I did not plan for was the slowly developing clouded memory!

    This is a description not a complaint! Life is NOT about waiting for the storm to pass but to learn to dance in the rain!

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    1. Hmm! My own clouded memory is failing to connect any of the “regular” baboons with the above comment, so I’m assuming you’re a new visitor to the trail? Welcome.

      I congratulate you on having a plan for continual learning and growth. I’ve always loved old people who continue to be engaged and involved in what’s going on in the world. I aspire to be one of them.

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      1. Cynthia isn’t 82 years old, and to the best of my knowledge, she doesn’t have a daughter. Nor do I think she’s physically challenged with fibromyalgia and lymphedema. She probably is an advocate of dancing in the rain, though.

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  2. Go Clyde—keep sketching.

    December is ok. I am not enamored with Christmas unless I gather with friends and play games while noshing on good food. That I like. I like movies on Christmas Day, too.

    1. I should know
    4. Caves along Apostle Islands?
    5. Mississippi Delta?
    6. Lake Superior lighthouse?

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    2. My December load is much about Sandra, lots of state requirements to meet. Letter on Tuesday telling me I had to submit Sandy’s PERA award letter by Monday or her support would be withdrawn but PERA does not send out award letters until 12/22 at the earliest. Gets worked out but that takes time and stress points. Her lift chair is breaking down (12 years old). Which to buy, how much to spend, how to get riod old one. On and on.

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  3. I love these sketches Clyde, and I’m particularly intrigued by number 7. At first glance I thought it a huge aloe plant, but on closer scrutiny, I’m thinking it’s some detail of a metal sculpture. Number 3 has the vibe of cliff dwellings in Arizona or New Mexico.

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    2. 3 is az modern building but yes in the SW. In a capital city.
      7 is a metal sculpture you can walk through. In places taller than me With several of these curling elements. The sculpture must have been part mathematician. Very hard to sketch. They are supposed to be fish tails they tell me.

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  4.     Good sketches, Clyde…keep it up. Here’s a bit from my 2022 “annual report” I will be sending out soon.  I’ll be turning 81 in January:            Still two horses, two goats, eight chickens, three cats, one dog New: three chickens, two kittens, two Guinea Fowl

    No riding lessons this year

    Still president of Sons of Norway Heimsyn Lodge 1-15 in Cloquet

    Still secretary of Carlton County Historical Society board                              Still driving my 2005 Pontiac Vibe, 255,000+ miles

     

    Cynthia “Life is a shifting carpet…learn to dance.”

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  5. You certainly draw a great deal better than I do, Clyde! Mad respect to you for doing everything you do even with the stress, pain, and medical issues, and I’m glad to hear you’re doing something for yourself–too many caretakers forget, or just don’t have time/energy, to care for themselves, and burn out terribly.

    Since I don’t travel, I don’t have any guesses, but I’ll stop back later, or tomorrow to see if anyone solved it!

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  6. I have long been fascinated by how they would make figures like lady justice holding her scales with details in her hands, robe, and face and put her up on top of buildings where we cannot see those details.
    Clyde

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  7. December just has too much in it.
    Everyone wants to have a party, on top mailing gifts and cards/letters, on top of our usual duties. Why not have more New Years Parties during a slow January?

    There is a book I’ve probably told you about, Un plug the Christmas Machine, whose philosophy is summarized here:

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        1. A testament to my weak drawing: #6 is a Russian Submarine and, Barb, you used to live many years ago at #4. Both on the West Coast.

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  10. I think the drawings are fantastic, Clyde! It’s really wonderful that it helps you with your pain and eases your stress. I’m glad you figured that out for your own therapy.

    I’m struggling with severe back pain lately. I think I might have a pinched nerve. I need to do my back exercises again and keep it up. Losing weight wouldn’t hurt. Once I get into doing my exercises regularly, it becomes a meditative experience in helps me in other ways: less pain, more motivation, and a better attitude. I got off schedule when I was working and I’ve had a hard time getting back into the routine.

    I recently had a home energy audit done by Center for Energy and the Environment. Apparently I need a variety of home improvements. By the time I’m done getting insulation and repairs in the attic, spray foam insulation in the basement area, a new furnace, a new hot water heater, and a new dishwasher, I probably will have spent more than $10,000. You can see me shaking my head. It will be worth it to me if it seals out the second hand cigarette smoke that enters my basement from an unknown source, then circulates it throughout the home via the furnace.

    I used to love the holiday season. I don’t anymore. I really don’t.

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      1. Wonderful! I think you’ll be glad you did! Pam had such good results. She was strict about following all the recommendations. She used the ice machine a lot and even found a way to haul it upstairs to use at night in bed. I hope you have just as good results as she did.

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    2. From your comments, it sounds as if the audit didn’t discover the source of the tobacco smoke incursion. If eliminating that is your priority, a new furnace won’t help unless it gets its air from the outside.

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      1. My basement is unfinished. His photos show a lot of places air can leak through, especially up between the joists and through the rim joists. Center for Energy and the Environment recommended spray foam insulation for the entire basement, then sheet rock over it. That’s what will (hopefully) stop the second hand smoke. I really want it to work but it’s going to be expensive. $2500 for all of the repairs to the attic and basement walls and insulation.

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    1. Bingo. And I was traveling when I took the photo 27 years ago before I moved here. Proud of county for preserving it. Has some fun rooms in it. Used in elections and some special events. New court house is massive big box. Correct name is Historic Blue Earth County Court House. Sits up on a hill overlooking the old part of city

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  12. Results so far:
    1 a MN county court house.
    2 in an area with which one Baboon is very familiar
    3 Santa Fe—love that city
    4 place where Barb lived many years ago
    5 what you see covers thousands of square miles, this seen from a plane near Utgiaguik
    6 the maritime museum on the waterfront of San Diego, which includes this sub, which I did not go in, tight spaces inside, and includes an aircraft carrier, many other ships and the sailing warship used in Master and Commander.
    7 this delightful expansive sculpture, fun to walk through, is near the fish ladder in the Crittenden Locks in Seattle. Not far from a restaurant and bar that does things Minnesota including candies, beers, hot dishes, ethnic foods. Lots of MN ties in Seattle area.

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    2. I have revisited it a few times. Done full blown pastels of a few things around it. It must have been once a school house. Hard to see country around it in sketch but most would call it barren and desolate but I love it. Wonder if Renee thinks it is beautiful. It sits between Bowman and Rhame ND. About 120 miles I guess from Renee. Used to visit it often. If the winds were calm fun bike riding country. Railroad as it was under construction set up towns about every 6 miles or so. This set of derelict buildings is about the right distance from Rhame and Bowman to fit the pattern. The desert conditions preserve the wood.

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  14. I have, and am aware I have, the luxury of drifting through a lot of the December business. Robin has taken it upon herself to do most of the Christmas shopping and, for that matter, the wrapping. I put up the Christmas lights and do all of the snow shoveling and some of the inside decorating and of course the things I do every month, like grocery shopping, planning meals and cooking them, plus house and car maintenance. We both spend a day every week with the grandkids. But I have to say that not having to think about gift shopping much is a huge relief for me.

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  16. Normal December. My birthday month and anniversary of the x marriage. A bit more worrisome as The Birds are showing signs of depression due to interrupted sleep because of a new furnace be loud on start up. I’m looking for sound damping material to install all around the closet where the unit is located. Any suggestions on what to buy?

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    1. Egg crate foam panels are what they use in recording studios to dampen sound:

      https://www.amazon.com/egg-crate-foam-soundproofing/s?k=egg+crate+foam+soundproofing

      My sense, though is that it would work best if the foam was inside the closet with the bumpy surface pointing toward the furnace.

      Fiberglass insulation is also used as a sound barrier but unless it’s encased in the wall you have the possibility of glass particles floating around.

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    2. Hang fiberglass from the ceiling between the studs. Better yet. Split the studs down the middle so they cannot transmit sound. Bet you are not going that far. Or build a second wall not touching the divind wall with nothing touching the wall with the haging fiberglass.

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      1. My infant daughters bedroom ended up abutting the kitcen dining area when I added on to our house uo north. It was nonbearing, no I split the 2×4’s hung the fiberglass. It worked quite well but suddent vey loud sounds did penetrate
        I did not split them fully. I left them in tact at the ends

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  18. December was my mother’s birthday month. She would have been 99 this year.

    My older niece is due to have a baby soon – probably December, but it could go into January.

    It would be kinda nice if the baby was born on its great-grandma’s birthday. Not very likely, though – probably too early.

    Could be a Christmas baby!

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  19. December 7th would have been my father’s 102nd birthday, but he died when he was 70. As I’m sure you’re all aware, December 7th is also the day of the attack on Pearl Harbor on my dad’s 21st birthday. Growing up, those two events were intertwined in my mind.

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