I interrupt this post in the making

to declare that those tickly sensations on my butt were indeed two ticks. [ETA: as was the tickle on my thigh a third.][ETA: as a tickle on my other thigh hours later was a fourth, after a shower, inspection by my son, and a change of clothes.]

I painted for an hour today at a wildlife refuge. I was almost arrested by the park ranger boy scouts for parking where there was not a no parking sign. I don't think I'll go back.

It was the first time I took 8X10 Pastelboard. Usually I get 5X7 and I liked the extra space today very much.

With the added space to maneuver, I do believe I will work on this one at home a little, something I rarely do. I want the road to sit down a bit more on the left. Using digital pictures to analyze is very helpful.

I really wanted to paint today, as I also did after my last podiatrist appointment, to commemorate the date. As I was getting ready to leave for the doctor, my mother called and said my grandmother died in her sleep, just as her mother and father had done before her. She'd been in a nursing home for three years and was healthy except for her Alzheimer's. She would have been 87 in June.

Her husband died in 1994. Until recently, I'd made it to my mid-40s and had three grandparents intact. With my other grandfather going in December, I am suddenly down to one.

I feel bad for my mother. A week ago, Ma had a droopy foot and hand numbness, so she went to the ER from work. They ruled out stroke, but wondered about simultaneously pinched nerves in two locations. She had her MRI Wednesday, then moved into her new house on Thursday. She didn't have phone service yet and of course has no cell, so the nursing home had to call her work this morning, someone from work came to her new house to relay the message, and she had to talk to the home for the news. With all that has been going on, she hasn't seen her mother since Tuesday, whereas she usually visits each day. She feels so badly.

RIP Grandma. We will miss your dirty jokes.

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