Waking up crying because of a bad dream after only a few hours of sleep makes for a slow-moving kind of day. That was my day today, due to the vixen shrieking all night, waking me after 3 hours of sleep. Then the middle of the night fears seep in and are always so much heavier and scarier at 4 am. What a strange time 4 am is. We say 4 in the morning, but it certainly feels more like the night to me, dark and leaning towards lonely when doing most anything feels odd unless you are on the road to catch a 5 am flight or out delivering newspapers or working 3rd shift. Wide awake at 4 am, I thought about all the things I wasn’t doing and all the things I haven’t done and all the things I wish I would have done. I tried a few meditations, they didn’t work, I tried organizing the 12,258 pictures on my camera roll, that didn’t work, so I just gave in to the fact that I was awake, in the dark, waiting to fall asleep. I was close to falling asleep as 5 am rolled in and all the birds woke and started singing their morning songs. I drifted in and out of sleep until 8 am when I finally got up to feed the chickens and walk Moni Bear before coming to my studio to paint. One of the things I like the least about quarantining is that the days, weeks, and months all seem to be one big lump of time and today just added to that lump.

‘the birds were too loud’ - oil on paper

Okay, lets get back to 3 things

nick shoulder’s tiny desk submission.

this bread!!! Instead of bran cereal I used bran flakes!

these paints that came in the mail today. I haven’t used poster paint in so long, but just having a table full of colorful paints makes me happy. and makes me think back to when my children were younger. the paints are actually for a couple projects they are working on, I will have to let you know how they stand up for the price.