what recent successes look like

This was a reward where the anticipation of receiving it was up there.  The medal for completing the Road to Hana Virtual Challenge was in the mailbox when I arrived home from my get-away to Banff.  It's a beautiful piece of artwork and with the ribbon being replaced by a lei, this makes it unique to Hawaii.  All along I had an idea of how to document this success so I took the medal with me for a sunrise hike up on The Hill.  The thoughts of a Maui sunrise, the warm ocean breeze, sand between your toes, the soft shades in the lei all pair perfectly with today's reality.  I included a close up photo of the medal's front and back.  

The Black Friday sales were enticing and I wanted to be a part of the hoopla.  The Cornell Lab Bird Academy had a Black Friday year end sale on their on-line courses.  I opted to invest my cash there rather than in a physical item.  There were many courses to choose from.  I picked a basic one called "Joy of Birdwatching".  When I would be "out & about" with my bird nerd friend, he would offer advice on ways to identify birds.  I knew I had so much to learn so this course was perfect in giving me a chance at having more success with knowing what I was hearing and what I was seeing.  With winter setting in, it is not the  busiest time with bird watching but it is certainly a great time to be learning all about it, so I an setting my sights on another bird course that goes into a bit more depth. 

A couple of weeks ago, I laid the graphite pencil work on a piece of Bristol smooth depicting a warm homey cozy setting that offered a view to the cold wintry outside world. When the time was right, I would bring this sketch to life with colour.  That time came when I spent a few days in Banff.  After each day of being "out & about" there, I came back to my home away from home, sparked a fire, poured a glass of white and settled in front of my window with a view to bring this window with a view to life. I look at this piece and see success in that I sense that feeling of being warm and cozy.