freedom of chasing nature

Thank You!

A heartfelt Thank You for all your caring and kind comments, messages and emails!  Although they arrived from various provinces, or countries, and even continents, I felt the comfort as if they came from right next door. I am slowly but surely making progress with healing, yet still have a ways to go.  

Freedom!

Thirty hours before boarding a plane for two weeks in The Netherlands and Norway, my path in life took a turn in an unchosen direction.  Later that day, a few times for a few minutes, I mourned the loss of what would now not be.  Pretty quickly, I let go of what was not to be and unwantingly accepted this new journey I had been handed.  This path, in a sense, comes with a loss of freedom, yet I choose to acknowledge the freedoms I do have and find the best way to navigate this new journey.       

Chasing Nature!

Nature is nurturing as is watercolour painting!  I like to turn my "out & about" experiences into watercolour paintings.  The opposite is the case with this painting, I would like to experience what she is experiencing.  That won't be happening for me any time soon.   

This was close to it but far from it.

Yet many successes were accomplished here.

With loads of hours being at home on my hands, taking another online course through the Cornell Lab Bird Academy was just what the doctor ordered.  With a sale on learning all about Hummingbirds, I signed up, paid the price, took the course and received my completion certificate.  Now the Owls are calling out to me, as are the ducks and shorebirds.  I have the freedom to chase nature through these lessons and have success.

list of courses I took so far over the past few years

Journey!

To repeat, nature is nurturing as is watercolour painting and writing is too.  When I retired, my intentions were to get into creative writing.  I bought books and took lessons to help with the creative writing journey but time was never on my side for it.  Even when our world changed in 2020, the timing was not right to write.  Fast forward to these past couple of weeks and putting together a book was just what the doctor ordered.  The concept may have been born while I was on strong medication but I would like to believe my creativity took over from there.   The book arrived and I took a few photos from the twenty-four pages. 

the cover

inside back cover

back cover

All the paintings were made from photos I took, I added a little flare here and there. 

This was an enjoyable project and the distraction I needed.  

I am not sure when I will do another blog post.  Next steps are continued rest, attending appointments and letting my mind wander to the freedoms I do have for finding ways to chase nature along this journey.