FreshMD

Dandelion poetry

Thank you for all your kind comments and well wishes on the last post. As suggested, I plan to link to my Mothers in Medicine posts from here. There's a new one up today.

A walk to the village for Honey's donuts

California 2009

We're in California (again). I wore shorts today, the warm air washing my bare legs like bathwater. My suitcase is full of books and Internet access is spotty. The cherry trees behind the cabin are in blossom and vibrating with honeybees and I saw a hummingbird as fat as a sparrow this morning. I slapped sunscreen onto three sets of lean little legs and the kids wheeled around on their scooters in the lane for hours. We keep setting out bowls of giant strawberries.

I feel like I have been bounced out of a rut I didn't even know I was in.

More Charley Harper love

I ordered some Charley Harper prints today. Vigilant Vireos for the living room:

Cozy Chipmunk for Leif's room, which is a similarly sloping, brown-sided space:

And The Sierra Range - my favourite - future hanging destination yet undecided. (Thanks to reader Elizabeth for alerting me to the Charley Harper posters available through the US National Park Service for a song.)

Total cost: $85.00 plus shipping. 

I have a crush on Charley Harper

This is my current favourite children's book:

I ordered it for Ariana for Christmas. I postponed wrapping it for a week so I could look at it every night before bed. The images are that gorgeous and soothing. Now it resides in the little turquoise backpack Ariana uses to store and transport her prized possessions.

Charley Harper (1922-2007) was an American artist known for his geometric, stylized depictions of wildlife. He commented once that while some artists counted the feathers in the wings, he merely counted the number of wings. His images are simple, playful and brilliantly coloured.

Harper grew up on a farm in Cincinnati and enjoyed wildlife from an early age. I find stories of nature-loving children who grow up to become artists/naturalists immensely appealing. It seems so pure. And what better blend of art and science? (Robert Bateman's story is similarly pleasing - now there's someone who counts every feather in the wing.)

So now I'm trying to pick a print or two for our home. My job would be easier if the man weren't so remarkably prolific and talented. I will soldier on.