Blind Spots

"Every age has its massive blind spots.
We might not see them but our children will."

-Bono

"Blind Spots"

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So, Why did the Chicken Cross the Road?

We've had chicken problems lately. Escaping chickens, that is.

More times than not, lately, I've arrived home to find several of our chickens hanging out in the front yard. This means they got over the fence in their chicken run and then over another fence to the front yard. While it's all fun and games for my chickens, this chicken mama was starting to fear for their safety...especially when the little guy and I were leaving on an errand and had to stop a bit down from our house because one of our chickens was, yes, crossing the road. So after breaking quite a sweat rounding her back home, completing our errand, and getting home only to find chickens out again, I decided we had to do something.

On the scene came google and "chicken wing clipping". After I sorted through a number of articles on cooking chickens, I found what I was looking for. And twenty minutes later our birds with the flight risk each had a lovely one-sided trim. Take that, girls!


So, if you're wondering why the chicken crossed the road...well, it's just like the joke always ended...to get to the other side.


P.S. While this painting is of Phyllis, she is one of two chickens who did not receive the trim. My favorite girl would never want to run far from home.

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The Space Between the Spots

I trimmed our old dog, Scout, the other day. With sweet Scout, time is measurable in a few ways.


• the amount her hair has grown since the last trim.

• the increase in her arthritis symptoms.

• the lessening of the space between her cute little freckles.


She and I both share the first and the last of these measurables. I had my hair trimmed just yesterday and, by golly, new age spots freckles show up on my hands with increasing frequency.

Time, she marches on...and, happily, freckles remain forever cute.

Click here to view my gallery.  Most of my paintings are for sale.

 

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Seeing Spots

I had to pick my kid up early today from his high school physical conditioning camp.  Nothing...nothing...could have prepared me for it.  Now, don't get me wrong.  It was a bunch of sweet high school kids, mostly boys, one even came up to me as I walked in to see if I needed anything and he immediately fetched my kiddo for me, but the smell.  The smell!

I hang out with chickens a lot.  They have a smell.  It's a farmy kind of smell and I actually rather like it...or at least I don't find it offensive.  We have dogs.  We love 'em, but they definitely get their funk on.  I hug them anyway, of course.

But the smell of fifty-ish kids using heavy weight equipment in an un-air conditioned environment that likely doesn't get much cleaning, in very tight quarters, well, I turned around and waited by my car. 

And I must've looked pale or something...I was definitely seeing spots.


Little guy:  "That smell hit ya like a haymaker, eh, mom?"

Me:  "If that means I got hit in the face by something really big and hard, yes."


And then we drove home, me sweaty after a long walk on the trail and my little guy who admitted that he'd not had a shower in two days.

Dave had no idea of the haymaker that was barrelling his way!


P.S. I still haven't added a layer to the larger piece I'm working on.  Perhaps tomorrow.

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Rockin' the Spots

Gave our elderly dog a buzz cut today.  She's not a fan, but she puts up with it.  Now I knew she was blind in one eye, a bit hard of hearing in both ears, a little slow with her stride, and slow to get up when she's been down a while.  But this time I was surprised by the crazy increase in the number of freckles all over her back.  And as I held the clipper and exposed more and more of them I saw her spots mirrored on the back of my own hand.

Yup, she and I are aging...and we're seriously rockin' the spots.

Click here to purchase this painting.

I'd love for you to share my art and blog with the links below.  Thanks!

P.S.  Just a reminder...all of my original paintings are 50% off to celebrate my 1000 paintings in 1000 days! Through 4/21 (my birthday)!  Message me the ones you'd like and I'll adjust the price (I can't do a blanket markdown on the site, unfortunately). Thanks!!! http://www.dailypaintworks.com/Artists/kali-parsons-3935

Craving the Ruby Red

I was reminded a couple of weeks ago of something I absolutely loved to eat as a kid.  I'd completely forgotten about it until I ran across it on a blog...a blog I usually go to for art inspiration, but there it was!

We ate a lot of odd stuff in my childhood home.  Eventually I went the vegetarian route and avoided all the oddities.  But one thing was truly spectacular.  And I've been eating it lately most every night.

It's broiled grapefruit.  My family thinks I've flipped my cork, but I've welcomed a new evening ritual.  Slice it.  Cut around each of the sections.  Salt it.  Broil it.  Oh, man, delish!

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Wacky Wardrobe Choices

I've been thinking about wardrobe choices lately.  Mostly when I look at my big guy.  He's taken to wearing a beanie all the time.  Now this isn't a beanie like I remember as a kid...you know, the one that was rainbow striped with a propeller at the top.  No, it's the winter cap type of beanie.  And he's really, really cute in it.  But the forty-six year old me keeps wondering, "Why the heck does he want to wear a winter cap all the time, even when it's getting into the 70s?"  Impractical.

And I roll my eyes.  And I keep my comments to myself.

And then I remember that at his age I wore a black leather biker jacket all the time, no matter the temperature.  And I'm thinking I probably looked pretty cute too.  But totally impractical!

My big guy is looking a lot smarter in his style choices all of a sudden.

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First Day of School

I love how people look at things differently.  It was the first day of school for all of us.  Big guy, first day of college.  Little guy, first day of high school.  Me, first day of my same bat place, same bat time teaching gig that I love ever so much.  And if we're asked to say one thing about our first day of school?  Well...


Little guy:  "I ate something weird in the cafeteria."

Me:  "I had so much fun...I played with kiddos all day!"

Big guy:  "Having good teachers makes such a difference in how well you can learn."


OK, now who's the most grown-up amongst the three of us? 

I dig it!

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Gutless Love

My dogs are experts at the fine art of gutless love.  The thing is, we keep giving them dog toys.  Ones we buy (rarely), ones our kids have tired of (usually, but not lately), and ones we get for free (swag rocks!).

Both Hazel and Scout will lovingly carry these wee little stuffed animals around...everywhere.  They get them soggy and you can bet there are high odds they'll drop the dripping critters right on your bare feet.  Ew!

Anyway, after delicately carrying around these little prizes of theirs for quite some time, something overcomes them.  They decide to pick on one little spot, create a hole, and gut the little Snoopy, or Octopus, or Long Dog, or...or...or....  (Yes, we do name our dogs' toys!)

But do we throw out the skins left behind?  Nope, we do not.  Our dogs love those skins...it's like they've finally gotten their toys in the perfect form.  And they carry them around delicately, getting them quite slobbery, and always...always end up dropping them on our bare feet.

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Thanks for "liking" my blog posts!!