Terrible Tuesday

This morning was one of those times at Juvenile Hall when things don't go as planned. The art teacher and I were doing our thing on a small unit of just 10 boys. There was a pleasant hum as kids turned out acrylic paintings with mural potential -- that's where we're heading with this group -- and it felt like all was well. Until I heard staff yell, DON'T, and spun around to see that one kid had just hit another.

Juvenile Hall has a no-tolerance policy on violent behavior so the miscreant was led away by security staff and the rest of the unit was shut down.

In the next housing unit life was also difficult. These kids are notorious for unruly behaviors and are often frustrating to work with. When one kid intentionally splattered paint on the art instructor they were all sent immediately to their rooms and we went home. Oh dear.

I worked in my home office during the afternoon and later Steve and I visited our weekly farmers market. It was a festive atmosphere with a show in the amphitheater and more live music near the food concessions. Although the day had been unbearable hot, there was a perfect breeze under the trees and the evening was just dang delightful.

We're not traveling this year but I'm still interested in seeing the rest of the world through postcards. I haven't been participating recently in Postcrossing.com -- a great way to receive anonymous cards from all over the world in a one-to-one random exchange. It's a well organized site so I sent out nine cards -- the maximums allowed at my level -- and now I'm waiting for the returns.

In the meantime, one of my friends sent me a card from Jerusalem.

And my very own son mailed one from Bali.


I won't just sit and wait for the mail carrier. I have drawing to do and am behind in both the work and the posting. But here's one of my favorite things to draw -- a crowd of expressions -- when I'm stumped and out of ideas. Don't tell the Juvie girls, but tomorrow I'm going to let them make such a page for their art journals because it fits in well with our current theme of emotions and emotional regulation.



May all your Tuesdays go well!