So simple

I've been recovering from jet lag for the past several days and it seems to take forever. The rule of thumb, I understand, is one day per time zone, so more than a week would be right for me.

My Ireland travels were with a group, On Pilgrimage, (http://onpilgrimage.com) and their tours always have a spiritual focus. This one took us primarily to ancient Celtic sites. The leaders promise transformative experiences in traveling and much of my last week has been assimilating all that I took in. It's multi-leveled -- the history of the Celts and meaning of what they left behind, the actual journeying with a group on pilgrimage and the observances of the present day people and culture.

So far I've been thinking primarily of the most surface experiences -- the food I ate, all the walking I did, who I missed and what I yearned for during the two weeks I was gone.

We walked a fair amount, nothing at all grueling, but I was completely sedentary before we left so anything would have been a welcome more than I walked before. One goal is to keep that up. So far I have been. I was using a pedometer before we left home -- it barely registered -- and usually topped 6000 steps during the pilgrimage, sometimes more. I've maintained that since we returned. I missed our dogs terribly so I've been walking them faithfully and they are grateful.

I didn't want to gain weight while I was away and I didn't -- in spite of full Irish breakfasts and large meals in four-star hotels. But when we were on our own -- for lunch, some dinners -- I chose soup, soup, soup with wonderful Irish brown bread. Since I've been home I've been making a pot of soup almost every day -- carrot, fresh cream of tomato and cheddar cheese soup (full of pureed veggies). I could eat soup every day of the year and not get tired of it. Seasons don't matter to me, it's always the right time for soup!

I've gotten a late start on summer planting but I'm gradually developing a flower garden of simple summer annuals in half wine barrels which are readily available here (it's Wine Country). Now that I sort of know how to keep a travel journal I'm moving on to the next effort, a nature journal. I have several how-to books, mostly by Cathy (Kate) Johnson and Clare Walker Leslie. All I need is to develop the habit, the regular observation of what's around me in the natural world. This evening, after walking an hour with Brix and Demi, I sat on the back deck and made the simplest of drawings -- almost in the dark -- of marigolds I planted a few days ago.

Airborne again

We flew from Cork to London. Aer Lingus had a two-hour flight delay because something was wrong with the toilets and they had to bring in a different plane. (Honest, that was the reason they gave us!)

I tried to draw fellow passengers in the waiting area. Since I don't know how to draw faces yet I just left them out. My motto this whole trip has been, "Do what you CAN do" because if I did what I wanted to do I'd be coming home with an empty Moleskine!

Yes I can!

Whenever I look through someone else's travel sketchbook there always seems to be a page of airport sketches. Bored passengers are shown reading their newspapers, checking the flight schedules, drinking soda, sleeping, working their crossword puzzles and trying to be patient.

I've never been able to draw these people, but I want to because it certainly is part of the whole travel experience. So this afternoon I took Beulie with me to Starbucks. She fell asleep under the table while I nursed my latté and drew a guy sitting across the room. Two-thirds through my very first attempt he suddenly folded up his newspaper, stood up and walked out. Well! What's a mother to do? I gathered up the stuff on my table, woke up my dog, stood up and walked out too! But I'll be back... and on nice days I'll go to a park and try again. I really want to learn how to draw people doing their peopley things so the next time I travel I can include that page too.

We woke up to sunshine today but it wasn't long before the clouds blew in. Rain is forecast for the next three days, at least. I worked several hours today and didn't get home until after 9:00 tonight but the rest of the week will be lighter. Good. I can watch the rain. I don't know how to draw rain either.

Last night I finished reading Julia Cameron's latest book, THE WRITING DIET. It's a self-help book on .... writing yourself thin. Will it work? I need to lose weight. I am one of Julia Cameron's most faithful followers. When THE ARTIST'S WAY came out in 1992 I was there, reading each week's portion and working the program. I repeated the 12-weeks. I started several Artist's Way groups and walked others through the chapters. We all succeeded. One woman opened a business, others turned to the arts. I enrolled in graduate school and began a new career. Julia Cameron was not the only influence in that time of my life but she was a major player.

So it feels as though she and I go back a long way. And therefore I am inclined to trust that if I continue writing my three pages every morning (I have stacks and stacks of old journals now) and follow her probing prompts and keep a food journal, it's likely I will lose weight. This from someone who ate pizza for supper and pumpkin pie for dessert (it's a veggie serving). Uh.... it will be a challenge.

My first frontispiece

One of the delights of travel is that you get to make a travel journal to remind you of where you've been -- like photos but much more lively (my humble opinion). I've never been able to do this before because I've never known how to depict anything and have always been dependent on words and camera. But this year.......I've gotten as far as a frontispiece of the Holland-American ship, the Zuiderdam. It's far more majestic in person, it's gorgeous!