Tufted Titmouse (Tee Hee)

Tufted Titmouse / Oil on black canvas / 5x5 / $68 including shipping

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LAST NIGHT, DURING of my many awakenings, I let the dogs out and in, and made my way back to bed. 

By the time I got there, Lulu had shoved herself between the bedspread and the blanket. I like to keep the dogs on top of the bedspread, but it was about 2 AM, and I just didn't have it in me to fight her, so I slid in between the sheets. 

And Lulu snuggled up. She pushed her hard little dogsbody up against me, and through the sheet and the blanket, I could feel her warmth and her joy, and I fell back to sleep easily. 

This morning, I was thinking about it all, and realized that Lulu has a special gift, and it is that she is a great snuggler. 

I went through the dogs, then, thinking of their special gifts - Doc's is loyalty, Koko's is love, Woody's is persistence. Then I turned to people - who are more complicated, and so, I think, it is harder to isolate their special gifts. Peter's was patience, I think. Mine, like Koko's, is love, I believe. 

What about you? What is your special gift? 

***

A Growing Flock

A lovely woman who collects my paintings has, like many of you, been very enthusiastic about the bird paintings. Here is her bird wall early in the process (above), and then later. 

Isn't it wonderful? 

***

Thought for Today

The Dog

The truth I do not stretch or shove

When I state the dog is full of love

I've also found, by actual test

A wet dog is the lovingest. 

- Ogden Nash