Two Roses

Two Roses / Oil on black canvas / 8x24 / $300 plus shipping

sold

HAPPY 2021, FRIENDS! Isn't it great that 2020 is over? No matter what the new year brings, it is a new year, and I meet it with new hope and energy and an outlook of gratitude.

A couple of collectors who have become friends sent me a Christmas card with a letter containing a list of thoughts they'd happened upon in 2020. These include: 

• We really like each other, and enjoyed more time together. 
• Americans are heroic.
• Even though we love our work, retirement looks pretty good after our dry run. 

And about 15 more, all thoughtful and insightful. 

Their list made me think of my own list, and I will share some of my thoughts from 2020. 

• Dogs really are great company. 
• It's good to have some chocolate every day, and it need not disrupt a diet. 
• I guess I will never be a truly neat housekeeper, since I have all the time in the world and still don't vacuum enough. 
• Good coffee is worth whatever it takes.
• Grocery stores are really sort of amazing! 
• (This next one is borrowed, completely, from my friends): Social distancing from some neighbors is a good thing. 
• Eating healthier really does make me feel better.
• I truly only use three of my pans and two of my baking sheets, and I get very tired of washing them. 
• I need lots and lots of time alone, interspersed with short, deep doses of friends.
• Television is miles better than it used to be. 
• Turquoise is an amazing color!
• It is OK to go to bed at a ridiculously early time, and wake up at a ridiculously early time. 
• Without Peter, I am lonely, but my friends and my family do great and generous things to sustain my mind, body and heart. 
• Hard work is a wonderful distraction.
• I am very, very lucky. 

What would you put on your list? Please add your thoughts in the comments below (you have to go to the blog to do that), or email me at carrieBjacobson@gmail.com

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Coda

The Work of Christmas

When the song of the angels is stilled,

When the star in the sky is gone,

When the kings and the princes are home,

When the shepherds are back with their flock,

The work of Christmas begins:

To find the lost,

To heal the broken,

To feed the hungry,

To release the prisoner,

To rebuild the nations,

To bring peace among brothers,

To make music in the heart.

- Harold Thurman