To Ailsa Rock
by John Keats

Hearken, thou craggy ocean-pyramid,
Give answer by thy voice -the sea-fowls' screams!
When were thy shoulders mantled in huge streams?
When from the sun was thy broad forehead hid?
How long is't since the mighty Power bid
Thee heave to airy sleep from fathom dreams -
Sleep in the lap of thunder or sunbeams -
Or when grey clouds are thy cold coverlid!
Thou answer'st not; for thou art dead asleep.
Thy life is but two dead eternities,
The last in air, the former in the deep!
First with the whales, last with the eagle-skies!
Drowned wast thou till an earthquake made thee steep,
Another cannot wake thy giant-size!

When you understand one thing through and through, you understand everything."~Shunryu Suzuki

There are the most beautiful Pink and white Flowers growing on several trees just outside my door. These luscious blooms are among the first signs of spring in Atlanta. Spending a couple of weeks drawing them- really looking at them, really getting to know them- is going to be a joy!

The scent of Roses,delicate,deep and delicious, blankets my sunroom. Childhood memories of rose water and glycerin fill my mind.

"Hopeful Green Stuff"

A child said What is the grass? fetching it to me with full hands.
How could I answer the child? I do not know what it is anymore than he.
I guess it must be the flag of my disposition, out of hopeful green stuff woven.
Or I guess it is the handkerchief of the Lord,
A scented gift and remembrancer designedly dropt,
Bearing the owners name somewhere in the corners,that we may see and remark,
and say Whose?

Finished. Signed means done. It's signed so it's done. I can't add that touch of blue there or that red there. But I really don't want too. I kinda like it the way it is. I miss the tulips. I think I will go to the flower shop today and get some flowers- Maybe white rose with dark pink around the top of the petals. I read somewhere that these were called alchemist roses, but I wouldn't sware to it. Guess I'll have to look that one up. But not today- today I pay bills and go to the grocery store.

About half way through,I always doubt how the drawing will turn out. It's always a love/hate relationship. I found out that scanning a drawing onto the computer gives me a different perspective on it that really helps me. I will take my larger pieces to Office max and have them srunk down to scanner size from now on.