Loose Ends, Lots of Sketches

I feel a bit at loose ends, which is strange.  I've spent weeks waiting for a Saturday that was completely free, and now I have one, and I feel odd, a combination of listless and restless, two states which shouldn't go together.

Of course, I'm not completely free.  I've got online classes that start again on Monday, which means I need to figure out due dates and enter them into various places in the course shells.  I still need to do our taxes.

Let me collect a few thoughts that seem worth preserving.  Then perhaps I'll do our taxes or sort through a pile or two of paper.

--I have been worried that I might have gained 83 pounds in the last 7 weeks. This morning, I stepped on a scale. I am happy to say that I have not gained 83 pounds. I'm weighing myself on a different scale, my home scale instead of the one at the wellness center. My weight is either steady or I've lost a pound or two or I've gained a pound or two.

--Last night, a small group of us gathered in the backyard of our friends in the neighborhood.  They have a big yard, and we were a small group, so we could stay the requisite 6 feet apart.  They made pizzas on the grill--so yummy.  It was so nice to be able to walk home on a beautiful evening with light traffic.

--I've been thinking about friendship in a time of a new pandemic.  Some of my friends have gone into complete isolation.  One friend and I exchanged long e-mails several times a week in the early days of the lock down.  Now we're down to one e-mail a week.  As a grown up who moved around a lot as a kid, I always expect to lose some friendships, but I have always assumed it would be because of a move to a new city or because of job demands or death.  It's very strange to feel friendships drifting away because a pandemic means we can't see each other.  Part of me thinks I shouldn't think it's strange; a separation is a separation, after all.

--Let me remember that I've taken not one but two online visual journaling classes during this odd spring.  They've been amazing classes, and they've led my sketching/journaling to new and interesting places.  But more important, they've given me reason to stay creative.

Here's my favorite sketch from the past few weeks:

It's the kind of sketch where I look in wonder at the page, shake my head, and say, "Me?  I did that?  How?"   I thought I would go back to add some additional color, but I haven't yet.