12:45 pm
Back in the cottage, I pop a CD in the player, and the soft strum of Cheyenne’s guitar fills the room.
While I wait for the tea-kettle, I play bandit with Murgatroid, then, teacup in hand, open my paint chest, and move the easel with my latest work closer to the north window. This watercolor is of a colorful patch of bubble poppies alongside the path leading to the top of Seafoam Knoll. Just at the crest of the hill, storm clouds suggest danger for the poppies, but in this moment, they are bright under the not-yet hidden sun.