Reflect

 We'll be having a fairly quiet end to the year and the decade tonight.   We've been slayed by a virus for the last week in our house, in fact I'm just up and moving around as of yesterday.

As we slowly mend ourselves we are in fact otherwise consumed: Poppa is still very unwell and in ICU, we hope and pray for his recovery and MrBP drives back and forth to the hospital.  When he's not doing that MrBP is paying close attention to the many text updates from his brothers, who take turns keeping watch.

It's a real blessing to have siblings as one grows older.

Speaking of siblings, my Rascal Kids were all home for five days and of course it was optimum time, even with the virus getting us towards the end.
It was a beautiful Christmas just being at home, and I found myself reflecting on the last decade and all of the Christmas holidays, where we were, who we were with, and the different phases of The Rascals.

 One of the nicest things that happened this Christmas was the gift of this stunning painting from our former neighbour.  We had invited old and new neighbours to our Open House, and Elton arrived with a painting wrapped in brown paper.
A professor of art for many decades Elton still spends time painting in his studio adjacent to his beautiful stone cottage.  The cottage itself is a gallery of opulence and colour, a place that could have existed at any time in the last 100 years: full of antiques, giant chandeliers, jewel-toned walls, and absolutely layered with art.

Elton asked me not to open the brown paper concealing the painting until after he left, and he didn't tell me the name of it.  I'll definitely be asking him when I go see him in the new year.  In the meantime, I can't help but think that Reflect would be an apt title for this work.

The shapes seem to collide, yet they phase in and out of each other.  I keep seeing new colours, new shapes, yet of course it's static as well.  It's like reflecting on the past.

I hope that you have a tremendous New Year's Eve, and if you're going to a party please be sure to drink and dance for me.
Cheers!
xoxDani