writing – Dear Liza

Election Coping Journal

Dear Liza,

Leading up to the second election of Donald Trump, I was feeling anxious. What would a second Trump term mean for the country? Our foreign policy? Our civil rights? How would we viewed by the rest of the world?

As always, I turned to “making stuff” to cope. I chose this tiny 1948 atlas, which Auntie Bridgett had found in a teeny free library when we first moved to Portland. Now, I saw it as a place to put my anxiety about the.world’s future.

I dug into my collage words box and in an old “French phrase a day” calendar, found just what I needed.

“It’s discouraging.” “You’d think it’s a cult.” “We could go someplace else.” Yes, maybe we could.

I tried to stay in the same color family as the atlas itself, stenciling and stamping, as I created images that expressed my anxiety.

But after a few days of cutting, pasting and realizing who our new President was, I realized that my ‘coping’ mechanism was making me feel worse, by focusing on the awful helplessness. I was in fight or flight mode, and because of family obligations here, we can’t “fly” at the moment. So I needed to think about what I could do to fight, here and now. Again, I found phrases to express myself.

“Calm yourself.” “Don’t cry”.

Of course, the words alone won’t fix anything. I need to, as Mr. Rogers advised, look for the helpers. I can engage with local charities and national groups like the ACLU to make a positive difference in the lives of people who will feel the brunt of Mr. Trump’s announced plans.

And realizing I can do that has been very good for my mental health.

Love,

Grandma Judy

Poetry and Mixed Media

Dear Liza,

I have been taking a break from collage for a while, doing embroidery and other things. But this last week, I had a chance the chance to sit in on a poetry meeting with my poet friend, Kitty Petruccelli, and poet January Gill O’Neil.

I knew I’d want to keep my eyes and hands busy while I listened, so I chose some acrylics in colors that seemed to go together. Then I grabbed some pictures and words out of my collage box, mostly just taking what caught my eye.

As January and Kitty talked about Poetry, the American South, and Emmet Till, I laid down some background lines and smudges. I used my old California drivers License to scrape some purple on. As the conversation touched on concerns about life in America under Donald Trump, and my scrapes became a bit more frantic.

I found this woman’s face in the same colors, and liked her half puzzled, half panicked expression.

She needed more contrast, so a Posca paint pen helped out with that. It also helped add some interest to the swoops and corners.

A scrap of singed paper and words of dark times came to hand… “Before the Nazis invaded”.

And as the poetry talk finished up, I laid down the words “Laissez nous tranquille”, which means “Leave us in Peace” and added some tiny splatters.

Thanks, Kitty and January, for a poetic, artsy, emotionally-coping sort of morning.

Love,

Grandma Judy

Laurel and Me

Dear Liza,

I want to share with you some stories about my dear friend and former teaching partner, Laurel. We met in 1988, when we were being interviewed for two Developmental Kindergarten positions in Salinas.

This was going to be my first professional position, but Laurel was making a change in profession, from Physician’s Assistant to teacher. I grew to admire her wealth of knowledge and skills, as well as her “we’re going to get this done” attitude.

We made a perfect partnership, really. She was great at planning, but I was better at ad libbing when the plans went off the rails. We both loved working hard and making our classroom a rich, beautiful learning environment.

The four years we worked together were the most rewarding, exhausting years of my 30 year career. And since then, I have been blessed to have Laurel in my life. She celebrated weddings in the family…

and came around for Mother’s Day brunches at Katie’s house.

We moved to Portland years after she moved to Ashland, and even though we are at opposite ends of the state, we get together occasionally. I had lunch with her, her husband Milton, Auntie Bridgett and Grandpa Nelson just this past weekend!

Laurel is still in my life, and my life is better for it.

Love,

Grandma Judy

On My Way!

Dear Liza,

I can’t believe that I am on my way to you, and will be seeing you Saturday for lunch in Billund, Denmark!

This past week has been busy. I spent part of every day taking care of Maggie and Hopey, Auntie Katie’s cats, while she was in Chicago.

I also got to water her garden, which is always lovely and refreshing.

I had a nice walk around the Alberta neighborhood with Cynthia. I have never spent much time there, but it is green and interesting, with lots of history and quirkiness of its own.

It is an eclectic mix of urban and parks, with native plant gardens right next to apartments and tiny toy exchanges.

I even got to spend an afternoon with Cousins Jasper and Kestrel at the Portland Art Museum. Most of the museum is closed for a major renovation. However, along with the Post Impressionists exhibit, a few galleries upstairs are filled with a delightfully random collection of art from the museum’s collection.

Each Cousin picked a favorite piece to be photographed with. Jasper’s is a ‘quilt’ made from computer circuit boards, which makes perfect sense, him being a science and technology kind of guy.

Kestrel chose this enormous still life with incredibly realistic flowers and fruit. It looked so fresh, you could almost smell the strawberries!

And now I am all done packing for our trip. We will spend a few days in Leiden, the Netherlands, get over our jet lag, and then come see you and your folks. I don’t have any pictures of that, of course, but this gets the feeling across…

I am so excited!!!

Love,

Grandma Judy

Happy Anyway

Dear Liza,

We have another new shop in the neighborhood! This one is called Happy Anyway, on SE Belmont, and is run by Stephanie Sheldon. We know Stephanie because she and her friend Jen used to run Noun, just a few blocks away.

Here is Stephanie and the interior of her shop, as photographed by Maggie Kirkland of Honeysuckle Photography.

Noun had been one of Auntie Bridgett’s favorite places EVER, so we had to go see the new place!

And we were not disappointed. Happy Anyway is lovely, peaceful, and, to use Auntie Bridgett’s word, “curated”. Every item is displayed with the care of a museum piece.

Whether it is a vintage plastic teddy bear or a dandelion encased in lucite, each piece feels magical.

Along with the items, we enjoyed some lovely conversation with Stephanie and Jen.

Once I felt comfortable, I asked if we could have a look at the antique crazy Quilt. Isn’t it wonderful? I hope mine ages as well.

When you come visit, I will take you to see Happy Anyway for a delightful visit.

Love,

Grandma Judy

SOAK Day 1

Dear Liza,

I promised to tell you about my first SOAK adventure, so here goes. SOAK is the northwest event connected with Burning Man, and is operated by the same folks, following the same rules. I won’t go into the ‘rules’ right now, because they are easier to understand in practice, which is how I learned them.

But first, we had to pack up and get there. Kestrel, Douglas, Jasper, me and Katie all helped with the packing of the U-Haul. There was so much stuff! Each person needs two gallons of water per day, since there is no water at the camp ground. That means our little trailer carried fifty gallons, or 400 pounds, of water. One of the Principles is Radical Self- Reliance, which means being able to tend to your own needs.

We five packed into the car and headed off up the Columbia Gorge. The long sunny afternoon made for some lovely scenery, and we took pictures out the windows.

By the time we got to Tyge Valley, it was past sundown. Fortunately, SOAK folks must have planned for some work to be done in the dark, and installed this nifty lighted archway by the path that passed through our camp.

Auntie Katie was our tireless, fearless leader.

And before long, we had five tents up and the gear stowed, and with hugs and tired kisses, we all turned in.

Coming up, Thursday morning, 5 a.m.!

Love,

Grandma Judy

A Few Chores

Dear Liza,

We have had so many fun, busy days lately, there has to be some days to just do the stuff that needs doing.

I made an appointment for my annual “Wellness” check-up. That’s when the doctor makes sure my old brain and old heart are still up to snuff. It’s going to be a busy summer, so it’s good to get a tune up.

We are also predicted to have a solid week of sunny, over 70 degree days, so I spent some time in the garden, pulling out the invasive mint that climbs through the fence and (TAA DAA!!) putting zucchini seeds in the ground! Their packet says they should “emerge” in 5 to 8 days. I will hold them to it!

After I had washed up, I pulled your Daddy David’s oldest stufftie out of the cupboard. VIP TLC, as your daddy called him way back in 1981, was one of the Shirt Tales cartoon characters. I sewed this one from a printed fabric panel back in the days when money was tight. He was very cuddly!

It’s been 40 years or so since VIP TLC has been washed, and I want to bring him with us this summer. So he got unstuffed and put into the wash. While he was getting clean, I fluffed up the old stuffing. When he was dry, I put them back together. Now he is ready for a flight to Denmark!

My last ‘chore’ of the day was to bring my garden journal up to date. The last time I made a picture for it, the day was grey and wet.

But bright, sunny days inspire bright, sunny colors!

Viking Quest Story

Dear Liza,

Along with the Crazy Quilt, I have been working on a new Adventure Grandma Story. It’s going to be bigger, better, and more complicated than the first one.

The first story was just you (Liza) and me (Grandma Judy) on a cycling trip around Denmark. We found Viking history, bog men, and learned a little about what we were made of. I enjoyed writing it and, even more, listening to you read it!

This one has an expanded cast of you, me, Cousin Kestrel and Auntie Katie, and a supporting cast of your Daddy David, Cousin Jasper, Momma Olga, and Grandpa Nelson. We are all involved in a Scavenger Hunt Quest to learn about the Vikings and their place in Danish History.

I have been having great fun doing research for the story…. Where did the Vikings go? How did they get there? How should WE get there? What sort of games can we play? I’m learning about train lines, ferry schedules, and ancient burial mounds.

Since this story covers more ground, it will take longer to write and probably won’t be done by our next visit. But be assured that I am pushing it forward everyday.

Love,

Grandma Judy

New Story, New Pictures

Dear Liza,

A few years ago, I wrote a story about our cat, Mouse. In the story, Mouse steps out of her comfortable routine of napping and lap-sitting to help solve a mystery.

I found it the other day and liked it enough that I want to share it with folks. For me, that means printing it out, putting on a cover, and of course, illustrations.

I started sketching, and once again realized I was way over my head. But I kept at it. Turns out, if you do something long enough, you get better. I drew one piece of the drawing at a time, cut it out, and then traced it where I wanted it to go.

The dog in the picture is our neighbor, Trevor, who is a main character in the story. But of course, once I had the characters cut out, they wandered elsewhere, as well.

For a while they were part of a bizarre pet-juggling story…

Then they all seemed to be on a hamster wheel.

Eventually, it got drawn, colored, and some text got added.

I’m pretty happy with how this one turned out.

Love,

Grandma Judy

International Adventure Grandma

Dear Liza,

Since you moved to Denmark, I have been studying about your new country so I can feel like I am visiting you. Denmark is a lot smaller than the United States. It is even smaller than the state of Oregon, where I live.

Don’t get me wrong. I really, really, like that Denmark is small. It is like Peter Pan’s Neverland, so it is never too far from one adventure to another.

The story is about an imaginary YOU and an imaginary ME traveling around Denmark, from Copenhagen to Horsens. The current title is “International Adventure Grandma”.

I have looked at a bunch of maps and websites, and have followed streets and bike paths with Googlemaps. I have found fun things to do and gotten us involved in interesting disasters.

And after four months of working away and lots of help from friends and family, I felt almost ready to share. But something was missing. It needed pictures.

I am not an illustrator, but have decided to do the pictures myself and learn as I go along. Here are some very rough ideas. I haven’t even decided if the pictures will be water colored, colored pencils, collages, or some other media. I am still learning.

But I promise it will be done by the time we visit in the spring!!

Love,

Grandma Judy