. . . substituted a photo

for the painting I was trying to do, and which was so cursed with bad luck (or something.) I'm still going to try to paint it, but not on that big canvas. In fact, that big canvas may be retired, perhaps temporarily or maybe permanently. . . just because it has proven to be so troublesome. But I still love this picture.

A trip to the airport today is all that is on my schedule today. . . the Kansas City International airport so conveniently and centrally located way up north. If it were any further north, it would be on the Nebraska-Iowa border. My mom is coming back from my twin nieces' graduation in a Detroit suburb whose name I can never remember. . . but their high school is the same one from where Madonna graduated. They tell me her yearbooks are not in the library. The girls are off to different colleges and my sister is planning a long and solitary vacation for August 25, the day school starts. She thinks she won't miss them . . . much.

As I was sitting on the porch still picking away at the flaking paint on my canvas, a mama and brand new baby deer showed up on the lawn. Very cute. . . very insistent little spotted baby trying to nurse. Then later the wacky doe from last night showed up while I was in the garden trimming rose buds. Georgia, my foster-cat, was curious but very catlike in her feigned indifference to the doe. The deer stared at Georgia and started stomping her front leg. Georgia gazed steadily at the deer for a few seconds, then nonchalantly turned around and when back up on the deck. I'm a bit afraid of the doe. . . there has to be something wrong with her to be so weird. Steve was trying to entice her to come to him, using some leaves; she ignored him completely. I tried to avoid the crazy thing, but she followed me around. I could have petted her if I had wanted to. I just wanted to make sure she didn't eat any of my garden.