new growth, little sprouts

I'm sitting out on the patio of my apartment this morning, enjoying the cool weather from the high marine layer. I don't enjoy my patio as much as I ought to - it's a very public place, viewable by anyone passing by. A small brick wall, and a low hedge separate the public from the semi-private space. When we moved in, we chose this particular unit because of the beautiful maple tree that provides a leafy green shade. I'm glad to be out here now before the leaves drop in the fall.
So, this hedge has a lot of new growth. Perky leaves of a lighter green that are sprouting up from the old dark green hedge. The leaves are so new and healthy, that I'm hoping they won't be trimmed anytime soon. They're not quite baby leaves, almost full-sized, but still that gorgeous light green that radiates youth, energy, optimism.
Suddenly, I think of my incoming Freshmen students. I can't wait to meet them!

I finally caved against the ridiculous internal battle of whether to buy an easel or not to buy an easel. My table-sized easel is perfect for how I paint now - definitely not as large as when I was in school, and now with acrylics instead of oil; a change prompted by pregnancy, and now continued because 3-year olds are neither patient, nor disinterested in painting.
Having a work-in-progress out and readily accessible when returning home from the school is far more satisfying than flopping down in front of the TV, trying to dull away the stress of the day. As I sat in front of the easel, thinking I'd get about twenty minutes of painting in before having to return to chores, I felt my entire mood relaxing a lot faster than it used to. I processed thoughts internally with the paintbrush in my hands and some music on in the background. Amazingly, my three year-old became inspired and began drawing next to me. An hour had passed before we realized it, and all was calm in our home. What a difference it made in the day!

picking up the paintbrushes

When the burn-out sets in, or the exhaustion, hiding away works for recuperation only for a short while. Painting is a great way for me to get back some liveliness that may have been lost throughout the academic year. Hopefully I'll be able to make some real progress this weekend, and have pics to post on Monday.

Happy Independence Day!