com-fort

Today I made a list of comforting things. It was an exercise in a book I have about the chakras. I found it very enjoyable to make, and it made me excited for the next time I didn't know what to do with myself. The list included things such as :
 - make a pot of tea
 - run a bath with a good book
 - wake up early and go out side for the breaking of the dawn
 - pick flowers
 - order take-out and rent movies
 - peruse my recipe books and discover recipes to try later, which I mark down and cut out and slip into a jar. Relic of when Laura lived in Nanaimo and did a similar exercise with the help of me and 'fub
 - make a nourishing meal

there are many more things I thought of. I thought I'd share it,  in case anyone else would want to do the same. I put mine up on my fridge, and intend to consult it in cases of boredom.

Tofino was beautiful today. Me and Shawn watched the sun set, sitting on the steps of the back porch of one of his gardening clients houses. It's a huge house, mansion really, right at the end of the hospital road. Hardly anyone ever seems to go down there, and a lot of the time no one lives in the house. We checked first, and it seemed to be abandoned, so we walked around to the back of the house where there was a large flagstone terrace and beyond that, lawn sloping down to the sea. The Father Charles Channel, with a view of Felicia Island, large and dark,  taking up half the view, trees leaning gracefully down towards the sea. And beyond Felicia, misty and almost disappearing, Vargas. Long and gently curved,  the tops of cedars and pines spiking the horizon, but blurred by distance. And then nothing but open ocean, gleaming an indescribable silvery-blue, almost white. Smooth and grey like a dove's wing, but bursting with light and dancing sparkles.

Sometimes, when Eastre creeps up onto my lap, and pushes herself, back arched, against my torso before turning in a circle a few times and settling carefully down into a plush, orange cushion...I can hardly believe my luck, to have such a warm and soft, purring creature bless us with her gentle presence. Do other people realize the gentling influence a cat exudes, simply by being there? Maybe it's  especially Eastre, who has an infinitely gentle aura. I have noted many times in the past, when perhaps I've raised my voice in frustration or me and Shawn were having an argument, that she's often looking at me intensely, and as soon as I meet her gaze, I feel a portion of rigid hardness melt away. Such is the effect of gentleness - from any quarter.

I painted a new picture today. I found a long-forgotten pad of acrylic paper in the closet, and took immediate advantage. I'm all out of blue paint, as USUAL, so I forced myself to only use red and white, sorta like Picasso's blue period. I'll post pictures soon.