At Noon, this beautiful Thursday, the temperature has nearly hit its high point of 85 degrees. Two more degrees to go.

Last night, still feeling a bit dejected for missing the drum corps contest, I left the deck and turned in at 9:30 PM. Nothing I could find in the way of a documentary or reading material could satisfy me. I woke this morning to find my adaptors still in place to charge my seven camera batteries. For events like SOARING SOUNDS or other marching events, I typically use five batteries and take 400+ photographs.

Today, Col. Deeds has turned nine months old and has officially been a part of The Haasienda for six months. In two weeks, Erma will celebrate her fifth GOTCHA DAY with us. It seems like she has always been with us but she is the only pooch I have not had within the first two or three months of birth.

I have posted poems several times a week with my morning MAKE IT A GREAT DAY blogs. But the truth be known, I am not a true fan of poetry. I appreciate and marvel at a poet’s ability to capture concise passages, but it’s not one of my top favorite genres.

I love art despite not knowing much about the masters of old, or even modern art. So, I will offer a painting that strikes me, along with a description of the artwork and the artist. Who knows? I might even homogenize the mornings with art, music, poetry, and videos of dance.

Meditation, 1902; Elizabeth Nourse

Elizabeth Nourse (October 26, 1859 – October 8, 1938) was a realist-style genre, portrait, and landscape painter born in Mt. Healthy, Ohio, in the Cincinnati area. She also worked in decorative painting and sculpture. Described by her contemporaries as “the first woman painter of America” and “the dean of American woman painters in France and one of the most eminent contemporary artists of her sex,” Nourse was the first American woman to be voted into the Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts. She also had the honor of having one of her paintings purchased by the French government and included in the Luxembourg Museum’s permanent collection. Nourse’s style was described by Los Angeles critic Henry J. Seldis as a “forerunner of social realist painting.” Some of Nourse’s works are displayed at the Cincinnati Art Museum. Source Wikipedia

Make it a great day!