Surfacing

Tulip tree bud, 2021
watercolor and pencil on paper

A big factor in how I’ve been surviving this year is to walk. Just walk out the door and leave. Come back in an hour, maybe two. Discover real places outside of the house. Early on, I strapped a baby onto me, and together we would stride the streets around us, without many cars to worry about since no one was going anywhere. We saw squirrels, chipmunks, rabbits, birds, hawks, turtles, foxes, and once a coyote among our suburban landscape. We’ve watched the seasons change from Spring to Summer to Autumn, witnessing Winter briefly until it was too cold and precarious. I’ve taken countless pictures of the sky, the trees, the flowers, and the leaves as they’ve cycled through time. I’ve learned so much about native and invasive plants, something I’ve always wanted to study but never gave the time and space to it.

Presently I try to get out by myself because more cars have returned to the roads, and the now toddler wanting to do everything by himself, not confined to my carrier. I listen to books and podcasts, or just the surrounding sounds depending on my mood. I daydream a ton. As we all surface, I’m feeling anxious. I don’t know what to expect and I don’t want to lose the gift of slowness and quiet that gave me survival. But I do have some newfound understanding about our natural world, and hopefully a bit of wisdom about ourselves. My process of making art has always begun with movement and meditation, and as we begin to venture further from home, I hope to continue to be inspired with some new walking paths.