Remember those bags filled with snacks and coloring books and quiet toys that your mom would pack if you had to go sit and amuse yourself in the presence of grown-ups for any length of time? I have exactly that kind of bag for myself now. It’s rough-woven of coarse hemp yarn, handmade by someone in town, and full of all that I could need to amuse myself quietly for hours. It has a paperback, a zine, a sketch pad, a watercolor sketch book, plain envelopes (in case I want to mail a sketched card to someone), watercolor postcards, colored pencils, paints, pencils, charcoal, eraser, pencil sharpener, straight edge, smudger, and paper towels (for cleaning up the watercolor travel case). Given food, a laptop, and a wifi signal, I could amuse myself for days.

This week I did a watercolor postcard from a photograph I’d taken last Sunday in town.

Then I started a watercolor postcard of a lily.

I was challenged by a friend to draw something in 5 minutes.

And, since I’d really love to learn to draw people, I drew as quickly as I could this morning at a meeting. People are pesky, though. They’re hard, and they move. I’m very very bad at drawing people, but at least three of these four are recognizable (barely) as the people they are. The purse didn’t move, which was such a relief.

I thought I’d lost the capacity to concentrate on something for long periods of time, losing track of time. I used to get that feeling while reading, or weaving, or doing any number of things, but I hadn’t felt that same sense of being totally engrossed in a long long time. I feel like I’m welcoming back an old friend.