beneath the surface

I kinda fell off the blog rhythm, as I faced a perfect storm of tasks. This illustration from Nest, Nook, & Cranny is a good metaphor for feeling submerged.

Sure, it’s field trip season at salmon hatcheries, but I’ve been way too busy with conflicting responsibilities, such as moving my 86-year-old mother into a local assisted living facility, wrapping up two classes, and completing a full-color picture book project. No wonder I am out of breath.

The good news is that my daughter, ever resourceful, keeps making her own discoveries.

While at the dock, eating ice cream with a friend, she noticed swarms of jellyfish.
The two pedaled madly back to our house to grab cameras.

If only I’d had this for reference when working on my piece for NPR awhile back.
In this detail from that illustration, my submerged mermaid was picking up signals, from jellyfish to seahorses.

It seems like only yesterday when Daisy was five, always inspiring me with her imaginative play. This piece appears in Seven Days of Daisy, where Ruby and Daisy have a tea party. They serve jellyfish sandwiches and seaweed soup.

No matter how frenetic life gets, there’s always room for play, for looking beneath the surface.