Like humans do...

It is good to feel like a human again.

Yesterday my dad and I ran three miles. We'd run with my sister last Thursday morning (the first I'd run at all since the marathon), only a couple of miles, but my leg had bothered me and scared me into letting it heal for a bit longer. Yesterday it didn't bother me at all, though, and it was pretty great to finish three miles and feel pleasantly tired but nowhere near exhausted--or even really winded.

I've also been painting. I brought my watercolors, and have been attempting to paint the mountains, the sunshine, and my family. Joel was the first of the latter that I tried, and he actually mostly posed for me at the kitchen table. The next day I did Dad, who was outside in the sunshine and didn't stay very still, and then April, who did stay still, but who was worried she might get sunburned-- although these early portrait sketches are far more expeditious than the first haircuts I gave, for example. Finally, Christmas Eve, I painted my mom as she listened to Joel play his guitar and sing, although she did a lot of moving, too.

I hadn't actually painted in years, let alone attempted portraits from life. But the exercise is really good for me, and I think I may even be getting better. I also think it's funny how all four show a "family resemblance"-- due, in major part, to the painter, rather than to the actual family members; if you combined all four, maybe you'd be able to see me! Actually, maybe I will paint myself; I never have, and that Frida show was awfully inspiring. A self-portrait strikes me as an especially good reminder that one is human.

Tomorrow I will go ring in the new year with one of my oldest and best friends, with whom I've celebrated in the past in Portland, Seattle, and even down here (two years ago, Bryant and I swung by her house on our way back from L.A., bearing ice cream, for a very low-key celebration). Old friends are the best reminder of why it's great to be a human.

I wish you all a happy conclusion to 2007 (it's over!) and an auspicious commencement of 2008.