Fleur de Aleta

When I was around thirteen, I drew warrior women and dragons.  Not princesses waiting to be rescued. Warrior women. Most of the dragons belonged with them. They weren’t necessarily pets, either. They were part of the same world. There was one drawing I remember where the woman was actually battling a dragon, but usually the women and dragons were on the same side. I drew them with markers and crayons.  I had one of those huge boxes of crayons, and back then I knew the names of all the colors. Not just blue, green and yellow. I knew exactly which blue I wanted and which green. I knew how the colors blended together. Some of the names have gotten jumbled in my head over the years. Now my brain is crowded with the names of acrylic and watercolor paints too. But I still remember Goldenrod.  Cerulean.  Hunter green. I would sit and draw these elaborate fantasy scenes, and sometimes I had a problem. I would run out of paper. Not because I ran out of paper in the house. I r...

I am almost 57 Years Old and Apparently I Do Aerial Now There are moments in life when you look at something and think: That looks interesting. Then your brain catches up and says: That is completely insane. Naturally, I signed up. I have been trying to say yes to more things lately. Not reckless things. I have no desire to wrestle an alligator or fling myself off the roof with an umbrella. But things that make me curious. Things I haven’t done before. Things that make that little voice in my head say, Could I? Aerial hammock was one of those things. You know the beautiful women you see doing aerial? They float. They twist. They turn upside down. They somehow persuade gravity to mind its own business. I am not one of those women. At least not yet. I’ll be 57 years old at the end of October. I’m not particularly flexible. My legs need strengthening. And my core and I have a complicated relationship. Years ago, when I had breast cancer, I had DIEP flap reconstruction. Tissue and blood ve...