School’s Out

Yesterday afternoon, we attended the Moving On ceremony for our granddaughter’s Grade 7 class. The kids were in high spirits as they should be. Finishing elementary school is an occasion worth marking—for Makiya, her mama, and, this year, Gerry and me.

We did it. We shepherded our granddaughter through seventh grade and made the required adjustments from long-distance grandparents to in-house and fully involved ones and, no, it wasn’t always easy. It isn’t always easy. But it’s our better work in this season and we’re grateful for the opportunity to pour into Makiya’s life and guide her.

Now, it’s officially summer. It’ll look a little different this year—but, really, don’t they all? Thankfully, we’re not under a heat dome like we were last year at this time and, so far, forest fire season hasn’t been extreme. Gerry and I are planning a short get-a-way soon to regroup, reconnect, and rest. Makiya has a theatre camp scheduled and she and her mama are planning some things together.

The world’s still a mess and the burden feels heavy, but we stumble through these days doing the best we can. It’s all one can ask of oneself, really. I splash paint around almost every day and intend to keep up that practice throughout the summer. It’s become therapy, of sorts. I’m not writing, because one can’t do everything, but this morning I scribbled prayers on a sheet of mixed-media paper before I started to paint on it. The words are no longer visible under layer after layer of acrylic paint but I know they’re there (and now, so do you!). It’s something I’ll keep doing.

So, school’s out and it’s officially summer. The endless days of summer have begun. One of the pieces of wisdom we’ve been given in the painting course I’m taking is to “notice what you like and do more of it”. Seems like good advice for painting and summering.