Croatian street with bike and laundry – watercolor on Arches 140# coldpress

Winter Solstice, the shortest day of the year in our part of the world!   But that didn’t stop me from spending the short daylight hours partaking in all the holiday baked goods that were brought into the office.   Cookie exchanges, brownies, cannoli…you name it, someone brought it to work.  And what is that word that two-year olds know so well and I apparently have completely forgotten?  It’s “No”.  Would you like to try some brownies?  No!  Um, Why I’d LOVE some…and so it goes.

As I pack on the pounds, I look forward to the days starting to get longer…even if it’s just a minute a day. (It is.) I’ll take it.  When I get up, it’s dark. When I leave for work it’s dark.  When I leave the office, it’s dark.  And all I want to do is eat comfort food and sleep.   It’s the most wonderful time of the year…

My dog walking pal Charlie recently told me that he ate so many sweets in one day his pancreas secreted enough insulin for a third world nation.

A long time ago, a doctor told me my pancreas was “tired”.  That was his way of telling me I had type-two diabetes.  My mother told me it was because I was fat.  She was a lovely woman.  She also told me “feet are never clean”.

Whatever you celebrate during this time of year, may it be happy, merry and not too fattening.

The above watercolor was loosely based on a Croatian street scene.  More narrow roads, hanging laundry and mysterious doorways.  Right up my alley!