Hundred Things

I have this exercise I like to do at the end of every month:  a hundred things I'm grateful for so here goes.  Can I think of that many?

1.  Having my feet up and relaxing.
2.  Seeing Shannon today.
3.  Love it here in the Clubhouse...no distractions, quiet
4.  I'm here!
5.  Reginald the photographer.
6.  Kacee's sense of humor ("hot as satan's asshole --  that one slays me!)
7.  Epsom salts.
8.  The vegan links Dr. J. sent me.
9.  Possibility of ordering vegan foods already made for the trip and mailing them to Washington.
10. FLYING, not driving to CT.
11. The pre-school where I want to work.
12.  Clean dishes.
13.  Rice and beans, one of my favs.
14.  It's going to cool off later.
15.  Not having to drive anywhere else today.
16.  it's a little cooler today
17. spoke with the dorm manager for the workshop on the phone
18. no coffee today
19.  modest lunch (Spinach, ground cauliflower, etc)
20.  mindfulness today w everything i do
21.  a good vegan website
22.  https://www.budgetbytes.com/parsley-salad-almonds-apricots/

23.  missed ballet class today (too hot outside)
24.  the gym here...getting ready to get on bike
25.  45 min, workout --- bike, treadmill, elliptical
26.  the Thai boys got out of the mine safely
27.  the BBC for objective news
28.  tomorrow i'm moderating a meeting -- good to volunteer
29.  found a hotel in Hartford to stay at
30.  dinner ready
31.  laundry done
32.  dishes done
33.  being able to walk to a gym as opposed to driving
34.  Pilobolus friends:  Heather, Krystal
35.  Morgan is giving me a ride to the airport
36.  Volunteering for ADF this week-end
37.  the govt. is opening up its investigation on Emmett Till
38.  ShaLeigh is in my corner
39.  Inspiring stories
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40.  Could write a book about de-segregation of public libraries in NC -- I have a contact for this (the prof. i met from florida state who wrote about the de-seg of libraries in the u.s.
41. Fruit smoothies
42.  Mel
43. Janis
44.  Alan
45.  Shannon
46.  the memories of the ADF banquet of several years ago
47.  Ed in Boston
48.  Ashley
49. Kacee
50. This beautiful space near my apt. which i use as an office
51.  the woods outside my window
52.  prayer
53.  durham, nc cuz my docs are all here
54.  Monet -- the memory of his exhibition in Raleigh
55.  Picassco said this "...it took me a lifetime to learn to paint like a child
56.  this thought -- imagine my granddaughter doing ballet
57.  This quote:  "There is no failure."   (Susan B. Anthony)
58.  Twyla Tharpe ("Treefrogs at Stonehenge")
59.  Tere O'Connor
60. my friendship with Lee Sherman several years ago
61.  this thought -- "consider a blanket forgiveness of all the hurt I went thru last year"
62.  "Movement is the Movement"
63.  "What will you do with your one wild and wonderful life?"
64.   Inspiration from nature
65.  Comfortable walking shoes
66.  purple nail polish
67.  my beautiful and healthy granddaughters
68.  An up-coming peak experience
69.  Consider this thought:  "Be mindful in your movements"
70.  A bus from the airport to Washington
71.  The other folks in my workshop
73.  Standing
74.  this thought -- "keep going"
74.  Documentaries
75.  My courage
76.  Physical therapists
77.  Not trying to please anyone
79.  Courage to change the things I can
80.  Quinoia
81.  Encouragement
82.  Kindness to self and others
83.  Rice
84.  Fruit
85.  TJ Max (nearby!!!)
86. "Being good enough"
87.  Mindfulness
88.  Being present
89.  These illnesses to don't define me
90.  Recovery
91.  eating a vegan diet free of animal products
92.  considering the health benefits of being a vegan
93.  living for this day only
94.  MUSIC!!!  of the Fairfield Four
95.  Katya
95.  Lots of folks in OA i can call.
96.  "Do not peer too far..."
97.  A beautiful writing space
98,  A Writerly Space"  (like Virginia Woolfe's)
99.  My ancestors
100.  Looking for a sponsor

Madonna del Granduca by Raphael

"Raphael’s Madonna del Granduca is a devotional reproduction of the Madonna by the Italian Renaissance master Raphael. Painted in 1505 shortly after Raphael’s arrival in Florence from Urbino, the work is a remarkable testament to the artist’s ability to soak up the moods, styles, and compositional concerns of the Renaissance capital. Explicitly acknowledging the influence of Da Vinci, whose works Raphael would have been closely acquainted himself with, Madonna del Granduca is rendered in the sfumato mode. This painting style, honed by Da Vinci, strives for a balance of form with no harsh outlines, instead employing broad strokes of color that both describe and enhance the light source. For many art critics, this canvas is one of the canonical works of Western painting – truly classical in its proportions and balance, and serving as a benchmark for countless generations.

Raphael seats the Madonna with the infant Christ, and with breath-taking clarity conjures an image of warmth, benevolence and affection from the personae of both figures. The Virgin’s care and love for Christ is expressed in her rigid left hand supporting the child from underneath, as Christ’s left hand deftly caresses his mother’s chest. The intimacy between the two figures, despite the disparity of size, is remarkable, as Raphael, a master of composition and balance, seems to render the figures as equally prominent on the spatial plane of the canvas. Often viewed as slightly disconcerting by modern audiences, Raphael’s commercial appeal in his day lay in his ability to create delicate and benevolent reproductions of Biblical figures, thus ushering in figures that conform to their own inner unity but not always to what one might deem outward realism. Raphael’s Madonna del Granduca is thus a painting that privileges harmony over aesthetic verisimilitude."