Christmas kick off

This past week I celebrated Thanksgiving with friends and it was fantastic. Rugby in place of American football and a Saturday feast instead of Thursday worked out quite well. And, like the morning star, while I laid in bed stuffed and stricken with a cold, my Christmas card appeared to me *cue heavenly trumpets*.

I was having trouble coming up with an idea of ‘what I want most this year’. Usually it’s quite easy; family, friends, good times, presents, happiness. But this year it was a bit of a challenge as my heart is very much with my friend, Ryan, who’s not well. It provided a bit of a block because the thing I want most of all is for her to be healthy and there's not too much I can do to help with that. Well, a very insightful friend, Howard, suggested I stop trying so hard to look forward and, instead, look back to a happy memory. It also made me recall a line from the Yale alma mater, Bright College Years: "How bright will seem through memory’s haze those happy golden by gone days." I’m not one for recounting the ‘good-ol days’ as I'm prone to figuring out what I need to do next. But I think this holiday might be a good time to develop a bit of nostalgia.

I thought back to my recent trip to Boston visiting Ryan and it suddenly became crystal clear what feeling of happiness I wanted to share with family and friends. Ryan, Dave and I were having a last day in Boston on a bit of a treasure hunt to find a ‘Boston’ themed duck and Christmas ornament (which is not very hard I might add). We were sitting in the Boston Commons watching the ducks and Ryan said, ‘This is probably the last really nice day before it gets too cold’. I can’t say if it really was, but it was the last day of my visit, so, in many ways, bitter-sweetly, it was.  

So for Christmas, I chose to remember the really lovely days. Here’s the first sketch of the card with Gemmy, Sem and Mhetli sitting on a bench, just, watching ducks.

You'll have to wait for Christmas to see the final product!

Enjoy!
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Pencil on paper

Finished drawing - Ink on tracing paper