Back from Limbo

I am back from the chill world of Massachusetts in one piece. I ended up staying a month in the old parental home doing a world of tasks to keep my aged mother alive if not well. She is now attended by 24-hour/7 days home care, to maintain her life support and routines. I wrote at length about this difficult month on Facebook, and almost all of you handful of readers have at least noticed these postings, so I won't repeat any of it here. 

I brought my art stuff with me as well as my laptop computer, but I just couldn't get much art done. As soon as I had some time to work on it, something else went wrong with the medical case management or the house, or I was needed for more service. If I was away from the house more than an hour or two, Mother got worried. There are a lot of nice old buildings in our neighborhood that I'd love to draw, but I didn't have the time to stop, find a place to draw, and make a drawing. This one you see above is at the crossroads of the towns of Natick and Wayland, a place called Cochituate. This place has everything you need: banks, post office, grocery store, pet supply shop, drugstore, restaurant, and, of course, a Starbucks Coffee shop. I did this drawing sitting in my car's driver seat, parked in the grocery store's parking lot. It's a handsome late 19th/early 20th century edifice which has had many different commercial occupants. Currently it houses a shop for wedding gowns but it is for sale. I don't have enough money to buy it.

The parental house is in disrepair and I tried to have as much fixed as possible, using hired help. My father didn't do anything to fix the house unless it was dire necessity, since he would never spend any money. Most of the time my mother lies on her bed or couch, silent and motionless. The silence of this limbo was oppressive, but I must accept it for what it is. 

So, back to art blogging. I hope one or two of you missed the By-Product. I'll try to get some bloggable art done now that I am home - in Virginia.

House drawing is black technical pen ink on sketchbook page, about 4 1/2" x 4 1/2", April 18, 2015.