Dots

As I am sure has been said before on this blog, when Jessica draws with dots she finds it therapeutic and relaxing.  This image is from one of her work projects focused on literacy and numeracy.  Jessica remembered the French photographer who came to Ghana to shoot photographs was a lot of fun and had had some pretty cool previous jobs including White House photographer (complete with Press Pass).  I think photographer would be such a fun job, do you?

Checked

One of the things I like increasingly about this postcard project is that Lynn and I produce cards the other would never have thought to create. Checked boxes and leaves? Never would have occurred to me in my boxed in world - but I like it.

Lynn thought it was boring though, just like March. The month that if you live in Michigan drags on as if summer might never come, especially when it has 5 weeks in it like last year. Lynn wrote that she predicted March wouldn't be as long and tedious as if felt it might be looking out from its start, but knowing that didn't diminish the fact that she longed for excitement. 

We both have exciting changes brewing in our lives this year. I go between relishing mine, a new work opportunity outside of Ghana, and dreading the sad day when my move will happen. Ghana has seeped into my heart while I was busy with other things and suddenly I am realizing that it is going to be harder to leave than it was to arrive.

Another reality check that I cannot have it all. I spend time trying to find balance, or feeling bad because I have not found it, but perhaps a more achievable focus at this point would be to learn to weather these changes, to cross these lines with grace.  It's not easy-o.

Running is a "Jessica" theme just like Africa.  On this running postcard she announced she was running again!  This was good news for me because I knew that meant she was attempting some work/life balance.  She wrote about the gym where she runs, it was interesting for me because when living abroad I too was a hotel gym member!

Jessica was a big runner in college when we were roommates.  (I may have written here about how I often was dragged on runs/went along willingly only to end up breathlessly in pain after a few minutes).  Jessica had this wonderful running log.  She would write about runs she took and after each date just jot something memorable about that day.  I imagine she started writing in that again, and while running inside meant she wouldn't have to make notes about running past African scenery, she would have ways to remember non-work events.
Enjoy this colorful card!

From somewhere warmer than here

I am a little behind, posting this cut out card from Jess in February of last year. She writes "I cut it while watching the Superbowl. It is clear I was thinking of Africa I guess." Her mountain view reminds me of warmer places, ones I wish I was traveling to while it was still cold and snowy out. There is a time in Michigan where the grey skies and dark of winter gets hard to bear, but I think we've broken through. March has arrived with high 30's weather, blue skies and sun. I almost feel like I am in a warm savannah with a view! Where do you wish you were when the winter months grind on and on?

Reflections

An interesting side effect of this project is Jess and I get a look back at our own lives. We see what we were thinking of and inspired by in the past year, so each blog post is a kind of personal reflection. Writing a postcard once every two weeks means our notes remind of us of a specific thought or moment we otherwise would forget over the course of big ups and downs during a year.

Jessica is heading to Ghana is a few weeks(!!), and looking back at last year's cards she actually spent much of Nov. and Dec. of 2008 yearning for Africa. I would say she started to scratch the the itch after visiting Ethiopia, Cairo and South Africa. Soon, she was in Zambia for work for some time...and now just a year later she is heading off. Her writing and notes were about DC- snow, and daily life. But, this drawing clearly shows whats been on her mind. It is beautiful, Enjoy!