Recovery

It had been six years since I had been in Sri Lanka. The country was recovering from the tsunami last time I was in Galle. Since then, the island has weathered another wave of war and sprung back, blossoming with signs of development so sparkly that it makes your eye's pop.  The scars of war and disaster are wearing away. The temporary beach house I stayed at years ago has been replaced by a better version of itself. Physical proof of impermanence and recovery.

A year ago, I sent Lynn my worries, knowing that sharing with a friend would help and that with time it would pass. Staying the course, thinking long term, worked it seems. There are not always dead goats on the beach.

After more than a month of creative doldrums, I am drawing again. It only took four Asian countries and a beach vacation on the Indian Ocean to get me ticking. No problem, right? Poor Lynn has yet to benefit. Instead, she is posting depressing postcards from a year ago, wondering if I am ever going to respond to her emails or find a card in her mailbox. Do not despair, pal, I too am making my way back again.

Making light of things

So...as we've seen in the last three cards Jessica was drawing very dark, morose subjects.  I guess the direct quote about me getting all these cards at once was "Lynn will freak out!" Just after hearing this, Jess attempted to make light of things by drawing this dead goat she and Merilee saw on the beach making them both laugh.  She briefly considered a series of holiday postcards in this sardonic theme- dead goats on Africa's beaches...I wonder what other vignettes she would have included?

Another dark period

This postcard was mailed a few days after Jessica's birthday. Her birthday was not the subject though...at a work retreat, a terrible accident occurred.  Jessica was dealing with all that it entailed, and again used art to process what she felt for all those involved.  While I was only able to listen from afar on the phone, it was lucky Merilee was there for Jessica to lean on.

Birthday mystery

A year ago, Lynn launched a very fun project that left me guessing for months. White cards with letters and/or a leaf design trickled in each week (office mail was collected weekly). Each postcard made up a piece of a puzzle message and had a message from someone I cared about. While this postcard was a tantalizing start, filled with question marks on its otherwise blank underbelly, I would have known it was Lynn's enterprise without it. A ruthless period in other ways, this surprising gift was the highlight of the months that surrounded my birthday. It made me feel loved even though I was thousands away from the game's participants. I still can hardly believe that she tracked down so many of my friends and family from so many phases of my life.

Despite a number of cards, a bit hilariously, some of the cards were repeated or missing in the end so I was forced to ask, "What does it say?"  Lynn replied, "I'm so glad you were born."

I am not sure that there has ever been such a remedy for such a blue period. Thank you for being there.

WARNING the following postcard may be hazardous to the reader(part 2)

This card shows the busy streets of Jessica's neighborhood where she pondered car accidents a few weeks back.  She wrote on this one about the pineapple lady (she is there in the middle of all the cars)who not only sells the fruit but is over zealous with foreigners. She chases them and calls out "sweet ones."  I think anyone who has lived abroad has expereinced the starring and awkward moments that sometimes go along with being the only foreinger in sight.  My husband was once asked to pose with a family and their baby for a snapshot when we were visiting India, I often wonder why and what they think about years later when they look at that photo.  Do you have a story like this one?

A good friend

I was in need of a good friend around this time last year. As my postcards imply, it was a hairy period and I needed to let out some of the stress I felt through my art. Luckily, not only did a childhood friend visit Ghana, Lynn was also right there reminding me to take care of myself and to remember to start thinking about longer term plans. Her words were well timed reminders for me to plan ahead and that these down-times would pass.

Meanwhile, she was telling me tantalizing stories about Nova Scotia, which she had visited with her mother and sister in-law. Having been slightly obsessed with Prince Edward Island as a child, due to the series by Lucy Maud Montgomery about Anne of Green Gables, I could not help but be green with jealousy (just like Anne's hair!). With stories filled with scenic views and interesting people, Lynn could not have told me enough about her trip. I must admit, however, that I was very sad to learn recenlty that good ol' PEI had been connected to the mainland by a bridge. I suppose it is a bit unfair to wish isolation upon a group of people, but my childhood self had loved the mystic of a special world cut off from the rest of Canada. Nevertheless, now that I am based in New England, I am itching to go see for myself.  

WARNING the following postcard maybe hazardous to the reader

Jessica was advised by Merilee to call and warn me about this next series of cards because they are a bit morose.  On this one Jessica wrote that she was spending time on the streets of Osu and pondering how there were so few accidents on the narrow, busy streets.  Her quote about the possibility of being hit is "In my mind I'd be flattened like a paper doll and left floating in the wind" Hmm...I can see why Merilee wanted to warn me that Jessica's imagination was running wild but that she was safe and well.