We lost Maxy Cat on Wednesday, October 20, 2021. It is even more devastating than I would have guessed. He touched every bit of of our lives, and it is a silent existence without him. I feel dead inside, like dried autumn leaves.

I put together Halloween bags with candy, pens and stress squishies for the staff members, and a few smaller no-squishy bags for volunteers. It is the one Halloween thing I did this year. I couldn’t manage to sew the skirt. Honestly, I’ll be super-happy to be past November 4th and the Whisker Mixer event for work. If I can just get beyond that, maybe I will be able to start managing the rest of my life. I’m giving myself the grace to do the things I can and make due with the rest. I will send greeting cards for the holidays, but I am not going to be creating my own design this year. I just can’t. We had our first frost this morning. The season is changing.

I haven’t felt like painting or doing much of anything lately. Can’t read. Can’t sew. Can barely crochet, even though I’m meant to be working on a project for a shelter volunteer who needs a special hug blanket. Thank goodness for the mindlessness of TikTok. Between meetings last night, I did get this oil pastel study of a Florida causeway done. The angle on the palm fronds is wrong, but otherwise I’m fairly pleased with it. I’m still learning the medium. I should watch more videos or something. There aren’t a ton of youtube videos on oil pastels for some reason.