V is for...

V is for..., watercolor on mixed media paper, December 26, 2011

I like purses that look handmade, so I like Vera Bradley bags. They are definitely outside my budget. Besides, I couldn't bring myself to pay that price for a cloth bag! I've always liked trailing ivy and vines. There's something almost magical about a wisteria tunnel in bloom. The memory of seeing the stunning Chamonix Valley in France when I was 16 is still very vivid. "V" is for "very vivid." Another enduring memory from my teens is the sound of the VW bug I drove. I never got over that car. It was rusty and old, but I loved it. It was a three-speed and really hard to drive, which added to its charm. Violet is a favorite color, and violets are a favorite flower. I prefer simple, non-fussy flowers--wild, if possible. Vani is our still-puppy-like, 10-year-old yellow lab. Her full name is Vanilla. She was the only yellow puppy in a litter of chocolate labs, and her parents were both chocolates. That makes her one of a kind in her family. I wish I had spent more time learning to read and appreciate poetry. I suppose it's never too late. I enjoy Gerard Manley Hopkins, especially his "As Kingfishers Catch Fire." V is for Vera Bradley, vine, valley, VW, violet, Vani, and verse.