Hola Ground Control, this is Major Tom, finally passing 100,000 miles and back in radio contact.

My spaceship has taken me on a meandering odyssey that eventually spit me back out to share the stories.

The little virus in July 2022 was indeed Covid positive. I dodged the more serious side effects and returned to negative status in less than a week. The long-term effects, however, stayed with me for almost a year. My biggest challenge was ‘attention’ and a lethargy when I attempted to read or write. Reading anything technical was a serious task, so I basically scanned the high points of any reading material and paced myself. Twitter was my one-stop source for updates about world news and nature/the environment, etc. For the first time EVER, photos accumulated on the camera chip, pending when I felt strong enough to tackle part of the queue.

Major Tom idled through a lengthy ‘pause’ phase, but the best physical and mental-emotional therapy was time spent in nature. I credit the long walks on the trails of Refugio de la Tomatera as the best medicine. One step at a time I stayed focused on the light at the end of the tunnel – often a living tunnel of trees provided that tonic for healing; – ah, forest therapy!

This past year I was much stronger, back to chasing hummingbirds and butterflies along those same trails. The ‘Step into my World’ exposition of my show stretched from October 2021 until August 2023. There were days when I stepped into the museo, and someone exclaimed, ‘Lisa! There are people upstairs seeing your exhibit!’ I would ask who was with them, smile and then say, ‘They are in good hands. Bye. I’m going home.’

Just walking up the stairs would often exhaust me, and the energy of a group would deplete my energies more. I remain grateful for the support from those who helped at Museo Portoviejo.

Some days I would go home and rest, and other days the best medicine was the cocoon of nature.

Step into my World #2 opened on May 29 (2024) at Urdaneta Canton in Los Rios Province. The just-published post about that show is on my equally-neglected website for art: lisabrunettiart.wordpress.com – Step into my World 2

The next show for Museo Portoviejo will open in October.

An extended rainy season in 2023 triggered a new-to-me endemic flower into bloom. Long ago in Mississippi, nasturtiums germinated and soared into gorgeous foliage and bloom in early spring, yet quickly atrophied when temperatures tipped higher. Here was a petite cousin growing in kudzu-worthy speed, and it seemed to thrive in the heat! Determined to discover which hummingbirds might visit that flower, I often took my paper and paints to the patches of flowers and patiently waited for answers.

The first hummingbird to appear was the Amazilia Hummingbird, the most common one in the area.

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