Author: hwilkie@mhwcom.com

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Lockdown Sketches

As I mentioned in an earlier post, we have been in strict lockdown again since last Sunday, so no outings for lunch or dinner, and definitely not going anywhere at night. So I’ve taken the opportunity to do some sketching.

I don’t really like sketching from photographs, because part of the pleasure of urban sketching is immersing myself in the scene, but in these circumstances it’s better than nothing. It’s also given me a bit more opportunity to work on developing a looser style for my sketches. It’s a series of Buenos Aires scenes.

Anyway, here are the ones I’ve done this past week. I hope you enjoy them.

This is the view from one corner of Plaza Dorrego, in the Barrio of San Telmo. It’s a popular spot for outdoor tango on Sunday nights—well, normal Sunday nights!

This tower was built by the English during one of their sojourns in Argentina, and was called Torre de los Ingleses. But after the Malvinas (Falklands) conflict, the name was changed to the Torre Monumental. But based on this sketch, I’m calling it the Leaning Tower of Retiro!

This is a lovely old cafe in Caminito, a tourist spot in the Barrio of La Boca. I love sitting outside watching people and listening to the tango music that is always playing somewhere. I hope it survives the madness.

This is the Cabildo, a government building that has played a large role in Argentine history. It features on the Dia de la Patria image I posted on May 25.

This is an unusual view of the Congreso building. I’ve admired this view many times, but there was no place to sit to sketch it live. But now I have my new camping chair …

We are allowed out again this week, but the numbers are so horrendous that I’ll probably stay home even if I don’t have to. Given the lo-o-ng eight-month lockdown we endured last year, it doesn’t seem fair that we are now number nine in the world in terms of daily infections. The vaccinations are gradually getting done, but it’s so slow. Still, we stay positive—and I keep sketching!

So maybe there will be more sketches next week!

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From My Online Writer’s Group Exercise

A few weeks ago I shared something I had written during my Friday evening writers’ group meeting. Someone brings two prompts, one fiction and one non-fiction, and we have ten minutes to write something, which we then read to the others. There’s no critique, just a fun exercise. I think most of what I’ve written is total rubbish—although the others have written brilliant stuff—but sometimes I come up with something I think you might enjoy, so I’ve decided to share them with you occasionally. They’ll always have this headline, so if you have absolutely no interest in my Friday night ramblings, you can just skip them. Here’s the first one—this is non-fiction and came out of something that had been annoying me that day.

Prompt: I may not know the outcome but I want to know the process.

Honest to God, I thought I was blond. I’ve been what I thought was blond for forty years.

At first I had the colour done at the hairdresser, but I stopped that because of the process. It was too damned long. Giving up one  Saturday morning every month to sit for three hours through fiirst the bleaching and then the colouring, all the while breathing deeply of a variety of foul and noxious chemicals. And at that time I was a low level employee in a small company, and this process cost me a fair chunk of my salary.

But although I hated the process, I did love the outcome. Something shifted in my personality when I suddenly changed from mousy brown to platinum blond. Of course I was 22 then, so there was no question it was blond and not white.

Then I decided to try it at home. I bought some cheap product in the drugstore that had to be sprayed on. It was hard to manipulate, so I persuaded my teenage brother to do it for me. It came out a fascinating shade of pea green. So although the process was much easier, the outcome wasn’t acceptable.

I’ve been doing this myself now with the same product and shade for approximately 40 years, going along in the happy belief that I was a blond. It’s the same colour as that first time that was obviously platinum blond, but now apparently (so I’ve been told by two friends this week) people are seeing it as white or silver!

So what’s the difference? Well obviously it’s the face underneath! My 22 year-old face naturally projected platinum blond, but the face of today apparently says white. Something must be done. I must find a different product or a different colour, but how will it turn out?

I already know the process, but I want to know the outcome.

___

FYI, I did try another colour, and everyone agrees I am once again a blond!

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El Día de La Patria

May 25 is a very special day in Argentina. It commemorates the 1810 May Revolution and the beginning of independence from Spain. Usually there are parades and other celebrations, and the whole city of Buenos Aires seems draped in the celeste y blanco of the beautiful national flag. The colours represent the sea and the sky, and the sun represents the Inca Sol de Mayo, and legend has it that the sun broke out when the new Argentine government was declared.

Of course we are in total lockdown, so no parades for the second year in a row. But my friends have all been sending the traditional greetings on line, and let’s hope we can celebrate properly next year.

Viva La Patria!

 

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I’ve had a lovely balanced day!

My days are often out of balance, either skewing towards work or play, but not today. We have now gone back into total lockdown, at least for nine days, so once again we have to find a way to amuse ourselves indoors.

I bought a slow cooker this week, and this morning I gave it its first go. I’m making a Moroccan veggie stew, with chickpeas and squash. I’m not a fan of squash, or calabasa as it’s called here, but I’ve decided to develop a taste for it. I honestly don’t think I set the cooker right, because it cooked way too quickly and looks a bit mushy, so I won’t post a photo, and I hope it tastes better than it looks!

I’ve spent a lot of time on YouTube, watching stuff on various subjects of interest to me, including business, cooking (don’t laugh—quarantine!) and art.

Speaking of art, I just got a new empty mini-palette to fill with my own watercolours from tubes. Here is it:

I don’t like sketching from photographs, as I prefer to sink into the scene as I draw it, but since I can’t go out and I have new paints, I settled for sketching from one of my own photos. This is a corner of Plaza Dorrego, one of my favourite spots in Buenos Aires.

So that’s been my day. It’s almost Malbec time, so I think I’ll settle in with a good book tonight.

All in all, a satisfying day, and one that sets me up nicely to begin the work week tomorrow. I hope you had a good day too!

 

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Eco Parque

A few weeks ago, Venetia introduced me to Eco Parque, which used to be the Buenos Aires City Zoo but is now, as the name suggests, a park devoted to flora and fauna in an ecologically sound way. Today we went back. We started with lunch at the cafe inside the park and then walked around a bit. Venetia had another appointment, so after a bit she left and I settled in to sketch.

Last week I bought a lightweight portable camping chair, and I love it! It lets me sit wherever I see something I want to sketch, and I’m going to make good use of it.

It’s a fun place, as some of the animals roam free — despite their aloof beauty, peacocks are just as shameless as other birds when trying to get crumbs!

Here are a few shots of the day.

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I’m vaccinated — at last!

After the long delay because I confessed to being allergic to Penicillin, last Friday the hospital called me, and this morning I went and had my jab. I feel so relieved. I know it will be twelve weeks before I get my second one, but at least the process is started.

I wish I could say the same for everyone else in Argentina, but we have still only vaccinated 17% of the population, and they are only down to the sixty-plus age group. As my friend Daniel, who is in his mid-fifties, said the other week, “I’ll BE 70 by the time I get vaccinated!”

I think the pace is picking up just a bit, so I’m feeling optimistic.

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Birthday Lunch

Today I had a lovely birthday lunch with ten of my favourite chicas! We went to a place called La Olla de Felix, which is one of my favourite places. The name means Felix’s cooking pot, which might make you smile if you remember my Felix and his many great meals when we entertained!

Anyway, here are some photos of the many smiling faces, as well as the lovely gifts I received. Fun day, lucky girl!

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My new book is out!

Today is my birthday, and although I wasn’t sure it would happen on this date, I’m happy to say my new book is out!

It’s a business fable about the importance of telling your story, so if you know someone who is thinking of writing a book but never seems to get around to it, please tell them about my book!

 

If you’d like to see it, here’s the link:

Also available on all the other Amazon platforms.

I’m excited!

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What a lovely day I’ve had!

Today was lovely! I got up early even though it was quite cold. I put on my puffy jacket for the first time this season, and that made it OK to sit having breakfast outside the cafe — because right now we are not allowed to eat inside.

Later in the morning I met Venetia at a lovely place that serves a good brunch. It’s quite a nice brisk walk for us both, being halfway between where we live. Here’s a photo of the waffles with berries I had, and it was every bit as yummy as it looks. Actually even better, because I asked for cream on top—how could that not be delicious??

After brunch we walked along Avenida Santa Fé, one of the best shopping avenues in the city. I really need winter clothes, and I did quite well with nice warms sweaters.

But what to do about dinner, that was the question. We have to be home by 8 pm because of the curfew, and the waffles, delicious though they were, couldn’t serve as my one main meal of the day. So I decided to go to one of my favourite parillas for merienda, but have something more substantial which could serve as dinner. Just as I sat down at my table, I heard my name called, and it turned out to be three good friends, Marcia and Cliff, and Silvia, who were quaffing champagne! Turns out this is their regular Saturday haunt, and they invited me to join them. It was lovely!

Here are some photos of the group, as well as sunset over Recoleta Cemetery just across the road.

Life is good!

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What I’ve Missed Most

Last night at my virtual writers’ group meeting, one of the prompts was, “What is the thing I missed most during the pandemia, and what will it be like when I get it back?”

I thought you might enjoy reading what I wrote, so here it is.

This is a no brainer—it’s tango! And not just the dance, but everything that goes with it: weekly lessons with my lovely teacher, the constant quest for new shoes and clothes, and finally —the milonga! Sitting on the bus on the way there, feeling as nervous and excited as a teenager on a first date. Will I get dances, or will I be sitting with a fixed smile on my face waiting for the cabeceo, that invitation with the eyes from across a crowded floor?

In the early days I used to get so worked up about all this that I would almost get off the bus and go home. But now I understand the game and how it works, which means I do get more dances and, I think even more importantly, I know I can still enjoy the evening even when I don’t.

So I can’t wait till tango is back in my life.

But I’ve spoken to two people recently who were worried they might have lost it. Maybe they’ve lost the tango rhythm and might keep missing the beat—a cardinal sin in the world of the milonga.

The way I see it is that everybody has been away for the same length of time, and I’m sure there will be a certain amount of stumbling around. But my teacher once told me that when I stopped thinking and started feeling, that’s when I became a tanguera. So that’s going to be my strategy for returning to tango: don’t think, just feel.

Be still my heart!