Family
I publish my thoughts and works on the web in hope that you all will enjoy it as much as me…
To have a happy and productive family, say and do as many positive things as possible with your spouse. Then team up with them to help teach kids to behave in a satisfactory manner. If all goes well, you won’t have to bail anyone out of jail.
Don’t judge me by my work
Judge me by my family
To my wife…
You are my home… my spirit follows you!
❤️
Susan is my best friend. God sent me a beautiful behavioral beacon after my first mental breakdown. Susan feeds and guides me from self imploding. Her role is not an easy one. She found out late that I was a basket case. That’s my fault. I’d been hiding a mental disorder forever. I was a self-taught actor promoting the impression of a sane human. I always knew there was something wrong with me. I learned that from my dad’s behavior. “The nut doesn’t fall far from the tree.” But it does grow into its own unique shape.
I fell in love with Susan as soon as I saw her… (link to Memories) and I wanted her to love me back. So I didn’t tell her about my 1977 mental crash. We were married in 1980 but she didn’t realize the full extent of my basket case mess until my second breakdown in 2003. That year was life changing for both of us. I began a frantic search for God to help me mentally heal. Susan began researching bipolar wackiness. I’m grateful she stuck with me through that difficult period.
Whining
Susan has a sign on our refrigerator that reads “$5 charge for whining” which tells you something of what it’s like to live with me. (Actually, she brought it home from her supervisor job when she retired.) But if the shoe fits…
I was introduced to Pop Tarts at age 13 and now I’m several decades past that. My current early morning ritual before I eat a good breakfast consists of a single unfrosted tart along with a stout mug of black coffee. Usually it’s about 4 AM. I wake up my neighbors chickens.
Anyway, I negotiate this mass production pastry with Susan because she’s always trying to get me to eat healthier and quit the sugary treat. But I’m a stubborn man so I just cry a little and remind her that I prefer the unfrosted version (as if that should help). It’s like when I bought my first Indian a few years ago. I whined and cried (pestered is more accurate) for almost six months before she finally said, “I guess you’re not going to give up”… That was all it took. I made a beeline for the nearest Indian motorcycle dealer.
I’m not saying that Susan is an enabler. She’s a loving spouse that has to deal with a nine-year-old bipolar wacky doodle stubborn husband. Fortunately, she has a great sense of humor. She generously credits me with being a “ten year old” and does her best with what she has to work with. I’m very blessed to have her as my wife and best friend!
We all need some healing. I wish she could see herself through my eyes. She would know without a shadow of a doubt just how beautiful she really is.
Susan1 & Susan2
December 28, 2021 – Well, I’m in trouble… AGAIN…
You know how people generally say cute things like “trouble is my middle name”, well “trouble” is my first and last name… my middle name is “always”.
Anyway, I’m on voluntary restriction. I’m supposed to limit my website activities to four hours a day. Two in the morning and two in the evening.
It’s only because my Susans love me. Yes, there are two. And they are both natural born care givers… wife Susan and nurse Susan. And of course, I love them both. Nurse Susan is easier to get along with because she doesn’t have to live with me and put up with my stubbornness for very long. Nurse Susan has it easy compared to wife Susan.
Wife Susan is a retired animal shelter supervisor. She’s had a long career of critter care, on and off the job. Susan is a kindred spirit to all creatures. Except for mosquitoes, fleas, and other assorted bad actors.
My other Susan is a registered nurse. She has been successfully supervising me for quite a long time. Nurse Susan helps keep me mentally on course without fencing me in. I wear a chemical straight jacket and she helps adjust the tension on the straps whenever they get too tight or too loose. I look forward to my visits with her. She actually understands my disordered brain.
It takes a strong person to deal with mental illness. I hope you are lucky enough to have a Susan in your life. I’m blessed with two!
Offspring
Above is my beautiful favorite youngest daughter Kate on the left and my beautiful favorite oldest daughter Ash on the right. Their beautiful mom deserves most of the credit for growing these two. I deserve a little. They both make us very proud!
Playhouse I built for Ash and Kate in Spring 1991 matching the basic style of our home. It sports a Dutch door with a heart shaped peep window. Inside I incorporated a fold away table using my early years drawing board.
Peyt
January 26, 2022 – Peyton is my feline companion. God sent him to me via my youngest. God does things like that. He knows what’s best… like that 50’s TV sitcom about a really smart father, except way more smarter… “Father Way Knows Best!!!”
Peyton had a rough start. Chased by dogs near the expressway at a few months old and later abused to the point of a broken jaw and shoulder. Peyt did not have an ideal introduction into life.
Along comes my daughter. She takes him in and pays an enormous vet bill to repair his shoulder. They had to add a pin to put his bones back together. He still has the pin, crooked leg and a crooked bite. His leg and jaw healed just a bit off kilter.
I fell in love with Peyt right off the bat. He’s my animal kindred spirit. I thank God for Peyton. He accepts me same as I accept him.
Peyt is all cat but he follows me around like a puppy. Mischievous? Boy is he ever! He likes to get his paws into everything! He so reminds me of me! I think God gave me Peyton to show me what I’m like as a cat!
Peyton was diagnosed with lymphoma on January 12. He had been showing signs that something was wrong. After 13 years, I’m going to miss him terribly. Terribly to the point that my nurse and family are worried about my health. I told them that they worry too much. But as with any close loved one, when Peyt dies, part of me is going to die too.
Peyt has a very beautiful and strong spirit. I’ve always admired his fighting spirit. Like when he got snake bit. We think it was a copperhead because we’ve killed a few in our yard over the years. Peyton was strong at only a few years old but he wasn’t feeling too well after tangling with a poisonous snake. So we rushed him to the emergency vet clinic where they treated him as best they could. The doctor said his chances would improve with a hyperbaric oxygen chamber. The nearest one for pets was in Chattanooga, Tennessee two hours away. Long story short, that oxygen chamber might have been the thing that saved his life.
Peyton’s always been rambunctious and a biter. I suppose he learned that behavior as a kitten. I have received numerous bites because that’s how he learned early on to communicate.
Over the years Peyt has backed off the fierce biting a bit. His bites are more of the ‘I love you but I’m still the boss’ kind of bite now.
Love is conditional for a lot of people.
One of my friends recently told me that they didn’t understand how people could get so attached to animals.
I don’t understand how they can’t.
March 19, 2022 – I buried Peyt today. I had him euthanized at the animal shelter where he started his life with us.
I miss my buddy terribly. It was difficult to watch him succumb to the cancer. The disease slowly drained his strength in spite of my wife’s galant animal nursing efforts. I was helpless except to be his buddy and companion.
I worried over Peyton like a dad worries over his son. I never took Peyt for granted but God took him from me anyway.
I know God knows best. That keeps me moving forward.
And I have the best family on the planet.
Peyt is still with me in my mind and spirit. I’m grateful for the time we had.
I miss you Peyt
a spirit true
though I have your spirit
what I miss is you
I buried part of me
that’s what buddies do
because forever I will be
your companion too
It’s Okay to Cry
Losing a loved one leaves a vast hole in your heart. You just want to lay down with them. Your world stops and you cry. You may busy yourself with the mundane but your heart aches with every reminding thought. And you know that ache is never going to go away. Grief can last a lifetime. Of course you realize that “time” will make that vast hole a little smaller, but as long as you’re alive you know the ache will remain. You’d give anything to have them back. And you look forward to the promise of Heaven where you can once again be companions.
Gulf Sunrise
Above is my very patient, youngest daughter Katie’s photograph of a sunrise beach scene. Both my daughters love the beach. They get that trait from their mom!
The beach gives us an unobstructed view of the sun rising above the gulf’s surface. It’s amazing to watch how fast the sun climbs in the beautifully colored sky. Close to 902 mph at this particular latitude.
The clouds make a clever natural Artist’s frame for the magnificent Florida sun.
Clear Air Turbulence
My oldest took this ancient photo.
Jake was always the mild mannered ham.
I must have been practicing for retirement!
Website
Something in Ed’s Art Net changes almost every day. Either I’m adding something new like a paragraph or post, correcting or deleting an old one, or simply rearranging things.
I do LOTS of editing… it’s calming. With me it’s like shampooing; wash, rinse, repeat. The shampoo directions don’t say “wash, rinse, repeat once”. No, it says, “wash, rinse, repeat”. It takes a whole bottle to get my head clean. If my website had another name it’d be Calm Olive Branch Shampoo.
🕊️
”A breath of fresh air.”
I’m building Ed’s Art Net for my family and me. It’s an ongoing web publishing ‘work in progress’ and may simply end up as an offline family heirloom… daddy, pop pop’s wacky old art asylum. My calming refuge ☺️🌴 in a stormy world ⛈️🌪️
It almost keeps me out of trouble
Nothing in Ed’s Art Net is designed using artificial intelligence. Seldom do I use intelligence. 🤭 I do use AI sometimes for spelling and grammar check and vice versa. Autocorrect is occasionally a misnomer!
Computers are not smart. People are smart. God didn’t create computers. Just the elements and the human designers that fashion elements into tools.
I expect I’ll be editing until I can’t type
So far, it’s been fun and challenging, kinda like cleaning up a mess in the yard DURING a storm. But it’s getting easier. Efforts entered a major paradigm shift when I discovered how to build text hyperlinks.
Thanks for spending time with me
🔴🟡🟢 Visitor traffic-wise… I’m working towards a future PG-13 audience; my kids kid’s kids, and so on.
online since September 2007
…but not the same
This web place isn’t without cyber safeguards, but it isn’t the end of the world if Ed’s Art Net goes offline. 🤭
I’ve been told my website gives folks pause to think.
If Ed’s Art Net were to be parental rated, it would likely be PG-13. Some of my artwork and writing might scare young kids. Please share responsibly. ❤️
Susan told me that my website sounds a lot like preaching. I’m not a preacher. I’m a husband and father who sounds a lot like a preacher… on his website. It is what it is. I just work here.
✳️ Hint: Some images are also links
AfterWords 🐶
Currently…
I’m about 15 in dog years
my wife says I’m 10
my brain tells me I’m 9
But I’m actually in my 8th decade…
as measured by human standards
…relatively old for a kid
Born 3 November 1951, I’m a Commonologist*. My last career job was computer aided design of internet operating circuit board layouts along with a distinguished team of engineers, managers and support personnel. Prior to that I was an electronics technician evolving into circuit board design in the defense industry working with tactical missile systems. My first career job was a professional artist. During my younger years I worked many odd jobs beginning at age nine with a newspaper delivery route.
*Commonologist – an everyday person who studies the obvious.
Credits
Special thanks to my Susan’s without whom I would be lost in space.
Thanks to my family and friends for their help, life lessons, love, and patient understanding.
Most of all, thanks to God, who deserves ALL the credit for EVERYTHING!
We are God made and man kind.
Share what you love
artists finish their work
an audience completes it
Thanks for visiting!
Ed’s Art Net dedicated to Susan
my wife and best friend