Allergy-Ville: Rocky Edition

The saga of vertigo continues. It's not as bad as it was, but it is still rearing up its "ugly little head." The Prednisone has not stopped it..but antihistamines seem to be doing the trick. Lots of antihistamines. To that end, I can sit around and do nothing...or I can play. We had a beautiful afternoon. I felt pretty good. I found my cache of smooth, clean,  river rocks that I've been collecting for years and I painted four of them.

You have to understand something first and foremost: I am not an artist. I can crochet with the best of them, but when it comes to painting anything, I'm pretty talent-free. This lack of talent does not stop me from painting rocks, because my goal is to have fun, not create the Sistine Chapel of Painted Rockiness.

Today I tackled four little rocks. I tried a pointillist approach, which I call "aboriginal art" and happily tapped tiny bits of color on my rocks. It was so much fun. I did not have a pattern to follow. I did not have an idea where I was going. I was putting tiny dots of colored paint on a background. Pure fun.

In case you are wondering, I have now officially entered the cadre of "dotty old rock painters" and I love my membership status. Painting rocks is relaxing, creative, fun and a good way to forget that vertigo might start up again. There are not many rules but there are some guidelines.  First off you need to find the perfect rocks and collect them. That's part of the fun. Sometimes they are in riverbeds; sometimes in parking lots but once you belong to the cadre, you're allowed to hunt anywhere for smooth rounded rocks with a good painting surface. Next step is to wash them as soon as you get home. You can't paint dirty rocks and you can't paint wet rocks. So wash them right away to have them ready when rock painting mode tickles your fancy. Of course you have to have paint. I use acrylics in tiny jars and acrylic pens. Then you put paint to rock, mix in your imagination and you're off to becoming a member of the dotty cadre of rock painters. Give it a try. Remember, we're all in this together.