Watercolor Journaling by Oh Be Joyful

I am about to go out for a walk with Joe. We plan on stopping at the local coffee shop, and on a bleak, cold day like this one, it will be welcome to sit having a cup of latte.

I have been working on my watercolour journal. I am doing some Native Amercian watercolours and writing about my experiences teaching in Arizona. I don't know if I mentioned it, but I took a year's hiatus and went to Arizona to teach English on the Navajo Reservation. It was one of my most memorable experiences, and Monument Valley was amazingly beautiful. I was not very happy back then. I was in a very bad marriage, and so the experience was marred a bit because of that. The Indians accepted me rather quickly...I think one reason was that I told them that my parents were holocaust survivors, and the other reason was that I had read a lot about the Indians, knew a lot of their cultures and traditions, and made a point of being very knowledgeable of their ways of life before I went there, and that was appreciated. I did learn a lot though. I was given the name "Oh Be Joyful", and that is because they wanted to see me happy, and I wasn't. I was happy teaching the Indian children, and I fell in love with Arizona, but I guess that there was always a sad look in my eyes, at least that is what they said, even though I always had a smile for each and every one of them.

On the day, that I left, I went to say goodbye to the chief....He took my hand and thanked me, and the look in his eyes, I will never forget. He said to me , " Be happy one day, Oh Be Joyful."

I wish that I could go back, so they could see the happiness in my eyes. Also, Joe would love the spiritual beauty of Arizona. Though it is very different from Donegal County, both have that special magic about them.

I will be making a few Native American watercolour paintings for my art journal. It was nice thinking back on my experiences and some of the things that I learned there.