Mushrooms are pretty rare in our desert yard, so when 2 popped up recently I painted 1 of them for my Perpetual Journal. I don’t know the species so I just called it a Mystery Mushroom!
Not long after I painted this PJ entry, one of the mushrooms fell over and dried up, and the other one disappeared(!). And yes, in 2024 we’re seeing lots of Crane Flies hanging out on our patio just as we did in 2023. I recently counted 16 on our patio!
🟤🟠 A Comment on Color Coordination
You may have noticed that the two Perpetual Journal illustrations I painted this year and last year for my Mar. 12-18 page are nicely color-coordinated, with rust, tan, and black colors.
I didn’t plan this—it was purely accidental! I create each week’s Perpetual Journal entry based on what piques my interest and/or is the most unusual (like the mushrooms), making sure I haven’t already painted that subject in my Perpetual Journal.
My Perpetual Journal page for Feb. 19-25 also featured some accidental color coordination, with the orange color of the newly emerged Queen Butterfly matching pretty closely to the yellow-orange color of the Mexican Poppy that just popped its top.
📖 Jane Goodall Book Nook
Jane Goodall is one of my heroes due to her groundbreaking work studying and protecting chimpanzees and for inspiring people to conserve our natural world! In honor of her 90th birthday (which was yesterday, April 3) I have 3 recommendations of books I’ve read recently that are about and/or by Jane Goodall.
The Book of Hope: a Survival Guide for Trying Times by Jane Goodall
With all the current negative world events including our climate crisis, wars, and politics, it can be hard to feel optimistic. In this book Jane focuses on her Four Reasons for Hope: The Amazing Human Intellect, The Resilience of Nature, The Power of Young People, & The Indomitable Human Spirit, and addresses questions including: How do we stay hopeful when everything seems hopeless?Primates: the Fearless Science of Jane Goodall, Dian Fossey, and Biruté Galdikas by Jim Ottaviani & Maris Wicks
This graphic novel tells the stories of three great primatologists of the last century: Jane Goodall, Dian Fossey, and Biruté Galdikas. All three women were students of Louis Leakey, the paleoanthropologist whose fossil discoveries greatly contributed to our knowledge of humans’ early ancestors.Me…Jane by Patrick McDonnell
This inspiring children’s book, suitable for ages 1-111, is beautifully written and illustrated by Patrick McDonnell (creator of the Mutts comic strip). It’s the story of a young Jane Goodall and her childhood toy chimpanzee named Jubilee. As a girl, Jane observed the natural world around her and dreamed of "a life living with and helping all animals"—a dream that obviously came true!
Note: Two of these links take you to the Pima County (AZ) Public Library. Even if this isn’t your library, these links provide more information about the books. I’m a big fan of libraries and encourage you to look for these books at your own local library!
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I love that you linked to a library. I’m on that same Library Lovin’ team.