Acts of Kindness

Small acts of kindness rank big in my books. Our 12 year old friend made this card for my husband's birthday and hand-delivered it to our mailbox. Although it was for my hubby, it made my week.

One Sunday in church, my six year old friend and her four year old sister sat next to me. I drew in my sketchbook and they drew on church bulletins. When they started to get a little restless, I traced their hands in my sketchbook. After church, the six year old raced off to a craft room and later presented me with this tracing of her hand. I love the op effect. When I got home, I imitated her technique in my "home" sketchbook. Influence is a circle.

My uncle has a Chortitza oak planted on his property. When he learned that I am looking for Chortitza oak leaves for a project, he mailed me this cluster in a large envelope. No note. My uncle is a kind and considerate man of few words. This thoughtful act made my week.

Years ago, I had a subscription to Uppercase but I found that the inks made me sick, so I put them on a shelf and didn't renew. I dug out my stack in May and found that they had off-gassed, so in my quest for a complete set, I bought a pile of back issues from Mixed Media. The only one that I couldn't find anywhere (not even in Europe) was issue #12 and the Uppercase website indicated that it was sold out. My husband travels to Calgary occasionally and his office is close to Uppercase. He popped in one day and lo and behold they had one on the shelf. It's a great issue, but the inks still need to off-gas a bit before I spend a lot of time with it. They must have switched inks because the newer issues smell fine, so I renewed my subscription.

While at Uppercase, my hubby also picked this up for me. I know, I know, he is amazing!

Finally, while we were in Copenhagen I was on the look out for envelopes with unfamiliar security patterns. I found a bundle of 50 in Stelling in the Strøget area. The bundle was too large for my suitcase, so I asked if I could buy just one. The manager said that it would be too much work to figure out the cost, so he gave me an envelope and refused payment of any kind. I did not expect such kindness and generosity, especially since my husband and I had been warned numerous times not to expect courtesy in Copenhagen. The best acts of kindness are the ones that you don't expect.