Key West offers far too many galleries to cover in one visit, but two days of gallery-hopping revealed several that knocked my socks off! All of them have websites, so you can virtually hop along.

Today I experienced the first of two "simulations"--position and marking for future radiation--followed by a CT--Cat--scan. I dreaded the first but not the second, and as often happens, I had my anxieties reversed.

Today I began my portrait project, beginning with myself, who will not be offended by blotches and run-ons and strange lines. This my first attempt, done freehand with a brush, much to my surprise actually looks like me.

I loved escaping Michigan zero-degree weather to play in the sun in Florida. The beaches were full of happy people, some of whom even swam, but not this early in the morning. At this hour most were drinking coffee, walking with friends, riding bicycles on the sidewalk, jogging.

"Drop everything and follow Sarah Canary," suggests a New Yorker reviewer, and I concur. What an incredibly imagined historical novel, combining fiction with nonfiction essays describing such extraordinary incidents during the post-Civil War years that the wild stories that follow seems almost tame in comparison.

This novel about breast cancer, friendship between women, and the seaside at Glouchester, Massachusetts, reads well but does not ring true for me on all those levels.

Two weeks in the sun and discovering bright fabulous Key West artists has me itching to get painting and writing again. I am far behind on my blogging and read many books so it will take time to catch up.