Are you like me? Do you miss some things about our pre-COVID life? For example, going out to restaurants and having a nice meal surrounded by people. Or what about just sitting at a cafe and sipping a decaf latte while people watching and journaling and also surrounded in a crowd. For me, I also miss going to my favorite dance exercise class with my friends and strolling through Laguna Beach with tons of people around me… and feeling alone and still connected to the world.  I can count a few more but there is one thing that I have not been missing yet ... it is being squeezed in a middle seat on a plane during one of my pre-COVID business trips...

This painting was created just when I returned from one of those business trips during which I was sitting on a United flight to Boston in one of those seats. Typically I used to pick the exit row for my flights because it was nice and comfy... unfortunately that flight from LAX to Logan was overbooked and I was squished like a sardine in a middle seat without much room... flying seemed miserable back then...However, as I was agonizing over my airplane annoyance, I was looking outside the window and it was just heaven. It was early evening and the sun was just beginning to set over the light blue sky. The sun was still peering through the scattered clouds that we were flying through. The beauty was just amazing and my middle seat didn’t seem so bad anymore... this time and place became my "Cosmic Lagoon".

What are you missing and not missing from the pre-COVID days?