My mom had a paramour decades ago whose name was Cosmo. She told me the story in my teens. They dated. He wanted to marry her. She stayed aloof explaining to me years later that they were from two different worlds. Cosmo was a trendy dresser, and a real gentleman. He was not my father. Mom and I are both gardeners. We tend the soil like we do discarded items, stray animals, lonesome strangers. Her love for cosmos has embedded in me a deep reverence for the lacy flower. Romantically listing on a mountainside or meadow. I plant them every year, harvest them when I am lucky, and think of mom and her admirer from the forties. My home was gifted with a vase of late season cosmos. Our guest bought them from the local flour/vegetable stand which exists on the honor system. You put your money in the wooden box and you take what pleases you. This guest in giving me a gift spoke joyfully of the sweetness of an honor system in the country. Only in North Carolina, she said. Let’s travel full circle. I am transfixed by these flowers – I can see them in my minds’ eye. But, I am not an artist. Or am I?

53 Paper is the app I spend the most time practicing. I sat in front of these flowers, fine-tuned my color palette, used the zoom tool and carefully crafted two blooms with precision. Their blossoming made me happy. I shared the creation with a friend and she, equally transfixed by the flower, took the stylus and did the same. Hers were brush strokes, free and flowing, evocative and light. Wow! Look at this SketchNoting, Doodling, VisualNotetaking app in its infancy to a learner. These flowers tell a story. Each individual creates the image as their own expression. Each digital artifact holds its own truth and the artist has a new avenue for leaving their mark. How wonderful for students.