hope and crickets

i heard the sound of crickets last evening for the first time since last year. 

to be more specific, i heard one lone cricket, and then about a block or so later, a second lone cricket.  there is something about their sound that makes me so happy.

today i experimented with drawing a cricket (thus, the "hope" part of the title, as it was only the second day since i broke my wrist (mid-june) that i began to feel i was getting better.  more about that later...

here is the very silly result--the first sketch is a cartoon cricket (from the jiminy cricket species), and the second one only a tad more realistic.  both were done from youtube videos that i found when i typed in "how to draw a cricket."

OF COURSE, NO REAL CRICKET IS COLORED LIKE THIS. I WAS USING MY RAINBOW LEAD PENCIL TO DRAW IT, AND THEN WENT OVER IT WITH A BLACK MICRON 01.

below is my contribution to IAST 209 (the "it's a string thing" challenge).  i was so happy to feel well enough to try this tonight.  this makes two days of less swelling and pain,  i'm almost afraid to feel hopeful, but i'm going with it tonight!

Tangle: Spoken. Gold Gelly Roll Metallic pen on black tile, with white prismacolor highlights.