I have officially gotten more tattoos (two) than haircuts (one) since March.

(Sidebar: If you’ve been to a tattoo parlor, you know the good ones were some of the most sanitized places you could go, even before the pandemic. Getting a tattoo is not a zero-risk situation, but with everyone in masks and no more than 6 people in the whole building, I feel okay about it for occasional careful visits.)

A few weeks ago, my grandmother Hazel had a serious fall. It landed her in a hospital (where they discovered she had double-fractured her sacrum) and later in a rehab facility.

There is little I can do to support her from Colorado, and a trip home to Ohio does not feel possible under the circumstances.

A year or so ago, I asked her what tattoo she thought I should get some day. She said “something Halloween-y,” a season we both adore. My getting a tattoo obviously has no impact on her recovery, but I thought it might give us both something to smile about once she was out of rehab (which she is, though there’s still a long road ahead for her and my family in Ohio).

While I love Halloween to pieces, I prefer the kitschy vintage side to the scary side. I think Hazel does too. I chose a design (suggested by me, executed by Cambria) with a timeless, vintage vibe.

When I showed up to have it colored in, I expected: black for cat, orange for pumpkin. Bada bing, bada boom. This is why you let the experts handle it: Cambria had no fewer than four colors planned for the pumpkin alone, to create that beautiful ombre effect and give the pumpkin more dimension. She’s brilliant, I tell you.

My grandmother did not have access to her computer while she was in the rehab facility, and she told me that as soon as she gets settled (and once she can, you know, sit upright without intense pain) she looks forward to checking in on my blog. I’m excited to have something here that might make her smile.

Earlier tattoo pictures and stories:
My pandemic tattoo: the quail (September 2020)
Baba Yaga’s house in color (January 2020)
Baba Yaga’s house, line work (December 2019)
Nesting doll (August 2019)
Cuckoo clock, color (April 2019) 
Finch and satellite (February 2019)
Cardinal (November 2018)
Cuckoo clock, line work (September 2018)
Lavender and key (August 2018)