I grew up in a house with many windows. It sat on a hill and the forest came right into our backyard. Sometimes, in the very early morning, I could see a lake of fog in the valley below my house.
The bedroom I shared with my younger sister, Peregrine, had bunk beds. I always slept in the top bunk and I could see out the window into the forest. A robin built her nest on the ledge outside every spring. On the windowsill, Peri and I lined up the nests, feathers, birds and small animal bones we found in the forest.
We were country girls and we spent a lot of time playing outside. We liked to read and play ‘dress up’ and we were both fascinated by animals. We collected tiny, china animals, plush stuffed animals and real animals. We had a couple of dogs and Peri had hamsters, guinea pigs, many mice and rats, two large pet pigs and even a small alligator named Lurch. Peri grew up to be an exotic animal veterinarian and I grew up to observe and draw animals.
Mazza owns art from Goody O’Grumpity written by Carol Ryrie Brink, A Year of Birds written by Isabel Wilner, A Garden Alphabet written by Isabel Wilner, and The Wild Little Horse by Rita Gray.