#501• Antidote To Grim

 

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Well, it's looking pretty grim out there. Today it's overcast and foggy up through the valley.

 

But on the bright side it's the high season for mud lovers. This most recent wet snow and warming up will make a fine batch of the stuff for a variety of fun outdoor activities. Leg-lengthening-post-holing through the snow on walks across fields, ankle twisting and an occasional shock-busting surprise to the front end of vehicles trying to navigate this year's crop of potholes as our roads begin to yawn open.

 

In the meantime, here's one last pretty wintery scene to remember the good times by.

 

Antidote To Grim • 8" x 8" acrylic framed to 12" x 12" • $300

#500 • Winter Melt Down

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This winter I wore two down jackets skiing for three straight weeks. I've never done that before. The cold and wind finally got to me after all of these years. I got sick and then cranky, but was able to walk and then ski for an hour at first before my lungs mutinied and finally shut down, exhausted. But I got stronger every day. The battle against the elements became a lesson in fortitude and perseverance and how to muster up the resources necessary to continue to move forward.

It wasn't just the weather that caused all of the drama of course. A second set of resources was necessary as I witnessed our Democracy strain against the tide of injustice, pure greed and insanity. We all have our own way of dealing, but I chose to confront this the same way I did the weather - by figuring out how to protect myself first, and then and only then, stepping out to take a stand even if all I could bear was a minute a day. Because as I found out this winter, the weather wasn't going to moderate, but the resources to deal with it became more evident as I needed them.

For me, what's happening now is like taking classes in sociology, psychology, civics, law, history, finance, business, economics, cybersecurity, communications, etc. It's fascinating! I decided to make calls to Congress as issues arise until I pick my area of interest, gather with like-minded individuals for more resources, and figure out the most effective way to deal with the abomination that is the current administration.

Good luck out there!

Winter Melt Down • 8" x 8" acrylic framed to 12" x 12" • $300

#499 • Another Snowday in Maine

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Ah, the peace and quiet! 

It's another one of those beautiful monotone snowdays in Maine. Here where I am, it's a very elegant and silent antidote to the over stimulating whirl of events going on in the world today. Not a hint of wind though I hear the mountains are getting hit with some pretty big gusts.

Another Snowday in Maine • 8" x 8" acrylic framed to 12" x 12" • $300

#498 • Well Heck!

 

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Well heck! It's about time we saw some snow - it cleans and brightens things up nicely. 

It's been a very strange winter season up here. It's almost as if Mother Nature has been preparing us for what promises to be a very strange year and three ahead. Things will get very chaotic at times. We've seen the tip of the iceberg. But there always seems to be a balancing out eventually. 

Every action in nature - that includes us, instantaneously creates a reaction. In the case of winter, it's summer. Every problem instantaneously creates a solution. In the case of the chaos in Washington, we just don't see it yet, but Universal Law dictates that what is put out there gets walloped one hundred-fold back! Fingers crossed.

In the meantime, get involved. Create some action, make some calls.

Well Heck! • 8" x 8" acrylic framed to 12" x 12" • $300

 

#497 • Today We Find Our Own Peace

 

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I sat in my own peaceful place today.  I wanted to remember what it feels like, and what it looks like projected out there...today.

Today, Martin Luther King Jr. reminded me that there is still so much work to be done for civil rights. 

Today, flags flown at half mast in honor of President Jimmy Carter's passing reminded me that the most important work to be done is now a grassroots effort to simply put our best selves out there. 

Today, even the polar vortex that descended down upon our capitol on this inauguration day reminded me that it is our planet, not any man, holding the power that will always and ultimately have the last say.

Today We Find Our Own Peace • 8" x 8" acrylic framed to 12" x 12" • $300

#496 • Yeowza - It's Cold!

 

 

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Yep - it's been a tough winter up here. But January has been the toughest so far. Fortunately it's been too cold to rain, so we still have snow on the ground and on the mountain. 

The strange new phenomenon is the number of days of a continuous ferocious wind. I think we're on day eight now. It's an unforgiving, biting and bitter, ice cold wind. It reminds me of someone. But that's another story.

Yeowza - It's Cold • 8" x 8" acrylic framed to 12" x 12" • $300

#495 • A Peaceful Passage Through

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We have a herd of deer in our neighborhood. They traverse a field across the road, click and clack over the road and meander down the hill to our field where they will look for apples under our ancient trees or acorns along the oak lined river. Sometimes they will slip over the bank for a drink when the river isn't frozen. 

I used to think seeing them was pretty special until they discovered my broccoli one year and our cedar trees another. There was plenty for them to eat out there in the fields, in fact in everyone else's fields in the neighborhood, but they loved the broccoli and salad bar we inadvertently offered the best. So after fencing and hoop houses, they now pass peacefully through on the same path they've used long before we put up billboards for fast food, neither of us now in danger of becoming extinct.

I would hope that in the coming year we all have a peaceful passage through - and at least TRY to figure out how to co-exist with everyone and everything else on this planet. For many it begins by learning how to park inside the freakin lines of your freakin parking space.

Their Passage Through • 8" x 8" framed to 12" x 12" • $300