Whatever it was… I’ve forgotten

When despair for the world grows in me
and I wake in the night at the least sound
in fear of what my life and my children’s lives may be,
I go and lie down where the wood drake
rests in his beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds.
I come into the peace of wild things
who do not tax their lives with forethought
of grief. I come into the presence of still water.
And I feel above me the day-blind stars
waiting with their light. For a time
I rest in the grace of the world, and am free.

– Wendell Berry (1934 – )

Asphodel is the last of five paintings I delivered this afternoon to the IO Gallery for their Girls, Girls, Girls show that opens next Saturday.  I was in a bit of a tizzy this morning putting the finishing touches on two paintings and getting all five wired for hanging, but I made the wise decision to take a break and go for a long walk with my dog Heidi.  It was just beginning to get hot, but we stayed mostly under the canopy of trees that line the road where we live and it was perfectly lovely.  We saw birds and squirrels and chipmunks and butterflies and bees and even heard our resident red-winged hawk screeching overhead… and by the time we got home, my agitation had vanished, forgotten.

If you live anywhere in the area of Cornwall Bridge, CT, please stop by for the opening reception of Girls,Girls, Girls on June 14 from 5 – 7 pm. I would love to see you! The show runs through July 20.