Sidetracked Charley

End of Days 16 x 30 Watercolor on Canvas $1200 One day you are strolling along through your life making plans with your sister for a Maine vacation. Biggest worry is how to find someone to watch your house and your pets while you are away for two weeks. Since I am the house and pet sitter in my neighborhood that is a big enough problem. But then the pandemic hits and trip is cancelled. Problem solved? That problem at least. Studio is closed down by governor but the pet sitting business is booming. Especially Dog Gone Park play days. But the lockdown from the pandemic presents its own problems, but a new business line - masks. But everyday I worry about my sister who is on the front lines at a Texas hospital. We talk almost every day to relieve her stress. I learn things I did not need to know which add to my stress. News media begins to focus on stress from the pandemic. Having once had a very stressful job I know what to do. I dig out the old journal with my list compiled after my fat...

Life Finds a Way   My sister, the nurse who has worked this pandemic, says no. But this Thursday there was a glimmer of hope. The CDC said those of us who had received both vaccines and made it past the two week max antibody development marker could go without masks. Outdoors or indoors in less than max capacity situations but maybe not maintaining social distancing go barefaced into this brave new world. For me the news hit just as I was getting dressed to meet with other artists to decide if we could actually have an art season. I paused in my search for a mask (one of hundreds I made during this last year) to match my outfit. I did not abandon it but put it in my jacket pocket just in case. You never know. But I had decided to attend this event because I knew everyone who would likely be attending. They were all vaccinated. I had been keeping track on posts in social media. Our numbers are always small so it would not be packed. They would all be respectful of others. And if I a...

  It is easy in March and April in New Mexico to blame the weather. And since March 2020 it has been really easy to blame the pandemic. For four years we could blame Trump. And since January 6, 2021 we can still blame Trump and his trumpsters. But I was raised to not whine. And blaming someone or something is whining. But I am going to whine. I am going to blame perhaps all of the above, except for weather, on the failure to acquire a washer and dryer for my vacation rental. I had one ordered from Home Depot. I had one ordered for delivery March 24th. They delivered to Albuquerque. Would take two more weeks to get a refund. Drove to Lowe's in Espanola and bought a set double charging the credit card hoping for the stimulus check and/or Home Depot refund before payment was required. They could not deliver until this last Thursday. But because of Governor's way of opening or shutting down whole counties Lowe's could not install due to the 16 new cases in Raton two hours away ...

  Not gone away. Locked away. Not locked down for all that time. If varies with the numbers. Or now the colors. I think we were green but now are yellow. I remember all the colors after 9/11. That was based on security threat level. These are based on number of new Covid-19 cases. Does anyone care anymore? Or is it like the Texan who bought two of my photographic giclee prints on canvas, "People will do what they will do." That is certainly true in Texas. Trouble is they also do it in New Mexico regardless of what our color is at the moment. "One fish, two fish. Red fish, Blue fish," is that one of the Dr. Seuss books pulled by the family because of subliminal racism? And isn't racism in the eye of oppressed? And in this whole theme of lifting up the oppressed we seem to forget women still do not have equal rights, and in this year of Covid-19 they have lost the most jobs and their career paths to home school. The number counting, the locking away of our seniors...

On the Edge 30 x 18 Mixed Media on Canvas $1350           I began the Dark Times Journal when Trump was sworn in as president pretend of our country but years before I began my End of Days series of paintings which continues one by one to be added to. I believe our country, our world, our earth could end. We are on a cusp and the outcome is not certain.     But the human species cannot live without hope. Even if it is just for tomorrow. We go to sleep believing we will wake up even on days we might desire not to. Yesterday I opted for hope in a longer future. I have decided to move forward on plans, some from before Covid, some from just yesterday.      I have ordered seed for next year's garden season, but concentrated on seeds which I could grow in the studio in case there is not a summer. And I have been developing a plan for the redo of the hoop house. Part of the collapse problem was the pvc pipe which forms the hoops is past i...

Peaceful Co-existence When in Rome do as the Romans do, was one of the earliest pieces of advice I can remember clearly. It had multiple versions and adaptations, from always treat the property of others better than your own to you are a guest here so behave as one and If you don't like the rules you do not have to play. Later in my rebellious youth I questioned the rules but quickly found I had the best success when I fit in with my audience or when in Rome once again. I have always behaved as a guest when travelling to new places. After all isn't travel about learning new cultures as well as taking 505 selfies before landmarks? You definitely never litter, you are always polite, you engage the locals in conversations not lecture them on your opinions of how things should be run, you never bring a boom box to a high mountain meadow or keep your cell phone on during a concert. Above all life works best if you follow the laws and rules of where you are at. And if you...

Spring break is over early. All the ski areas in my state were urged to close after Colorado, our neighbor to the north, shut down and every skier seemed to be heading south to invade our state for more skiing. To say that residents here panicked might be overstating it. But it isn't far from the truth. There was definitely a shift in our attitude to the negative. And got worse after reports were that all the visitors were emptying our grocery store and loading their SUV's to go back to Texas. I found hope later when a post on social media said to limit personal contact to those you know and are familiar with. And with all the strangers leaving it meant my community was back. And it was as if someone gave me permission to meet with friends mana y mana.  And soon one friend emailed me to say her cell phone service had been erroneously shut off. Could she come and use my phone? Yes. And then another wondered if I had butcher paper. Yes. And the sun came out and we stood on ...