Hello,

As we head into another September here is a painting featuring a memory from last September.

The oldest girl and I had made an emergency visit to the vet in town as our brown dummy had eaten who-knows-what and was sick as a, well, dog. On the way back the poor boy had the runs in our car. We had prepared for that possiblity but it was pretty nasty nonetheless and he was clearly humiliated on top of feeling poorly. So, continueing on our drive after a lengthy clean-up we decided to make another stop to get some air and try to salvage a bit of the afternoon.

We turned off to Locals Beach – blissfully empty at this time of the year. The sky was that immaculate blue you only seem to get in early autumn, with the yellow of the aspens bouncing right off of it. We sat on the dock for a bit, not saying much but just enjoying it together. Poor Gary seemed to perk up as well. On the drive back up the turn-off dirt road I stopped the car and got out at a sun-filled field bordered by aspens. It was so incredibly bright and open I just couldn’t pass it up. This painting is from one of those images.

As I sit back and look at this painting today, I am thankful for a healthy dog and that chance to spend a quiet, beautiful moment with my girl – not to mention the bonding over a frantic highway -side cleanup stop with us both gagging and laugh-crying. This is always what this painting, nomatter where it ends up, is going to mean to me.