Poof!

All things considered, is it possible that a person can simply Poof! and become invisible for a while? Sometimes I do that, but more often I'm like a cuckoo clock, coming and going...flitting away then back again quickly. Anyway, this last Poof lasted months without art making or blogging. But here I am ready to roll and write again.

I know I'm not the only one who can readily pull off a good Poof, but afterwards I am so hard on myself. While my momentum slips, my inner critic scolds me for taking time out. I'm betting that you do the same thing. Well, what if you and I consider this: bright and glorious garden perennials do not berate themselves for taking a long nap after an energetic season. By the middle of January they may be dormant, but they're not questioning, "How dare I take the Winter off when these people could use a garden full of color right about now!" Instead they instinctively use that time to recover and recharge for a new season. Besides, we only surmise that they are resting when, in fact, their deepest roots are still growing.

Granted, my time out from blogging started for a good reason. At the end of life-changing Summer travels, I rushed home to pitch in after my darling 89 yr. old mom, Sunny, took a really bad fall. As "Sunny" as she is (yes, that is her name), she lost some of her mojo. And I did, too. Although I learned a long time ago to expect the unexpected, I didn't expect this one, especially for her. Our amazing family all rallied 'round and now Sunny is fine. She is a corker. My sisters and I hope it's genetic.

So there I was, just coming off idyllic weeks in gypsy artist mode. During July and August, all I had done was drift in my little car from harbor to harbor and on every New England road less traveled I could find. And played with my grandchildren. Back in Colorado, it took me weeks to finally unpack the art mobile. But, since I'm good at Poofing, I quickly repacked it and set off for the "Plein Air Paint Out!" in Steamboat Springs. Up one unspeakably beautiful canyon and down the next, across high plateaus ringed with expansive Rocky Mountain vistas and through the tiny town called Walden. Then down into the lush Yampa River Valley. Really, how blessed could I be? it's been a long winter, but in retrospect, a perennial attitude helps me strengthen my own deeper tap root and be ready to create and accept what comes next.

Painting by Paul Cezanne of "Italian Woman at Table". ca 1895-1900.