A PATIENT HUSBAND is a 7x5 pastel on PastelBord. Bidding begins at $100.
I haven't been writing lately because I haven't been able to think of anything to say. Not sure why exactly. I've been busy, but not unusually busy. Distracted, but not unusually distracted. Seems my mind has been unusually blank though.
Yesterday, after church, my husband, Ben, and I loaded up our bikes in the back of his pickup truck, and drove to meet my brother-in-law, Joe, to ride the Silver Comet Trail, a paved bike path on the old abandoned railroad lines in northwest Georgia. We rode the path from Rockmart, along rushing creeks and past quiet subdivisions and freshly mown hayfields, uphill, downhill, meandering and forgetting all but the beauty of the day . The gold and orange fall colors reminded me of those old periodicals I saw in Dentist offices as a child (can anybody recall the title?), full of color photos of idyllic rural scenes: churches in the snow or autumn landscapes, always with inspiring poetry or prose. When I tried reminding Ben and Joe about those books, which I'm sure everybody grew up with, they looked at me blankly and Ben said, "Boys didn't read those things. We used to read National Geographic." "We used to read Playboy," Joe added, "for the same reason." They both nodded in agreement.
I'll never figure out why men and women are so different.
With a few hours left in the day, Ben and I drove an hour north to a friend's barn, where we sat quietly, him with a rifle, me with a camera, hoping a deer would emerge. We always thought it'd be a great thing to do together. I could shoot all the raptors he's always telling me about--owls, falcons, hawks, kites; he could hunt. I could be creative, he could be a man. But we learned all too quickly that this just would not work. We forgot how much noise a camera makes when you click the shutter.
Which has absolutely nothing to do with todays picture. The picture is from a doll show I attended recently with a friend. I always feel so fondly toward the men I see attending these sorts of functions.
Beautiful painting! Is the magazine you mentioned called "IDEALS MAGAZINE?" I seem to remember that one having gorgeous photos.
ReplyDeleteHi Margaret, great idea to immortalize a patient husband -- especially looking at dolls!
ReplyDeleteThe books I'm recalling were called "Ideals Book of Thanksgiving," and another of Christmas -- there was probably one for Easter, too, but I don't remember ever seeing that one.
During my childhood, we received the Christmas book every year from a family friend, and I was always so excited to look at the photos. I saved them with our National Geographics but never had a Playgirl in that pile.
Carol (Kanga)
That was it! ideals! Thank you!
ReplyDeleteLove the painting. Captures the 'patient husband' to a 'T'. Also the raptors are grateful for the clicking of your camera, I'm sure. Another day to fly the skies.
ReplyDeleteI sure hope it didn't sound like I was going to use a gun to shoot the raptors. My D80 is a camera. I love watching the large birds soar, and so rarely do I get a chance to see them close up, I'd get a better chance seeing them out in the countryside.
ReplyDeleteI actually feel sad for the deer when Ben hunts; they're so beautiful. Almost mystical. But he doesn't hunt merely for sport; we live on venison all year long. Rarely do we ever have to purchase beef from the grocery store.
It took me a while to get used to it--I'm a city girl through and through. But I feel we're actually being more humane this way, now that I can get past my irrational biases.