Yesterday I had an extra few hours on my hands as my visit with Bryce was cut short due to him having a headache. So, I decided to take the long way home. After a hectic week, it was lovely… I wanted to share it with you.
This farm can be found on Rt 22, just west of Circleville. I've driven past it in all seasons of the year and in all types of weather conditions. It always looks beautiful to me. Often there are brown and black horses grazing in the pasture in the foreground, and there is a pond as well--all seen from the main road and as I drive past acres of crops in the summertime, I think of what it must be to live on a farm like this. To grow up or grow old there.
After our visit, I dropped Bryce off in Washington Court House and drove eastward, back down Rt 22, to take his friend to her home. I stopped, though, to take a photo of this barn. The paint is weathered now, but during the Ohio Bientennial in 2003 it was fresh and bright (see Pickaway County Bicentennial Barn) One barn in each county of our state was painted with this emblem. (See "Ohio Bicentennial Barns")
Today, after visiting the dentist, I finally felt up to a drive to visit my dear friend, David, who was so ill at Thanksgiving that he had to go into a Hospice House. He rallied, though, and after a week was able to return home, but due to the remote location of his home and other factors, he decided to close up his home and say yes to the kind offer of friends to live in their spare room for a time. He is doing so well; no need for a wheelchair or walker, and his memory and wit are back full force. We had a great lunch discussing books and politics. I showed him my Color Nook and we talked about Time magazine's latest article on "Singularity" and David's first trip to the opera at age 10, in NYC. His mother was a fascinating woman, the top female executive in advertising in the 1930s. After seeing the first opera performance his mother asked him if he liked it. "Oh yes!" was his reply. "Would you like to go back tonight?" And that day, March 12, 1937 (I believe he said), my friend, as a child saw two performances at the Metropolitan Opera. A dressage horseman, an interior decorator, a playhouse manager, hospice volunteer, and WWII veteran; he has been a wonderful friend to me since we met twelve years ago.
Today, as we were driving back from the little dive of a lunchenette, we were listening to beautiful classical music and David said, "I know now what is sacred." "What?" I asked. "Life," he answered. "Life is sacred." And then we talked about him attending services at Chartres Cathedral in France, a building I have only read about in art history class years ago. And in this man, this friend, I realized how much those in their 80s and 90s have to share with us. If we'll only take a drive, share a lunch, ask a question, and listen to the answer.
Here are photos from my drive today. An now I must return to work, as, thankfully, the dentist feels the infection in my face IS healing (after 4.5 weeks) and I must just allow more time for the healing to take place). I am going to believe that, take the rest of the super-antibiotics, and keep taking, and drawing, pictures!
NOTE: For links to storm information, scroll down to the bottom of this post.
Well, if dogs could have a look on their face that says "I told you so" ...
Here's a personal timeline at our home here in Athens, Ohio, which is also the home of Lucky Press LLC (publisher) and Janice Phelps LLC (design). Four tornadoes touched down in Athens County last night, and 2 in nearby Meigs County.
7:30 a.m. Thursday, Sept. 15, 2010:
I'm on the couch with the laptop writing and checking FB ). I hear thunder in the distance, know that Jackie our Chihuahua will not want to go outside in it, so decide to get them up early to get out before the rain hits.
7:30-11:00: Tyler and Jackie spend all morning huddled with me on the couch while I work on websites, work on illustration sketches, work on novel, check Facebook. We have a direct look out huge window to our beautiful woods and everything is gray, rainy, and wet. I love it--great day for creative work.
11:00-5:30: working on computer
5:30 - 6:30 p.m. I am on the phone with a publisher, oblivious to weather.
6:30 p.m. We turn the news on and hear reports of storm cells and a "hook" design in the system that looks dangerous. The area between Lancaster and Athens is in danger of tornadoes. I call our elderly friend, David, in nearby Logan (home of the beautiful Hocking Hills) and tell him to stay down on his first floor (he has no TV).
Now, here's where the canine wisdom comes in. Tyler (9-year-old Pekingnese) wants to sit right up against me, behind me on the kitchen chair. Jackie (7-year-old Chihuahua) is hiding under the table, taking a break from wondering why I haven't drawn her Autumn Season illustration yet. Farley just wants our food. After dinner (or more accurately, "supper"), Mark goes off for his ONE HOUR on the treadmill (are you impressed, because I certainly am!) and I wonder how, once again , I can sit on the couch while my husband works so valiently to stay fit.
I pull out exercise mat from its demanding place neara TV, turn on on-demand Parenthood episdoes I never saw when televised, and lie on the floor attempting pathetic "crunches." (
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