ode to clean water

8 x 8, 

oil on canvas

May has been a lesson in appreciating clean water. The month began with flood waters that engulfed our front yard and ultimately the lower level of our home. I quickly learned the meanings of water classifications 2 and 3 (potentially contaminated with microbes) which translates to hours of trashing anything and everything deemed "porous": carpet, hardwood floors, bookshelves, walls up to four feet, as well as furniture, toys, games, and yes, even a few paintings. A few days later, while this part of the country continued to dried out, I left for the Charlotte workshop, followed by a family trip to the Gulf of Mexico... a vacation we had planned weeks before. And we were lucky. The beaches were not yet closed, the days were crisp and clear, and yet heavy with the impending dread of what was to come. So on this day when we honor our veterans and celebrate the beginning of summer, my heart goes out to all the lovely people (and wildlife) of the Gulf shores whose lives (and livelihoods) have been, or will be affected by this environmental nightmare. 

"A lake is the landscape's most beautiful and expressive feature. 

 It is earth's eye; looking into which the beholder measures the depth of his own nature." 

 ~Henry David Thoreau