#155 – Tuesday, June 10th

Our Eucalyptus trees are exfoliating. Paper-thin remnants of bark, bi-products of the tree’s expansion cover everything, creating the illusion of disaster. It’s a yearly event impossible to keep in front of. This annual ritual of raking up  debris coincides with constant triple digit days, allowing me the pleasure of plying one of my most facile talents. Master gardener. While the list of flora succumbing to my gift is legion, I take to heart the maxim of try, try, and try again. One immutable truism I’ve learned from my experiments . . . when my prickly pear cacti start to sag . . . it’s time to water. I did and promptly forgot. Hours later I happened to look out the window, and a huge puddle had taken over the walkway to the front door. But the puddle wasn’t the magic. The magic was a group of birds, a dozen or more playing in the makeshift pond. Flapping of wings, rubbing faces in the shallow waters, prancing about as if on holiday. Amazing. I’d hoped to capture the group in play but off they went, the exception is here . . . moments before flight.

Two of my paintings are included in a exhibition of gallery artists at Perimeter Gallery, Chicago. The show “Black and White” includes work by Gordon Powell and Don Pollack. The exhibition runs through July 5th. If you happen to find yourself in the Windy City, please stop by Perimeter for a look.

Thanks for reading.

Charles