Yes, you’re right—if you’ve even noticed—that this space has been neglected for some weeks now, and it has been hard to figure out where and how to jump back in.
Life in this setting is quite tame and rather bland, though it is comfortable, safe and convenient and I am grateful to be here, under the same roof with wife Ann who has now been in Memory Care for seven months.
You might remember that we left Floyd County, Virginia in September of 2024 to enter a retirement community here in Columbia, Missouri when our son’s family moved back here, which determined the destination of our necessary and final relocation.
Especially now as cold-wind shut-ins, we frail and susceptible elders don’t get out much, so the photographic topics I have enjoyed sharing with readers over the years will have to wait a few terribly long winter months to come out from hibernation.
Meanwhile, under the roof here, I have re-entered an art class I was not able to sustain when responsible for wife Ann.
The class is currently exploring pastels as a medium and I quite like its immediacy and simplicity compared to oils or water color (both of which I suppose I will attempt with trepidation and the teacher’s advice and support.)
PAINTING MY MEMORIES
I especially like the idea of celebrating favorite photos (of favorite places or moments) as subjects for any future art I might attempt.
This was a memorable image taken our first winter after we moved up out of the deep Goose Creek valley to the vast vistas of Rock Hill near the town of Floyd. This image marks the farthest southern tilt of the sun before the days began to lengthen towards our first Rock Hill spring.
I learn something with every mistake and so I learned quite a lot with this first effort. I should not have revealed the original since the attempt to reproduce it shows how far I have to go yet.
The facility has a nice art room downstairs that is open 24 hours a day, fully loaded with all the media, paper and such for use by residents like me. This is an image from the first PASTELS class, where the teacher started with a not-so-simple shape of a sycamore leaf and brought it to life.
GETTING TO KNOW AND TO BE KNOWN
Meanwhile, I had the opportunity at “Hobby Day” a few weeks ago to share my books and 25 photo-note cards with residents and visitors along with quite a few other hobbyists who displayed and/or sold their works in wood, wool or clay.
I had hoped that this first-time display of the things that had been central in my former life would connect me through conversations with fellow-residents (especially guys) who might wander by my table, and create a bridge towards new relationships. Not so much. But at least a few passers-by now know that I was once a writer and photographer in my distant former life, for what it’s worth.
Also, in the tradition of the place, I have some doorway adornment at my apartment door—a total of ten of my cards, and a few framed photos as well, to distinguish my cubicle from others here in the Borg.
So maybe it will not be so long between this long-overdue post and the next one. Though it will be a very long time before cabin fever gives way to the rebirth that spring will offer. Bring it on!
– Fred First is an author, naturalist, photographer watching Nature under siege since the first Earth Day. Cautiously hopeful. Writing to think it through. Thanks for joining me. Subscribe to My Substack HERE.
