Evening Shade

We're at the edge of Autumn.  The windows are open and the evening air hints at what's to come.  The leaves toward the top of the Sugar Maples are starting to tinge with color.  The golden rod has turned a bright Indian Yellow which means we're about six weeks from the first frost.  The field corn surrounding the house is drying nicely and rustles with the slightest breeze.

The farmer who owns the fields all around us varies the crops year after year, but this year it's corn. I like it when it's a "corn" year.  The field corn stalks top out at about 7 feet. Because of their height it gives the perception of isolation even with the nearest lateral neighbor being several acres away.

Most of my life has been lived in a rural setting.  The college years and a half-decade or so afterwards were in different metropolitan areas.  It amounted to a decade of anxiety and nervousness. Nothing against city life, but it didn't really suit.  Nowadays I may have to work in a city, but I don't have to live there.  I'm happy to visit, but also happy to leave.  I'm not much of a "people" person so it's best.

My high-school self, as full of himself as he was, thought it best to head out at first opportunity.   I suppose everyone needs to go out and experience what it is you think you're looking for.  I did relish the journey along with the dents and dings. They make for colorful stories, but now seem like a work of fiction.   Once I realized the dousing rod was pointing toward a different wellhead, I found the pattern and pace that fit was the one I left from.  It's nature's pace I follow now.

This piece is called "Evening Shade."  A nod toward a TV series from the early '90's whose main theme was the appeal of small-town life.  It's a Tree Swallow done in acrylic on a topographic map of the Birdsall, NY area mounted to a 5 X 7 wood panel.