Bittersweet Autumn... A Time for Reflection

Evening Angelus, Combermere- Thursday, October 6th, 2011

Heads bowed in Grace

In this pastoral place-

Giving thanks for the plenty

In this beautiful space.

Two ol' Pals

Cavalcade of Colour at Brewer Lake

Brewer Lake Reflections.. Algonquin Park

View to the confluence of the York and Little Mississippi Rivers at The Conroy marsh

Oxtongue Rapids Inukshuk

Bittersweet Moment, Combermere- oil on canvas 11x14 inches

Madawaska Magic- oil on panel 12x16 inches

Summer always seems to be a time of hustle and bustle... a time where human activity mimics the energy and vitality of the natural world where human kind reside... work and play. Though it is long like winter as a season... it really almost seems to evaporate in one's mind. Where did the time go?... is a question in most of our minds. It seems that cottages were just opened... and that boats were just slid into the water... and the kids just got out of school for summer vacation.

These are the questions that surface in autumn... questions that again, I'm certain... are brought forward in the face of sudden changes in the natural world. As the summer warmth is stolen from us by the slyly approaching winter... as the myriad of lush summer greens are replaced by the flush of the tumultuous final fanfare of colour in our woodlands and hills... as the animal world shifts into high gear as hunter-gathering activity takes precedence over courting and play... we come to realize and become more attuned to the natural rhythm of the rapidly changing natural world, where we are but pawns in the chess game of life.

For those of us who have reached the "autumn" years of our own earthly journeys... autumn perhaps seems rich and vivid on one hand... yet saddening in another. "Bittersweet"... is the word that comes to mind for "me"... to best describe my own feelings. It is at this particular time that I pause to look across the breadth of my journey... recalling highlights and less pleasing moments... recalling changes that have evolved during the course of my journey... recalling friends and relationships that have enriched my own journey. Some of those... have passed on... though they were as young as I... way back when. Time is indifferent to the human term "fair"...

I choose to embrace and to bathe my Self in the blessings... the gifts that continue to sustain "Me"... those gifts that further enrich my life and offer renewed possibility. I choose to view the glass ... "as half full... rather than half empty. Autumn... for "Me"... the whole short season is about Thanks-giving! I am richly blessed!

While I was painting with Deb and my friends David and Diane at the century farm near Combermere, I roamed about... camera in hand as I customarily do for a break once in a while during a painting session and came across this natural and poignant still life created by some farm soul who shares my Faith and connection to Life. It will most certainly become a large painting in the studio down the road... but I wished to share the photo image with all of you today because it encapsulates my belief system so wonderfully about Life and our brief place in it.

I am... as well including the two sketches that I managed during our wonderful and unforgettable Algonquin Getaway-2011.

Rich blessings...Happy Autumn... and Good Painting to ALL!