Back on My Feet

Looks Like Loosey. Oil on canvas, 11x14. To be donated to the Middletown, N.Y., animal shelter, as part of the Art for Shelter Animals Project.

I've been down with something that thankfully was not the flu, but flattened me nonetheless. Now, Peter has it. I am hopeful that the people in my pet-painting workshop didn't catch it from me...

Today, the nor'easter working its way up the coast edged into our area. The sky felt low and gray, and the wind and rain snatched most of the remaining leaves from the trees.

At the beach, the waves crashed in a rhythmic muscle of foam and spray, flexing its way down the length of the sand. Surfers floated on top of the slate-gray swells, catching one and then another, intrepid and brave.

This is the first time in seven years that I've been able to enjoy a storm. All these years past, we've had our house on the riverbank in New York, our beautiful, dangerous house, where in the flash of a moment, we could be trapped, stranded, victims of the rising river.

It's been a pleasure today to enjoy the rain, to go to the beach, to drive through puddles, to remind myself that I'm in no danger. I no longer need to worry.

Thanks for reading!