Little Chickadee

Little Chickadee / Oil on black canvas / 4x4 unframed / $38 including shipping

sold! 

IT SEEMS LIKE A LIFETIME AGO that I drove to Arizona to visit my dad and stepmother, participate, in a way, in the Tubac show, and see my friends out there. (It was the end of January). 

A jeweler friend from Pennsylvania flew out to spend some time in the sun, go to the big Gem and Mineral Show, and take some workshops there. 

She stayed for a week, and when she left, packed some stuff in my van for me to bring home. We usually see each other once every six or eight weeks, at her place or mine, or at one of the many shows we do together.

Today, I packed her stuff in a box and sent it off to her in Pennsylvania. Honestly, it feels like I might never see her again. Today, for whatever reason, the quarantine/isolation got to me, and for a while it felt like I would never see anyone again. Or hug anyone again. Or be hugged. 

So I did chores, and I cleaned the house and then I hugged the dogs and held them close and reminded myself that it's all going to be OK. And then I went out to the studio and painted this sweet little bird, and felt myself fly off a bit, toward the sun. 

***

Gratitude

TODAY, I AM GRATEFUL for my friends, who pull me up when I am down, who point out the beauty of the world to me, who take time out of their days to reach out to me, and make me laugh, and assure me that yes, I will see them again someday. 

And you? What are you grateful for today? 

***

For Today

Yes there is fear.

Yes there is isolation.

Yes there is panic buying.

Yes there is sickness.

Yes there is even death.

But,

They say that in Wuhan after so many years of noise

You can hear the birds again.

They say that after just a few weeks of quiet

The sky is no longer thick with fumes

But blue and grey and clear.

They say that in the streets of Assisi

People are singing to each other

across the empty squares,

keeping their windows open

so that those who are alone

may hear the sounds of family around them.

They say that a hotel in the West of Ireland

is offering free meals and delivery to the housebound.

Today a young woman I know

is busy spreading fliers with her number 

through the neighborhood

So that the elders may have someone to call on.

Today, churches, synagogues, mosques and temples

are preparing to welcome

and shelter the homeless, the sick, the weary. 

All over the world people are slowing down and reflecting

All over the world people are looking at their neighbors in a new way

All over the world people are waking up to a new reality

To how big we really are.

To how little control we really have.

To what really matters.

To Love.

So we pray and we remember that

Yes there is fear.

But there does not have to be hate.

Yes there is isolation.

But there does not have to be loneliness.

Yes there is panic buying.

But there does not have to be meanness.

Yes there is sickness.

But there does not have to be disease of the soul.

Yes there is even death.

But there can always be a rebirth of love.

Wake to the choices you make as to how to live now.

Today, breathe.

Listen, behind the factory noises of your panic

The birds are singing again

The sky is clearing,

Spring is coming,

And we are always encompassed by Love.

Open the windows of your soul

And though you may not be able

to touch across the empty square,

Sing.

- Father Richard Hendrik, Ireland

March 13, 2020

-