I just returned home from a Labor Day weekend cookout at Dad's. My brother is moving into his new apartment in Millersville and was not able to come, so it was just Dad and the girls. Dad gets out his simple charcoal grill a couple times a year for special occasions. He mixes his beef with salt and pepper and onions, squashes them into patties and lays them out on the grill. I like watching the burgers as they slowly cook, and the sizzle sound of fat hitting the hot coals. We sat on his back porch and ate macaroni salad and baked beans and barbecue chips and talked about my Dad's coming trip to Texas, my work hitting it's sales goals for August and the paint colors of Bekah's boyfriend's new apartment. Dad bought two mums to adorn the porch for our gathering and brought out a straggly pot of petunias that he had kept forgetting to water over the summer. So we had a little party. After dinner we sliced up a watermelon and Bekah and I stuck our faces down into the rind to finish off our slices. Dad laughed at us as he scraped at his with a knife.
There is something very exciting about the beginning of fall. It feels like a new beginning, and the cooler air is full of energy. I have not been in school for the last four years, but from my art school days I still get the urge to go buy gesso and new sketch books.
The fall also means the end of lazy day summer. Late this spring I began seeing my friend John again. John is a teacher at a local college and last fall, in his first year teaching, the busyness and the stress that came with it took a toll, and at that time was a large part of our letting the romantic relationship idea go. But as he finished up this spring, we went for it again, and the time for talking and learning and enjoying was wonderful. So now he is heading back to work, and this time around, armed with knowledge from last year, I hope we will make a better go of it, though the adjustment will be hard.
But one thing that may help immensely is that I have a plan. Earlier this afternoon, Bekah (who is taking art classes herself!) and I, caving into the old art school urges, went to the art store and I bought new drawing pads, a big sheet of Arches Watercolor Paper, and a new size twelve synthetic watercolor brush. Several years ago I took a class at Longwood Gardens in botanical illustration. This is an almost scientific exercise in making watercolor images of plants, leaves, flowers, sometimes roots as well. Think of a Field Guide. The size, color, and as much detail as possible should all be exact in the illustration. I enjoyed learning the skill quite a lot, and since John was so thoughtful as to rearrange his office so that I could sit and work with him, I am ready to get started.
After dinner, Dad and Bekah and I took a walk around E-town. We walked past a little house Dad had noticed was for sale and was of some interest to him, but then we walked past the old brick duplex where we lived when I was four to seven years old. Bekah and Jon were both born there. My Mom chose to give birth at home and as we walk Dad tells us how when Bekah was born he walked her across the street to show her off to the neighbors. Then as we head back toward the square he reminds us what many of the old buildings used to be, and I love the familiarity of walking through my hometown. Dad and I finish the evening after Bekah has departed by silently watching a Phillies game and laughing at Prairie Home Companion.
On my way home tonight I found myself crying buckets as I think about my family and how much God has blessed us. We have had some hard times, and there are a lot of hard things in the world, but I have never more clearly seen what good God can do, what he can regrow and redeem and make more glorious than we could ever imagine. He has done that for us, and tonight for Dad and Bekah and me.
ps. Sorry it has been so long since I have posted!
