Cold Weather Coming
6" x 9.25"
watercolors
Skies to the north became gray and dark as a cold front approached. The rest of the sky was still a clear cerulean blue and the warm temperature seemed more like spring than autumn.
I shielded my eyes against the sun in the west as my sister drove down the narrow country lane. I closed my eyes frequently because the wavey lines and distortion combined with the blur from the movement of the car would almost make me seasick.
Signs were impossible to read until I was close to them. Telephone poles were wavey, and I couldn't see some things.
But, I still had to look at the scenery, when possible. I wanted to look for pictures, to memorize the things I was seeing.
The distant green trees at the edge of the fields broke the flat horizon line, just under the looming clouds. There were no colorful fall leaves here. A field showed the golden colors of dry grass, indications of how dry the ground had become, following a very wet summer. The neighboring yard, where there was a house, had lush green grass, the results of fertilizer, watering, and special care. Concrete pipes were stacked up behind the house.
"Look! All those fat, gray cows are lined up against the fence. I guess they are resting up for the bad weather that is coming later." I pointed toward the windshield.
"Isn't it odd that those cows are all about the same size, in the same position." I thought. "Not so odd, I guess. People have herds of cows that are all the same color and, if they bought them all at the same time, they could be the same size. Wonder what kind of cows those are."
My sister watched the road. We always commented on the animals and sights along the roadways. Cattle always seemed to lay down before bad weather, so this behavior wasn't something so unusual. It was just that they were all lined up against the hurricane fence, instead of being in a group out in the field, or under a tree.
"Oh! They're shrubs by the fence!" I said when we were almost beside the fence. "They aren't cows at all. And they aren't even gray. They're green!" I felt like I shrunk down in the seat a little bit. How dumb of me, to think that those objects were rounded, gray cows, their heads down and feet tucked under their fat bodies! They looked more like cartoon Hippos than cows, to me. But, my mind told me that they had to be cows out in a field.
"Just shows that I shouldn't be driving," I commented, "if I can't tell a cow from a bush!"
"How much worse is this going to get?" I thought. "It's got to get better!" Anxiety is always near.
And, at the same time, logically, I knew that it will only get worse, that there is help for some, but it is unavailable to me. And I tried to shake it off, and think that it is okay. Not nearly as bad as others have to endure. This thing, Macular Degeneration, with cataracts, has already cut into my life quite a bit. I try not to let thoughts of what is to come make their way into my thinking and feeling, but it is always there, like a dark cloud, waiting to fall on me.
I just had to laugh at the funny cows that I saw, getting ready for cold weather. At least, they were kind of fun to paint!
This small painting, "Cold Weather Coming", was painted with Winsor Newton watercolors on 140 # Arches watercolor paper
For more of my paintings and experiences with Macular Degeneration, look in my older posts. They are all prefaced with the word "Vision".
"Eye Sites" in my sidebar, are places that I have found with information on Macular Degeneration.
Contact me if you see something that you would like to purchase. Thanks for reading and sharing with others who might be interested.
No comments:
Post a Comment