If it weren’t for the boiling August heat, this is where I’d like to be right now…watching the tide come in and out on Turkey Creek, in my own backyard. Living in a house so close to a swamp (“marsh” is the politically correct term if you are in real estate) is a bittersweet blessing. On the one hand, there is endless beauty and peace that inspires me to draw; on the other, when circumstances align (like the alignment of planets, almost) such as a full moon, high tide, and a four to six inch sudden downpour, the backyard becomes a lake and, once in a great while, my husband’s studio (a.k.a enclosed garage) gets cleansed, much like baptism by immersion. We have learned to cope with this disappointing situation by not keeping valuables on the floor, though sometimes we forget and get caught by surprise (such as the night about a year ago when our daughter was in a wreck during a rainstorm and while we went to be with her on the side of the interstate, our son was at home dealing with the flooded studio! We didn’t care a lick about the damaged stuff because we were so grateful she was okay!). Even though this is the bitter part of the blessing, it is still very sweet to appreciate this beautiful place on our tiny “island” on Turkey Creek and feel like we hear the heartbeat of heaven in the midst of the burbs. It’s just that sometimes it beats too loud and fast and we get slammed with a double whammy! Many things in life are like this, I think, and we have to learn to take the bitter with the sweet.
Snippets and Snatches 