Warm Up In Yellowwood State Forest and Saying Goodbye

POSTED ON JANUARY 7, 2023 BY CHARLENE MARSH

R.I.P. Henry (yellow cat), 2009-2023, who joined his brother, Beau Beau (black and white cat), over the rainbow bridge.

I will sure miss him. The hardest part about having animals is saying good-bye.

Henry used to go on our three mile hike in the forest everyday, like one of the dogs. Sometimes he would lag behind and meow loudly so I would wait up for him. Always worried he might attract coyotes. Well, one day, he lagged behind and I heard a terrible YEOOOWWW receding off into the distance!!! My worst fear was that he was being dragged away by a coyote.

I ran to the location of the noise and there was no Henry. I called and searched but he was gone. Sitting down on the hillside, I started to cry. After about ten minutes, I hear a timid meow. And Henry appeared. I was so happy to see him and swooped him up in my arms and took him home. I didn’t find any marks on him and still have no idea what happened that day. But, after that, he never went on our daily hike in the forest again.

Animals bring me so much joy but, in the end, they always break my heart.

So…on to painting.

Warm Up In Yellowwood State Forest

As many of you know, we got hit with a cold blast of Arctic air and a bit of snow before the Christmas holiday. Temperatures here got a low as -5°F. So, even though there was a beautiful coating of snow, it was too cold to go out and paint, en plein air. My paint freezes too fast to finish a painting! While I still go out and walk the dogs in the forest, painting just won’t work.

Luckily, the Arctic blast didn’t last long. The sun came out and temperatures warmed up to 50° F on December 28, 2022. What a drastic change! Felt downright balmy outside. But I had to work quick because the snow was melting fast. Thrilled to get the final plein air painting of 2022 done.

Details

I just love the way the sun lights up the snow covered hills with all the rich, variety of blues in the shadows. Periwinkle, cerulean, cobalt, turquoise, aquamarine, azure, peacock blue, sky blue, sapphire, sea blue, and lavender. Blue is my favorite color!

Back of the painting with field notes

Must admit, I couldn’t paint the past few days dealing with an increasingly sick cat. I was so sad and stressed and anxious, second guessing myself, trying to make the best decisions for my boy, that I knew any painting would be imbued with that unhappy, desperate energy. No matter how beautiful the painting may appear, it would be impressed with that energy of grief. Since I am starting a new wedding painting, that just would not do.

A wedding painting should embody joy and happiness and love. However, within the sadness, there was definitely love. But it is the love of saying goodbye, not the love of a new beginning, but rather an ending. So, I will give myself a bit of time before I dive into the wedding painting.

Update: Several days have passed now since Henry crossed the rainbow bridge and I still think I see him out of the corner of my eye or hear him meow or brush up against my leg. I had a couple dreams that were so real I could feel his fur. One, I saw his paw prints in a light dusting of snow on the deck so I went inside to get my camera to document the proof that he was there. But when I came back outside, the paw prints were gone. Sometimes my animals that have crossed over have come to me in dreams and it can be so real. I can pet them and feel their fur and talk to them. I am sure they are there with me. But then I wake up and they are gone. Maybe in another dimension, they are still there with me.

That’s all for now. Thanks for tuning in.

With all my love…Happy Trails,

Charlene

Friday, January 6, 2023