Posted on by paintandsimple · 3 Comments

Our Baseball Sunset

20130612-164823.jpg

It has been a lovely spring here in North Texas. The breezes have been frequent, the wildflowers abundant, and the baseball diamonds full of life. I love the sounds of an evening in the ballpark: the smack of the ball, the call of the coaches, the one liners of the baseball nuts in the stands, the roar of the crowds, and the support calls and cheers of team mates. Last night was the last game of our season, it was a good one, the season and the game. The boys played well and supported each other, the community grew smaller as people made connections and relationships through conversations in the bleachers. Siblings that didn’t know each other became friends, and learned the valuable skill of passing hours and hours while their brothers played and parents and grandparents watched the games. I am humbled by our coaches who have given our sons such a valuable gift: of their talent and time – both in abundance. They taught our boys skills, and sportsmanship, when to fight and when to let it go. “Play every play with all your heart, but just remember whatever happens on this field stays on this field.”

Posted on by paintandsimple · 2 Comments

Sunset in Purple and Red

20130606-080041.jpg
Many years ago I saw this poem pinned to a red hat in an antique store. I found it! Thank you google.

“Warning”

When I am an old woman I shall wear purple
With a red hat which doesn’t go, and doesn’t suit me.
And I shall spend my pension on brandy and summer gloves
And satin sandals, and say we’ve no money for butter.
I shall sit down on the pavement when I’m tired
And gobble up samples in shops and press alarm bells
And run my stick along the public railings
And make up for the sobriety of my youth.
I shall go out in my slippers in the rain
And pick flowers in other people’s gardens
And learn to spit.

You can wear terrible shirts and grow more fat
And eat three pounds of sausages at a go
Or only bread and pickle for a week
And hoard pens and pencils and beermats and things in boxes.

But now we must have clothes that keep us dry
And pay our rent and not swear in the street
And set a good example for the children.
We must have friends to dinner and read the papers.

But maybe I ought to practice a little now?
So people who know me are not too shocked and surprised
When suddenly I am old, and start to wear purple.
~Jenny Joseph

Posted on by paintandsimple · 4 Comments

Sunset on Niihau

20130413-152847.jpg
Niihau Island is located 18 miles from the island of Kauai across the often-times rough Kaulakahi Channel. The oldest of the inhabited Hawaiian islands, Niihau is also the least changed by modern progress. The Niihauans fish and hunt for their main staples of food, with their diet supplemented by supplies brought in by air and sea by the owners of the island. The residents of Niihau still hunt with ropes and knives and fish with spears and nets. Niihau is called the forbidden Island, and the place where time stands still. Niihau was clearly visible along the horizon as I painted this sunset.

Posted on by paintandsimple · 4 Comments

HANAKAPI’AI SUNSET

20130410-160013.jpg

I managed to paint only one of the many cairns on this beach. This is the first beach on the Kalalau trail, it is very rocky and the surf is rough…so the rocks are wonderfully smooth. Previous hikers have stacked many, many rock cairns on this beach. If you are a hiker you know that a stack of rocks on a trail is called a cairn, and it symbolizes that you are to head that direction on a trail. To find many of them together, is not only impressive, given a tremendous surf, but inspiring and encouraging.