Plein Air Intentions
Today was my day "off." Out of the studio/gallery and into the great outdoors. We'd planned on taking out the french easels and our new field bags and setting up in some picturesque little meadow or creekside area. We got a late start and were chased by the rain, thunder, and lightening all day. Leonardo managed to get a sketch in and I got a few photos but we never did find the spot to set up, so no actual outdoor painting ensued. We will get the hang of this yet!
We did explore a few new county roads (meaning gravel and dirt roads that wind up who knows where and sometimes just end). We found a log bridge over a lovely creek with crudely painted signs that warned one to pass "at your own risk." The only alternatives were to turn back or to take the “low road” and drive through the creek itself. It wasn’t that big, but this is the tail-end high season for snow melt and runoff—and Tonka (my truck) is low slung so we took the bridge. It worked but gave us a scary rush as the logs were not fastened down, only held loosely by a very, very, inadequately small chain wrapped around the logs like a rubber-band. They jumped, rolled, and otherwise shifted as we drove over. Then we could not discern the county road from the private road and upon backing out after realizing our mistake (it was far too narrow to turn around) we were met by the somewhat scary residents telling us we were on private property. Now honestly, we respect the signs and fences as there are huge areas of public lands around here, no need to trespass, we do realize folks take that infraction quite seriously here—we were just exploring and got a bit turned around. We explained to them five times and all’s well that ends well, but we left there without continuing up the actual county road as we weren’t at all sure that they wouldn’t follow up with, I don’t know, a shotgun or the big dog or the tractor. They said there were signs, there were not. We looked for indicators on the way up and the way down and were just as happy to be going in the opposite direction from their place.
So. Our small incident with what we’re calling “Little Applachia” and no offense to anyone from Applachia…That was my husband’s term and I know he’s had, uh, experiences with that area. In fact, I believe one of the colleges he attended was only a motorcycle ride away…..
In any case. The cool spot today was in Dixon, quite a lovely little village just off the Rio Grande. Next Monday we will pick out a morning spot and an afternoon spot and I promise to rise with the sun. There will be outdoor time because I’ve got to spend six days a week in here painting and minding the store (I know, Oh, poor me, pull out the violins now!) but when I do get to go out on Monday I want to go out and be in the breeze and not be sitting in the truck driving around all day. Speakng of breeze, Leonardo is sorting out my motorcycle...it should be fixed soon and then ...
Geez, I can’t believe I’m living in New Mexico and this is the year I will get the least amount of sun ever and I’ll probably be totally white throughout the summer. Utterly, Absolutely Frightening.
P.S. The tractors. Everyone has a tractor here. Little ones, mostly grey and maybe a bit of red and looking for all the world like it's a 1940s model. Even if their entire plot is an acre and they are plowing up a piece of dirt maybe 15 feet by 60, they have their own tractor. All the little plots are plowed now. I cannot wait to find out what they grow in these little baby “fields.”
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