Gifts of living Unexpected and Unearned

It's been so fun watching Paul reopen his darkroom and dust off the cameras. We've been going on dates and both bringing the tools of our art, my paints and paper, his camera and film. I've enjoyed the togetherness, working on things, making images in good company. We've also been discussing our surprise at seeing one another's growth as artists, considering our long hiatus from working on our art. I think though our technical skills have stalled--and we pick them up where we left off, or with a little catching up to get back to where we were--the other parts our ourselves have continued to grow, even when we weren't making much art. Our eyes, the way we look at and process what we see, grow of their own accord. We pick up our tools and are amazed to find we have new resources at our disposal!

Wild Plum Harvest

I found some wild plums, a blushing golden treasure hanging drooping under the trees near a small lake. I have been watching this thicket for three years, and have missed their ripening, or been beaten to it. I now know one does not see plums and come back next week! I was so excited to finally get a few. When I found them, I didn't delay, but filled my skirt. They were enough to can a small batch of jam! Funny how once I finally find a fruit, I find it everywhere; I found another thicket in a park we frequent, also ripe. Seeing the spot where they grow, what kind of a place with what companions, how the plants actually look, touching the branches, is so much more instructive than the field guides! Having seen, I can think of many similar spots to check next year around Labor Day.
Even with a fully laden tree, from twenty feet it mostly just looked green. The one visible plum I had taken for a stray yellow leaf, and all the rest were hiding, back under the leaves. I once was blind to wild plums; but now I see.