July 16th, 2014
Well, so far this year my painting over one painting plan hasn't occurred yet. I have lived with my yellow and "black" painting and enjoy it a lot in my living room each day. As per my initial entry, I have given into the temporal. Unfortunately, the primary reason for this was having too much to do to have time for.
I have, however, continued writing a short story that I started last Summer. The working title is "Cats and Dogs: Prelude to the Apocalypse"."
Other Art things going on this summer:
- A train mural for the one of the children's classrooms at church.
- Finish this book
- Finish enough bird pictures as shown earlier to complete a dozen and look in to creating printed notecards
- Paint or draw a cover for the book, possibly some sketched for inside.
- Work on two songs with the church band that I started writing, I have lyrics and simple music, looking to collaborate with other band members. Our church band is planning on recording an album of our original worship songs.
With my time constraints, I would be happy to finish the book/story and a focal point section of the mural and get together a couple time regarding the music.
Non-art things going on:
- Working on helping my oldest son take next steps in what has become for him some hard times on many levels. I won't elaborate, those who know, will know.
- I am changing the plumbing in our shower from separate hot and cold to one single control and replacing some of those pipes. We are then re-tiling the shower, repainting the bathroom and redecorating the bathroom. Our hope is to sell our current home in the next two years.
- A visit to New York City to pick up my 15 year old from visiting his aunt for a week
- A visit to Albany, New York Area, to visit the rest of my family.
- About a week of planning for teaching this year (6, 7, 8 grade.) We have what they call a one:one environment with Ipads now. I need to consider what ways it makes sense to integrate I pads into my studio art classroom as well as improving on or adding on to Core Curriculum matters.
- I am trying to continue losing weight and going to the gym at least 3x a week, which in the past week, has been difficult with all the family home.
This is the first few pages:
He wasn't so unlike any other giant black Malamute,
not so unusual looking, really. What
seemed unusual, as he sat on the Town Hall steps that day were the odd look in
his eye and the unusual colored drool in a substantial puddle on the concrete
steps beneath him. He had sat there every
day for the past two weeks, though only on business days, as he waited for his
master to come out. Under normal circumstances, most would say of any large
black Malamute, especially one hanging around all day in such a place, “Damn,
that is a big dog!” or “Look at the size of those freakin’ paws!” or “Why is that
dog sitting out there on the stoop of Town Hall all day long!” Yes, he was a spectacle
of awe and respect that most people feel when the encounter an oversize, lethally
strong, mountain of hair, more like a bear than a dog, oddly friendly canine. A
spectacle that left a foreboding
question of “is he really friendly?” lingering when encountered and one takes a step back from the monster dog as
he approaches to….lick you. The problem with this picture was that those eyes
and dripping drool made the strange loyalty of this dog waiting all day for his
master in the middle of downtown Claremont, New Hampshire, more ominous than
this already peculiar scene was. In fact, there had been a lot of dogs hanging
around Claremont following their owners to work, or the grocery store, or to the
library, or to school, or the following on the cities approved bike lanes for
miles; and not only dogs, but various other household pets doing strange and
out of the ordinary things.
Barnacle, or Barney as he was called for
short, was the Mayors dog. For the past two weeks, despite Mayor Lou Parsons
efforts to assure his doors were solidly locked, double and triple checked,
especially after the 3rd or 4th day, Barney arrived on
the steps just before Lou got to work and walked up the steps each morning. Two
weeks, every day, always the same. Barney sitting at the top step, looking over
to acknowledge Lou with perked ears with a glance and then a satisfied wink and
head turned back in an apparent blank stare into the distance with that strange
look in his eyes. Lou tried everything to move the massive dark dog to no
avail, even trying to pick him up or drag him to his car. Each effort met with a
fierce warning growl that he’d never heard Barney use before, it unnerved him
to the point of fear. With that unnerving fear and the accompanying
bewilderment at what to do, Lou determine to go into work each day and leave
him alone. Barney was fairly content to wait ‘till the end of each day and when
Lou left, Barney somehow got home before him each night. That was it; the next
day, same as the first.
A cool breeze blew up the stone
steps of the old historical town hall across marble floors and caught the old oak
door on Lou’s office, slamming it shut as Lou turned to pull the door shut
himself. He stepped back quickly, but the door banged his hand before he could
retract it as he saw the big door coming. “Ouch, ahhhh, grrmmmfffff,
geeessff that hurt!’ he grumbled under
his breath trying not to make a big deal
about it and not to attract the attention of his secretary. He just wanted to
get to his office and felt perturbed at the inconvenience and surprise of the
pain. He had too much on his mind today and a sense of greater concern began to
creep deeper into his gut about Barnacle. It became more and more uncomfortable
each day trying to explain to everyone who asked, “So, how’s Barney today?” and
respond to the half-witted questions like,” You goin’ out to lunch later with
him, he seems to be anxious to go?” and other such uncomfortable comments
covering up the bizarre situation that it was, as no one really knew what to
make of it.
“Good morning, Joanne, any calls yet this
morning?..er .. How are you today?” he asked.
“ No, Mayor, not just yet, but Mr. Senegal
stopped by after you left last night just after you left and would like you to
give him a call….and, yes I’m fine..I made some coffee for you, it’s on your
desk …and my cat bit me this morning.”
”What? Your cat bit you…Bella?
The one who sleeps around your head every night and runs away from mice?”
“Yes, Bella..I don’t understand
it. She was sitting on table by the door as I left, I went to give her a little
scratch on the head and she pawed me so fast and positively growled at me so
loud, I jumped back, dropped my keys, and shouted. Bob ran out the kitchen to
see what was wrong. We were so stunned. Bella just sat there, quietly like
nothing has happened and looked at me.” She said excitedly.
“I’m sorry, Joanne…are you OK?”
“Yes, I’m fine..so strange…well…you
had better call Mr. Senegal, it seemed important.” Joanne said with a feeling
of not wanting to talk about the scratch and surprised that she had blurted out
what happened. She was usually very formal at work and did not share personal information
or feelings. Lou always called her “Joanne” letting her know she didn't have to
call him Mr. Mayor. He preferred for his staff to see him more as a friend than
a boss, it’s just the way he was. He was a strong Mayor, people listened to
him, trusted his decisions and rarely was there any serious disagreements, unusual
in a political position. That is why he held the position for so long. Twenty
years.
Mayor Lou Parson’s office was very telling
about the man. It was very austere, simply furnished, no desk plate with his
name on it, no inspirational pictures, just the things he needed: A file
cabinet, a comfortable old wood and leather chair with brass covered wheel guards,
the kind that hurt your toes if you ran them over, an old fashioned land line
phone with a rotary dial, black, from the 70’s, bare hardwood floors. A grand
old oak desk, with big drawers which didn't have much more than the basic
supplies he needed. It made him feel prepared for the eventuality that he might
need the space for an important project and all the files and papers to think
about and put safely away. He liked the quality of products from days gone by
and felt that many things didn't need the “upgrades” that have come so quickly
over the years. He allowed himself a photo on his desk of his wife and two
children from a family vacation to Kennebunkport, Maine. He was holding his
daughter Isabel (Lizzy) on his lap, his older daughter Laura standing behind
him and his wife with her hands on his shoulders and a giant fake 30lb lobster
on a plate in front of them all, a novelty picture stage at a local Restaurant
called the Lobster Trap. It always made him laugh inside because he thought if
the lobster were that large he was likely the one who was trapped and to be
eaten by the lobster and not the other way round. Somehow that thought didn’t seem
funny today. Otherwise the office contained only two leather chairs set off to the side and the
brick red curtains that, when drawn, let no light into the room when the sun
heated up his office in the late afternoon. No clutter, no distractions from the
task at hand. Practical, tidy, ready for business.
“Lou, I don’t know what to say, I don’t
know what to tell you…but I’m getting concerned here.”
“I’m not sure what you’re
saying, Senegal and Associates won’t we held liable? Who would hold you liable?
You’re the most successful lawyers this side of New Hampshire?”
“Look , we have a dozen cases
now, including Mrs. Peters Cocker Spaniel going missing, of animal abductions
or deaths over the past half year. The public hasn't connected the dots between
the cases yet, but if the media finds out it won’t be long. There seems to be some
connection between the missing or dead animals and the crime scenes of six seemingly isolated
human deaths. Nothing links the deaths except animal hairs and some unidentified
orange-ish ooze on the fingernails of the dead people. Some of the same ooze
has been found in the homes of the missing animals, some of the folks missing
their animals noticed it on or around their pet’s mouths the week before they
went missing. We just had three of the cases ruled death by natural causes,
one a heart attack, one old age and
organ failure , one a stroke. All of these cases had the ooze in the crime scene;
in none of the cases were they able to identify what the hell it was. 6 deaths
in New Hampshire in a half a year is going to attract attention if people think
something is connecting them. Do you remember the Rest Stop Killer? People were
terrified for years…too many loose ends took too long to connect. When we
finally put it together 18 people died and a lot of people in my office lost
their job. Remember that’s how the opening for the DA came about 15 years ago.”
Lou gazed blankly at his family picture
and paused to reply. It was hard to think about death or allow the terrible
feelings of emptiness and loss that came with them. He spent three years trying
to come to reconcile life without his wife who had passed away from a rare form
of lung cancer five years ago. His propensity for simplicity became a way to
cope with things. Keeping things simple and matter of fact, taking one task at
a time, keeping his mind focused on work tasks, city problems, and working
through them to resolution gave him a sense of moving forward and purpose, and
helped him avoid feeling too deeply, just kept him moving which kept him from
drowning. If he gave himself time to feel, he likely would not be here today. He
knew his girls needed him and he would have to sacrifice the privilege of
mourning fully so he could keep moving; moving for them. “Ok, Mr. Senegal. You
won’t be on the hook for wrongful conviction suits. I’ll get Chief Stanton on
it and get to the bottom of it. We just have to keep moving, we’ll make sure
the town is safe and avoid a panic. It was a terrible time for people around here
back then. That killer was insane, truly insane. They said it was a freak brain
disease; an isolated tragedy. Everyone thought it was some conspiracy, like a
Manson cult. I know it’s a problem. We won’t let it spin off into paranoia.”
“Thanks Lou, by the way how’s Barney doing,
still waiting for lunch?”
