March 31, 2008Leaving DeQueen, Arkansas listening to the weather band, I decide to take the shortest route to the Interstate. Forecasts are calling for flash floods & severe storms and hail. My goal was to
get around them but the forecast seemed to expand the geographic area as I drove. I went west to OK and then south on Rt 259, through Broken Bow. As soon as I crossed into Texas the weather improved and the sky looked lighter. It would not last.Despite the lousy weather, Arkansas, Oklahoma and Texas have beautiful country which I have to come back and paint under better conditions. I hit several more downpours and threatening skies before I got to my halfway point in Corsicana. There the skies were blue and it was warm enough to have to use
the AC!I found the RV park, and Johnny, the manager on duty invited me to join a group for a catfish dinner. I met some lovely folks from Michigan who prepared all the food for everyone. Left to right are Abel and Evelyn Canales, Tommy Simpson (who caught & cleaned the fish), Richard and Carol Allred, and Johnny, the manager with the beer.
March 31, 2008
I drove down to San Antonio to meet up with Gladys Roldan de Moras. Gladys is a wonderful painter and I have been trying to catch up with her busy schedule for a few months. She just moved into a new house and has a great studio on the second floor. Since the weather was still uncooperative, we painted in the studio and planned to go to San Jose Mission the next day. Unfortunately her family responsibilities occupy her the next day so I went to the mission to paint. It is still fairly grey outside but occasionally the sun peeks out. The mission dates to the 1700's and was a community of over 300. It is located on the banks of the San Antonio river several miles to the south of the earlier mission, San Antonio de Valero (the Alamo).
A quick return
My journey comes to an abrupt end when I receive a phone call that my mother has been rushed to the hospital. I leave San Antonio immediately for the 1100 mile trip back to Florida. En route I hear that my mother is stable and will be okay. She will be home from the hospital on April 6 so I schedule a flight to help with her recovery. I have 3 days to get the RV back to Florida. The travels are temporarily on hold.
Life is what happens while you are making other plans
I learned about the 'critical moment' in an undergrad photography class many years ago. It seemed to be an argument for having a rapid fire shutter or a video camera just so nothing falls through the cracks.My own moment came while I was parked in the driveway of Gladys Roldan de Moras' house in San Antonio. I got a call from my sister in Pennsylvania that my Mom was being rushed to the local hospital then life flighted to the regional medical center. I never felt so disconnected as sitting in a big tin can with a half finished painting, imagining life slipping away from the person who had given me more than I could ever repay. I credit her for my stubborness among other things and at this moment I was glad for her ability to never give up.She hung in there and was to be in the hospital for several days. I knew where I had to be. I turned the motor home around the next day and headed directly east on I-10. The grueling drive landed me back in St Pete on the third day, I had a day to figure out the animal situation and then fly to Pennsylvania. Enormous thanks to Brenda and Mark Hofreiter for taking in Holly for a week at great expense to their little Roomba robot vacuum cleaner (you can imagine the obvious outcome of nervous dog and robotic trajectory). But here is Mark's humorous photo after the cleanup.I arrived at my parent’s house 3 hours after she got home from the hospital. Mom was very bruised & swollen from a fall the previous week. It was not related to the medical emergency but it affected her mobility and she needed 24 hour care. My Mom would tell you I was a good nurse, but let me assure you I did not miss my calling and I have newfound respect for those who do nursing care for a living. But the happy ending is that in two weeks she strengthened enough to care for herself with my Dad's help and I guess I get some good karma points or something.I returned to Florida and re-evaluted my plans. I tried to envision my recent emergency had I been unreachable by cell phone in the mountains or on the west coast. Gas is now $3.50 a gallon and it costs $150 to fill the RV tank. And I had learned that riding out the storm in bad weather was not so easy as finding a place to park. And so I have concluded that this is not the time to complete this journey. I have not decided to permanently ditch the whole idea but I will suspend the blog for now until I can give it another look in a few months. Thanks to everyone for their good wishes and I will keep you posted.not last.Despite
