Friday June 15, 2012
Got up, ready, and packed the car by
about 8am. Had said goodbye to Ed earlier since he starts work at 7.
Met up with Ryan, Amanda, John, and Tricia at the Budget Host for
breakfast where they serve endless sourdough pancakes made with a
starter that is well over 100 years old. Terrifically yummy. It was
hard, but we said our goodbyes to these guys and headed back to the
quad area for one last hike, this time in the buttes behind the quad
where I did a lot of hikes during my residency. I wanted to get some
photographs with the green grass. Wish I had more time and the
luxury of waiting to have decent light for photographing. Made one
last stop to the visitors center for water and the bathroom. Ran
into ranger Sara, it was her last day at the park as well; she's taken an
exciting new job at Walnut Creek National Monument in Flagstaff. Will have to manage
to go visit her someday. Drove out of the park, hit I-90, and started
cruising east. Made it into Minneapolis by 7:30pm local time. Have a
few days here, then I fly to NYC to spend a week. Hoping to meet up
with some Calhoun folks while there. Sounds like they may be back to
the Badlands in the spring, and possibly it will work for me to join
them again. My fingers are crossed!
Many of you know how attached I get to
places, and I have talked about it often over the years. This is my
main motivation in painting landscapes. Places are like friends, and
some hit harder than others. It is always hard to say goodbye to the
places I love, and it doesn't seem to make much difference whether or
not I know I'm coming back. I expected to fall a bit in love with
the Badlands before coming for my residency in March. I did not expect to fall
as hard as I did with this landscape. Something about it is just
plain magical. I have hiked a lot of places, but nothing lives up to
the feeling I have when hiking and scrambling on those buttes, eyes
open for fossils, feet working to grip the loose rock. It is one of my favorite few spots to be, and
driving back to the park on hwy 44 last week felt like driving home. It's a
lovely thing, but it sure leaves me feeling wrought over leaving.
Add to that the unexpected meeting of several new, good friends, and
my experience in Badlands is elevated to be right in there with my
time in Europe as a teen, which was something of a life changing
event. I think I have learned a lot about myself in the Badlands,
and certainly have a lot to digest from the experiences here. More
than anything I want to be painting Badlands right now, lost in the
experience, living the feelings. But I'm traveling, and have more
adventures to come before I can settle into the studio again in July
to work. In just a few days I head to NYC for a week, then Minneapolis for a week, then a drive back to Coeur d'Alene, possibly stopping in Yellowstone and/or other parks along the way. I'll be sure to post about some of it!
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| Angel Butte from behind the quad. Last hike: had to come back here while the grasses are green. |
