Superpower

"Sedona"
6.5" x 10" watercolor on 100% cotton Arches Hot Press paper

Back from a 3.5 week trip by car from California to Iowa and back again. Physically spent from all those hours in the car. But also needing to process all the images my husband and I saw in and around Yellowstone Park; the Black Hills and Badlands of South Dakota; the fields and prairies and woodlands of Iowa; the Sangre de Cristo Mountains rising to the east of Santa Fe; those beautiful red rock buttes surrounding Sedona, and all the shifting landscapes in between. 

I wanted this painting to be better than it is, but it doesn't matter. Spending the two hours on the composition helped anchor in my mind the utter surprise of seeing all those amazing oranges and greens along Hwy 89A as we drove south from Flagstaff. 

What would I do without writing and art to help my mind catch up with my body? Wherever I go, I see, hear, smell, taste, and touch, but it takes writing and sketching/painting to help complete the experience. Sometimes that feels like a handicap, especially if I can't take the time to get out my pens, paper, and paints.

Most of the time, though, I just feel lucky that I have this superpower--when I can get to it--that helps me reflect and savor and marvel.