After much anticipation and fanfare, on December 7, Richard celebrated his 70th birthday. He has been describing Pearl Harbor Day, a day that will live in infamy - both as a historical and personal, milestone— this year it his "sell by" date and he has made an addendum to Psalm 90:10 The days of our years are threescore years and ten; after that it's all gravy baby.
Time is passing and we are feelin' it so we are taking care of business! We are not ready to kick the bucket and we don't have a bucket list where we pine about what we have not yet accomplished but we do dream about a trip to Paris and visiting the sacred temples in Ankor Wat. For us, life in the studio is the bucket list.
Tops, on our closer to home to-do list, is to get our affairs in order which means:
1. selecting a durable power of attorney
1. selecting a durable power of attorney
2. writing a will
3. signing advance health care directives
4. establishing a trust
Today we met with our attorney to review the rough draft of the Selby-Lang Trust and make important decisions about how to divest our life savings and what to do with all of our stuff.
We smile as we spread our arms, gesturing towards the piles and boxes of plastic in the barn and generously say to Richard's kids, some day this will all be yours.
Ha! Ha!
We are reminded of this joke and we laugh when we think about the value of our artwork after we are dead:
An artist is having show in a blue chip gallery.
She visits her exhibit...
The gallerist says, "I have good news and I have bad news for you."
"Give me the good news, first."
"Well….. a guy walks in buys the whole show…."
"He bought the whole show…!!"
"So, what's the bad news?"
"The guy was your doctor."
After our meeting in Inverness, in what seemed to be a naughty transgression, playing hooky, we decided instead of going to Kehoe Beach we would go to Limantour. As soon as we turned on to Limantour Road we felt we were on vacation. It had been years since we had been out that way together, lashed as we are to our "job" at Kehoe. The Vision Fire of 1995 had devastated acres of the park but now snags of charred bishop pines are being usurped by new growth with the seeds and spores that were activated by the fire. We don't often get to see the slow forces of nature do their work, but in the aftermath it's very clear as well as heartening how the forest is self regenerative. We sighed in relief and sighed too because —Ha! Ha! Kehoe Beach, no picking up plastic today — we are on our way to a vacation at Limantour.
At the trailhead, we were pleased to see a pick-up station that was well stocked with reusable bags set by our friends from All One Ocean.
This crystal clear day in December, was unseasonably balmy, without an ounce of breeze. By mid-afternoon the sun was already low in the sky, putting the scurry of footprints into high relief.
So much for Ha! Ha! Kehoe Beach - wherever we are, the impulse to pick up, is undeniable. But there was not much plastic so Richard turned his attention inward to some serious musings about Supporting the Rational Park Service (how about a bumper sticker?) and the value of unencumbered space. These days when the federal government is trying to downsize our public holdings we stress the value of stress-free meanders. How does that value size up to the extracting of natural resources? Congress passed in 1916 the NPS Organic Act establishing the mission of the National Park Service. 1916!! Sounds rational to us. Back then "Organic" was not yet a marketing ploy of corporate virtuosity.
What actually makes America Great? It's the natural resources we've inherited, dummy. When applying for CO status during the Vietnam debacle, Richard was asked, "What would you be willing to fight and die for?" Back then he said, "It would be be the preservation of the natural world" which includes the artists who seem to be the last of the "wild humans" on the planet. Or as a friend once said—"One should, above all, protect artists, poets and wild animals from harm."
Judith meandered on, skirting the high edge of grasses that catch slips of nigh invisible plastic wrappers and styrofoam.
On Feb. 22, 2010 Congress approved a law allowing loaded firearms in national parks. That means people can openly carry legal handguns, rifles, shotguns and other firearms and also may carry concealed guns as allowed by state statute. Rational, right? Not to worry, Judith found a hand-gun albeit a hand holding a gun. That little piece of insignificance is just 5/8th of an inch long, how did she ever see it?
Thanks to vigilant citizens and the NPS who stay true to the mission: we spread our arms, gesturing towards the beach and the ocean and assure Richard's kids and kids everywhere that
Someday …this will all be yours...
