30 Paintings in 30 Days - Day 12

"Nate Stayed Up Very, Very Late" - mixed media on aquabord, 11" x 14".  Ready to frame.  Available on Artfinder.

ROGER: Oh, what sad times are these when passing ruffians can say `nee' at will to old ladies. There is a pestilence upon this land, nothing is sacred. Even those who arrange and design shrubberies are under considerable economic stress at this period in history.
ARTHUR: Did you say `shrubberies'?
ROGER: Yes, shrubberies are my trade -- I am a shrubber. My name is Roger the Shrubber. I arrange, design, and sell shrubberies.
           - from Monty Python and the Holy Grail, Scene 29

If Roger the Shrubber lived in Florida, he would have a whole lot of business in the coming weeks and months.  Everywhere are plants that need replacing.  But the very good thing about Florida is: you can stick just about anything in the ground and it will grow.  So, though we are all mourning the beautiful trees that Irma decided to dispatch to the wood pile, in a few years there will be gorgeous new growth all around.  For example, two years ago we planted both an avocado and a mango tree.  They were tiny sticks which needed to be staked in even a slight puff of wind.  Now, the avocado is fifteen feet tall, and the mango tree is nearing that as well.  They both survived Irma. 

As we were unpacking all of our plastic-wrapped treasures and putting them in their proper places, I marveled at how a hurricane can clear out more than trees and shrubbery.  It seems some of my mental cobwebs have been swept away.    There is a change of perspective evolving in my thoughts that apparently took a hurricane to get started.  Hmmmm.  I'll tend this little twig and see how big it grows.

Now this piece is what happens when your thoughts get rolling and your dreams grow big late in the day.  You stay up very, very late, wide-eyed and rabbit-like, jumping from one thing to another.  Nate is full of late night malarkey.  I may have to separate him from the rest of the menagerie in the studio, or else no one will get any sleep around here.