Well, if you recall in my last post, which you can find here, you will remember that we were going to explore not only hot boiled peanuts, but also Plein air painting. Well, good intentions aside, our trip was wonderful in that we got to see a family member that is stationed in Florida for the military, we visited the beach, and we went to a museum to look at fancy airplanes. Oh,and we did eat those peanuts from the gas station and lived to tell about it. We had our whole family, including the kids and grandpa, and our two elderly dachsies with us.
We travelled with our RV so we stayed at a park on the beach, and we were able to walk right out from our door to the white sand! Wouldn’t you know it though, despite my exciting painting plans (or perhaps because of them?) we had a thunderstorm with pouring rain the first day we arrived at our destination, so no outdoor painting then! The afternoon warmed up, but we had family time on the beach! Not a good time to bring out the paints while watching the little’s play near the open water. But we did make one kid a mermaid.
The next morning, we were whipping around with huge gusts of wind that again did not lend themselves well to Plein air painting. I went for a walk with the kids that morning, and approaching the playground for the kids was near impossible.
The youngest child started to cry that he wanted to go back to the RV- I think he was about to get blown away, and my middle child a bit later said “I wish everyone luck that they don’t have a tree fall on their head.” Which, of course, is a great wish for everyone at any time, lol. It was pretty amazing wind though!
Well, our first born, Bogey (fur baby- 16 in human years) has progressively been getting skinnier in his old age and having a harder time getting around, while still being as sweet as can be. He was a trooper on this trip. The boys have a doggie stroller, so we could take them on walks, and they went to the beach with us of course, but the last day of the trip during the drive home, he let us know that he was not able to take the pain anymore. He started whining in pain, and overnight it got to be so bad that all I could do was just walk with him in my arms outside of the RV and try to comfort him as best I could (sorry if I woke anyone else up in their RVs.) I knew it was time. We had to take him to the vet be relieved of the pain. Needless to say, Tuesday was one of the hardest days of my life, but at the same time it was the only right thing to do.
Not in the mood to paint outside the last few days. But I will feel that way again soon, especially now that we are home and I can see that spring is upon us. It is a new day, but with fond memories.
Instead, it felt more ‘right’ to break out the watercolors and whip out this quick sketch this morning. I think this will inspire a great portrait of my sweet boy!
The tears help the paints flow on the page.
