The last few Fridays I've been working on this painting with my painting mates via zoom. We've been painting as a group together for going on 24 years. We do miss actually being in the same studio, but with two living out of state now, it's via Zoom and still a fulfilling experience. This oil painting has made me think of my grandfather.
I think my maternal grandfather must have encountered seas as stormy as this his whole working as a mariner. He began his career on the sea as a young man, crewing on vessels with furling sails. He then qualified for a job as a rescue surfman at Burnt Harbor Life Saving Station. Rowing with others out to save crews on vessels in trouble along the rocky Maine coast. He then worked as a Quartermaster on the Lighthouse & Buoy Tender, Zizania,(all the vessels had flower or plant names). All the while working for his Captain's License. He then served as Captain Hanson of the S.S. Corsica hauling coal from Virginia to Boston. I'm sure the seas were often rough along the East Coast. In the 40s and 50s he was stationed on the Lightship Handkerchief and the Pollack Rip, six months, on and six months off, anchored along the coast of Massachusetts marking dangerous shoals for other mariners.
To me he was a loving grandfather who lived up a short path, next door, in the house we live in now. He tended his gardens of vegetables, blueberries bushes, growing and selling cut gladiolus. He raised bantam chickens and worked on wooden ship models in his workshop.
For the Record
This day came in warmer with light drizzle. The snow is melting, but everything looks like a huge mess, mud, dirty snow and a few thick, but melting, ice patches.
I retired from public school teaching after happily spending twenty eight years playing in Kindergarten. Now I fill my days watching cat antics, taking endless...
