The Red In My Painting

 Many years ago there was a movie entitled "I am Sam". I don't recall much of the movie, in fact, there is  only  one part of it that I remember  in any detail. The premise of the movie was about a mentally challenged father who was  trying  to take care of his child. She quickly outgrew him in logic but the delight she found in life with him is what made the most significant impression on her. She painted a picture about her life and splashed colors of red across it. While the picture itself was ordinary, the splashes of red stood out. The line I always remember is…You're the red in my painting. The thing that gives it vibrancy, depth, and beauty. As red is my favorite color, it is perfectly understandable to me how the beautiful things in life are my 'reds' also.

We enjoyed the most beautiful sunsets as we watched the setting sun turn a brilliant blue sky and ocean red. The changing color of the leaves on the tree made the hillsides vivid and alive. While I have always appreciated a good tree for the beauty and shade it provides, I have to admit a tree with color excites my heart.

I found that I could look at the ordinary through a new lens, a red colored one, and found that even the most unremarkable things were beautiful when viewed this way.

There is a lesson here I hope to remember. My perception of my life is mine. There is red all around me. I can choose to see it and enjoy it where ever I may be. Or, I can miss it and my life will become an ordinary canvas. At the end of the day the choice is mine alone to make.

For those of you who read this…you are the real red in my life.

San Juan Islands

The San Juan Islands are a collection of 450 small Islands in the archipelago that is embraced by the Georgia Strait, Puget Sound, and the Strait of Juan de Fuca. They are surrounded by land in Anacortes, WA and the Canadian border. Of these 450 islands of varying sizes, only about 200 of them are named and of

those, only a handful are inhabited. Coming in to this archipelago is like entering another world. It is crisp, green, and the orange-red bark of the madrone trees taint the Island like paint that has been splashed onto a  canvas to give it vibrancy of life. We are content to be here.

 Our days are filled roaming the area on foot. We are staying in a lovely area which is surrounded by the Moran State Forest. There are lakes and waterfalls that surround the areas and we have set out to explore as many as we can.

There is beauty in being off the beaten path. We see deer and rabbit as the scurry across our path. The sound of the waterfalls can be heard long before they are seen. The beauty of this place is not lost on us and we are absorbing as much of it as we can.

We did take a small trip to the town of Olga. It seems Tom's

grandmother Hazel was a resident of this area and was the Postmistress here (we believe) for several years. It is equally quaint and stunning and we find ourselves daydreaming about life here. We were able to stop off at the post-office before leaving and mail ourselves a card from this area which the postmistress hand-cancelled for us.

We have decided that a visit to all the inhabited Islands is a must for us and will put the San Juan's on our "bucket-list". For now, we will savor our time here.