Collage of Curiosities No. 25

June 2025

The beads on my glass of Chardonnay form quickly in mockery of my effort to remain cool on the patio. White and pink gaura sways languidly as it tries to move through the heavy air. I almost envy the frogs that croak from the cool mud of the marsh.

I know I’m not alone. Four days in and Summer is simply hot everywhere. I’m grateful to have air conditioning to retreat to and the aforementioned chilled bottle of white. Any breeze feels like cause for celebration. I’ll toast to that

As I write this evening I feel a personal shift. This month I debuted a new collection of paintings and delivered them to the Grand Bohemian Gallery in Greenville, South Carolina. “The Awakening Collection” was very much inspired by the energy of Spring. As the solstice has now passed and the paintings have been delivered, I feel a chapter closing. Another is starting to write itself as my head fills with the possibility of what I might create next.

The sheer possibility of summer harkens back to the days of childhood. Days that stretched long and melted together like an ice cream in the heat.

It’s a season that feels fluid and forces me to relax. The endlessness erases creative inhibition and lets it fly free.

While I was in Greenville, I took a drive to Caesar’s Head State Park (because what else do you do after a 7.5 hour drive somewhere? You drive more). Meandering along the back roads and hairpin turns to the overlook the trees towered above and wrapped me up in their greenery. The leaves shivered as I passed and the wind blew through my honeyed hair.

I sat upon one of the large rocks at the overlook for some time looking out over the expanse to the south. The air was surely the coolest I’ll feel until October and I would have let it lick my skin raw if I could have. Above, buzzards seemed to be in an eternally circular flight pattern as they rode the thermals.

Their circling presence was not ominous, but rather felt like it was signaling the beginning of my Summer. Time to turn my attention toward doing things just because and allowing myself to take the aimless drives and get lost in the moment without the fear that I’m losing moments. After all, the days are long.