|
The Artist’s
Almanac
May 2004
download and print this installment as
a PDF
(you will need Adobe Acrobat reader to open this file, you can
get
it here free)
May, Mary’s month,
when earth says yes to God.
Leaves swarm the trees
and people throng celebrations on the green.. It is the time of
outdoor festivals, the Steeplechase, and paintouts. The woods
warbler brings its exquisite call back from Guatemala to add mystery
to the jungles of Tennessee and my grandson delights in coaxing a
sweet dollop from a honeysuckle bloom.
Football and
basketball fade from the TV as viewers turn to golfing, fishing,
softball, camping, and, at country picnics, horseshoes. The twirlers
vie with the flippers, the old teach the young, and the little ones
are warned out of the way.
Gardens explode with
color, as dogwood, clematis, columbine, and azaleas make us forget
the fading tulips and jonquils. Choirs of roses tune their
harmonies, and sumptuous peonies, like full-breasted women in Rubens
paintings, nod in dappled shade, challenging the painter to honor
their extravagant beauty. Green shoots of corn cleave the rivened
clay, and early peas and new potatoes come fresh from the garden
dressed with butter as the finest of Spring fare.
Cumulus clouds tower
glowing into the stratosphere and warm showers follow, obscuring the
long views with luxuriant growth. The lawn demands a weekly mowing.
Irises surprise us once more with their glory and we remember why
they are the flower of Tennessee. Too regal to be housebroken they
stand stiffly apart from each other and seem to ask, could ever a
flower have been designed with such style?
May is the best nature
can deliver, and gives us a glimpse of paradise. Ticks, tornadoes,
floods and flies bring us back to earth, and the daily news and
disease destroy any illusions we have about its perfection.
Still, in May, we
think of how it might have been before Adam ate the apple,
substituting his will for His, and we wonder: may we imitate and
glorify creation, without confusing it with the creator?
Artists may.
|
