Pathways, Paintings and Memories

So Saturday was my birthday, and Chris surprised me with a new painting (this one, of the pathway) by B.J. Stapen, an artist we met in Santa Barbara, CA, about five years ago. Her paintings are timeless. I can see myself walking down this path, quietly drawing in the power and beauty of the place.

We're not art collectors, and I don't have much on my walls besides family pictures, but I fell in love with B.J.'s work as soon as we saw her booth at the weekly Sunday art show by the beach. (It was the summer of '04, the day we spent in and around Santa Barbara before my surgery.) We now have about a dozen of her paintings, including this newest one. If I could, I'd have one in every room.

I lived in Santa Barbara when I was little and my dad was in graduate school at UCSB. I have vivid memories of running around married student housing barefoot with a huge pack of kids (mostly preschool to early school age). We still keep in touch with several of the families.

None of us had any extra money at the time, so life wasn't extravagant in terms of stuff. But boy was it luxurious in other ways--like an absolutely perfect climate and lush, captivating views everywhere you'd look. For a treat on Saturday mornings, my parents would fill a thermos with coffee, pick up some donuts and take us to the playground at the beach. They say those were some of the best days.

Back to this past Saturday...when everyone was singing Happy Birthday, Bridget began dancing in the middle of the group. She was twirling with her hands high in the air. She was singing her own version of the birthday song and enjoying it. When the song finished, she clapped and yelled, "Day Day! Yea!" What a Day Day it was...