landscapes, large and small

Cliffs Beyond Abiquiu, Dry Waterfall, Georgia O'Keeffe

 I keep thinking about New Mexico--the colors, the landscapes, the fantasy of an abobe cottage with views of pink and black hills. Next weekend I hope to start returning to the Catskills after a long construction-related hiatus. I look forward to all the greens, the waterfall and rolling hills, to immersing myself in nature. But I know I will have to return to New Mexico one day. "The world is wide here," Georgia O'Keeffe said about New Mexico, "and it's very hard to feel that it's wide in the East."

I had planned to go to the studio today and paint, but I have a crushing headache, and so am spending a quiet Sunday reading, thinking and enjoying flowers* inside, and finally outside, where the first ones of the year have appeared. Spring starts slow in New England--the trees and flowerbeds are still bare, so I treasure this glimpse of blue near the base of the birdbath. I can see it from the kitchen window--the cats and I are constantly entertained by the birds that come and go--I open the window and listen to their songs changing with the seasons.

*flowers from Bow Street.