Pat shared a Facebook post that his old boss wrote.

He was asking his ten-year-old daughter what she thought about school this year.

She replied, “School, I am so over school now.”

picture courtesy of https://picjumbo.com/

That made me laugh.

The wonderful thing about kids is that they are adaptable. They live in the moment; school is so last year. Children are quick to create new meaning in their lives. That’s a lesson that we can all take to heart while trying to cope with today’s weird world.

My classes are now taught online. I don’t go out as much. Many things have changed for me.

In fact, this painting has gained a new and unexpected meaning for me.

Over Horley. Acrylic Painting on Cradled Birchwood Panel 48 x 36 inches.

The original photo for this painting was taken out of the window of an airplane. We were flying into Gatwick after touring in Spain and Portugal. My iPhone said it was Horley, England. It named a place where my feet have never set foot. It is amazing how our technical gadgets identify these places for us.

When I got around to painting it, I was thinking of how I enjoy flying.

picture courtesy of https://picjumbo.com/ Wing shot showing London, England.

I used to live in a small isolated Indian village up in Northern Alberta. For most of the year, the access to the village is limited to flying in and out on six-seater Cessnas.

I loved that.

The view was unlike anything I had seen before.

The rivers wound and snaked through the muskeg.

At times we spotted moose from the air.

It was a unique way of seeing for me.

I remember an elder telling my class a story about the different ways of understanding.

At times we have the eyes of a mouse and can see everything up close in detail. This differs from the eyes of a hare as he can jump through the forest and so sees a further range of objects.

But that also is not like the eyes of an eagle who flies over everything. He sees how the world is interconnected.

There isn’t a better or worse way of seeing, but there could be an understanding that we all see things differently in accordance to our circumstances.

When I was a little girl, I had vivid dreams about flying.

I wanted to have that freedom and vision.

But now when I look at this painting, Over Horley, it reminds me of that wonderful trip we had. It was the last time we had traveled to Europe including the UK, Spain, and Portugal.

One of my photos of Lisbon, Portugal at night.

The Portuguese word Saudade is an apt word for what I am feeling.

This is a deep emotional state of nostalgic or profound melancholic longing for something you love but is now absent.

I miss traveling and wonder when I will be able to safely do it again.

But it is more than that. The word also carries the knowledge that things are not the same. So, it is the recollection of joy and pleasure but the knowledge of a sadness that accompanies it. To long for the past means that you cannot feel excitement for the future. We might not be able to travel as carefree as we did in the past. Things will not be the same; they will be different. So what accompanies the memory of that view is now the desire for something that is unattainable.

And that’s a bittersweet place to be.

IF you want a reminder of past travels, I have prints of this painting available.

The original is also still in my collection.

Please send me a message if you are interested in it.

My hope is that all of us learn to adapt.

To safe and future journeys.

Adapting to the Brave New World