SMOKE SEASON

Acrylic on canvas, 2 x 3 FT.

Growing up in Texas, summers were hot and humid. I always think of that line from Neil Simon’s Biloxi Blues, “Man it's hot. It's like Africa hot. Tarzan couldn't take this kind of hot.”

We spent our summers poolside or being pulled behind behind a boat, waterskiing. I remember the sunsets sparkling across the water’s edge and thinking life couldn’t be more beautiful. Then, I moved to Colorado in my 20s and summers had a different feel, sunsets a different hue as they crested mountain tops before fading into night. Then, there’s the wildfire season.

The fires during summer of 2021 were particularly bad, ravaging across 32,860 acres. Everyday, we’d watch haze collect over the Denver skyline. A magical glow would cover the western sky and the sun would be ablaze the whole day through, a burning red against patches of browns and grays and blues. Most every sunset was electric and picture worthy, which got me to thinking…

Nature has a way of making even the most destructive chaos beautiful, making room for the earth to bloom anew. I know several of these fires are manmade, don’t get me wrong, between global warming and human carelessness but still. Even in the most dire of times and struggles, there is hope in a sunset because a day is done and the sun also rises.