Burning Pines

Generally, art from a doctor's office wouldn't so appeal as to snap and post, but this one, which I'll call, maybe "Autumn", brought to mind a long ago long lost favorite. Primary colors fiery red and black, "Burning Pines" hung in the front entry hall of the house on BCR that Linda's parents built in the early 1950s, a painting that I admired every time I'd come over for our date - - which began fall 1952 my senior year at Bay High and the rest of that school year, and then resuming with all sorts of mixed feelings the end of summer 1953; and every single evening but one (don't ask, it was exceeding traumatic and caused me to do damage) summer 1954, and regular during UFlorida years until we married June 1957, in the room where I'm sitting and blogging right now, and moved away for twenty Navy years.

After MBA at Michigan June 1963 we PCS'd to Japan for three years, and while we were away, because of Mr. Peters' health, Lucy and Pete sold out and moved to Arizona in 1965, of course taking all the art along, and that's where they were when we returned from Japan July 1966, in a small garden apartment until they bought a townhouse in Scottsdale.

During that Arizona adventure -- we loved visiting, in part because of the desert's beauty in springtime, and the sunsets, and the cactuses, and the dry heat that meant never needing a towel to dry off when you got out of the swimming pool because you were dry before you got to the towel, a major change and difference not only from life in Yokohama, Japan, but especially from hot, humid Florida - - they opened an art gallery in Carefree or CaveCreek, a lovely drive into the desert a few miles from their home in Scottsdale. A lot of the art that had hung in their BCR home was hung there for sale, including "Burning Pines". 

One Saturday they closed and went home, and sometime between then and when they opened Monday, there was a break-in and burglary, and a major part of the art inventory was stolen. To my sorrow, "Burning Pines" was lost to us that weekend. I commiserated with Linda's parents about the loss of so much hanging inventory, especially that piece; but Linda's father told me no, the insurance company covered them and the insurance check turned out to be their very best day of sales in all the years they had the gallery.

I still miss "Burning Pines" and still have a picture of it in my mind. Which at this age half a century later and with 7H our own small living quarters, is probably better than trying to find a place to hang it.

Monday, May 6, 2019

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