Summer Full Summer Moon
Ruth (grand-daughter, 3) has a voice that is innocence. Her pitch, her earnestess and her imaginative conversation all draw me to a time when life proceeded with leaving home in the early morning, going down the street to pick up my pals, deciding whether to go to the field, play baseball, ride bikes or hunt for pop bottles to turn in for spare change. Her voice carries the sweetness of cotton candy sold under bright lights at a county fair, pink dresses with lots of frill. When I hear her, I remember the garden before the fall when we walked with the sacred unclothed and wide-eyed.
Gabe has a smile that lights up the room and makes everyone glad. Innocence and joy are great gifts children offer to adults, reminders of what the world has on offer if we can shed the mantle of maturity, even if only for a little while.
Today I’m going to put the finishing touches on my pre-Raphaelite tour. I’ve changed my focus a bit with more attention to Hunt’s evolution as an artist and as a spiritual seeker than an examination of pre-Raphaelitism per se. In that regard I will start with his Light of the World, started when he was only 23 and finished a year later. This painting made him famous and rich, but, more important, it ignited a life-long spiritual journey that took shape in his art. This is a trial run for this tour, so we’ll see how it goes.
