Seniors

“The warm dense air of OccupyInternational gave way to cooler breezes from the sea as Arturo neared the small art town….”

“From the top of hill, Arturo saw what reminded him of a circus encampment, only without a big top.”

“Temperatures had risen briefly above freezing the day before, softening snow and ice and reforming them into an Arizona badlands of rolling slippery ant hills crusted white and dirty grey.”

“The morning cold dawned as promised in Vermont, steely with ice, snow, and brilliant sunshine.”

“Many of the inhabitants, it often turned out, had been previous occupiers in other lands….”

“Ahead, as Arturo ambled toward his long awaited evening art show, glowing in the amber night, around and down the next small hill, lights from the area’s newest tourist attraction….

“Temperatures continued to drop into the mid teens, with snow building slightly deeper each snowfall….”

“Now, felt Arturo, he was ready to try some winter….”

“Look at this! I thought the camera hadn’t gotten anything in that shadow, but look!”

“Did he, his soul, come to take back to its source the countless moments when he breathed and tasted evenings like this? Like when he met Rosetta?“

“Backpack securely on, Arturo left his cottage and began his trek to town. Church bells rang the hopes of services with candles and open doors. Dusk was a breath away as the evening began to cool. Sea breezes flirted with the day’s last heat….”

“Rosetta watched him work, viewing tiny images on his laptop screen appear and disappear as she read across the room. Then smiled silently….”

“I like the filters that create an impressionist image best,” he told Rosetta at supper one night. “They make the soft pictures softer, give me ideas….”

“Filters, Arturo quickly found, simulated a wide range of effects he was familiar with in the art world….”

“There would be no snow here of course, on his stretch of Mediterranean walk this evening, but wind was wind, and he would be ready.“

“For practical reasons, he will take his shower there, at the grand hotel where his art already waits.“

“The Vermont air, Arturo found, differed in many ways from the generally humid warmness he had lived in Southeast Texas.“

“Arturo felt himself slipping from the artist of the night, to an artist of every night….”

“Arturo began glancing through the folders of photos saved in his computer.“

“Shaved but not yet bathed, Arturo quietly crossed to the furthest room in his and Rosetta’s charming shotgun of a house, their bedroom.”

“Rosetta understood. She could feel the creative tension stirring….”

“‘So what are you going to do with all these beautiful images?’ She asked.”

“Photoshop, it turned out, had more features than Arturo immediately needed, but he quickly sensed it promised a wealth of creative opportunities he might like.“

“What remained was a shaving cream goatee and mustache he thought interesting, but had never allowed to remain….

“Slowly, the left side of his face re-appeared from beneath the cream and beard.”

“Arturo’s face, he felt, resembled a mesh of stone, chiseled both sharp and softly, at least until he shaved….”

“…after he transferred the new images to their old laptop, they arrowed-down their day in pictures in silence.”

“Arturo felt he was on the verge of a new visual frontier. The short Vermont summer stretched itself full for both Arturo and Rosetta. Morning light began before five. And evenings glowed past nine.“

“Arturo chose a small digital camera from several available from students graduating and leaving the area….”

“Gently, he rubbed at a few spots he knew were extra tough, noticing a tender lone hair nearby….”

“Face held still, eyes wide open, Arturo examined his features and almost grizzly, mostly grey beard in the ancient mirror that Anna’s dad said was original to the old fisherman’s hut.”

“Only the colorful cows on canvases, t-shirts, and life size embellished sculptures reminded him of Texas, but not of his own art….”

“‘It’s a new visual language for me,’ he told Rosetta at a local artists’ show….”

“Arturo keenly felt an absence in his new work.”

“In early June, when most but not all chance of needing heat was past, and with the children having all long grown and gone to live on their own, Arturo and Rosetta moved to her home state of Vermont. He still painted, but….”

“Like the transitions of breezes and sounds on the wind in the approaching evening outside, Arturo was morphing from being “an” artist, to….”

“Returning to their converted fishing hut from his walk along the beach, Arturo knew to wait for the usual adjustments.“

“Unaware when he fell asleep, Arturo woke to Rosetta’s calls, “He’s out, he’s out!” Disorientated with sleep and grief, Arturo thought she meant outside their apartment.“

“‘He was an adventurer,’ said the Vet. Arturo and Rosetta only able to nod….”

“Rosetta and Arturo returned home talking excitedly to find Fluffer waiting at the door, panting….”

“We could try…” Rosetta half whispered softly, surprising Arturo away from his thoughts.