Posted February 19, 2018 by Kerry McFall

“Bird of Paradise”, mixed media by Kerry McFall

Winter cannot truly be avoided, but I used to believe that its impact could be minimized by escaping to a milder climate.  Nope – experience teaches that when you return to your home base, you’ll find that winter has been laying in wait for you, and the fruit trees will not prune themselves.  I just spent almost 6 weeks in San Diego – not so much vacation as family necessity – and I’m back in Oregon feeling quite disoriented as snowflakes filter down through the fir branches.  The good news is I got the pruning done before the snow flurries began, and I was able to spend a little time art-making while I was there.  Now with a mug of hot buttered rum beside me, it’s pleasant to flip through my summery sketches, even as the faint tan line on my ankles fades back to my usual standard fishbelly white…

“San Diego Hibiscus”, mixed media by Kerry McFall

At first glance, San Diego was a riot of bright florals, but look closer and it’s clear that the greens have a thick underlayer of dying rusty browns, and many gardeners have switched to succulents from tropicals.  I loved encountering lush blooms on my daily walks to the boardwalk at Pacific Beach, but everything comes at a price. It was actually too hot down there, 80+ degrees, with the threat of wildfires constantly in the forecasts, and only one piddly rain event.  After a bit of flash puddling, the thirsty soils went quickly back to being bone dry, and the glorious blossoms went back to parched once again.

“Crystal Pier Search”, mixed media by Kerry McFall

Painting the endless variety of the waves is another rewarding pastime at the beach, and it usually brings me a sense of calm and “this too shall pass” for whatever is the challenge of the day.  But twice I felt a “disturbance in the Force”, if you will.  The first time was the day that a helicopter and several boats kept buzzing the pier where I was working, to the point that I couldn’t stand the fuss.  I packed up my art supplies and wandered until I found someone official, who said it was a search for a young man who had fallen from the pier the night before.  Suddenly the waves seemed sinister, not soothing…  The next disturbance did not materialize: the Tsunami watch after the Alaska earthquake.  Whew.  I have to believe that the whole of Pacific Beach will join the remains of that young man far out to sea should a Tsunami hit… climate change, anyone?