Well...a pandemic, wildfires and crazy world and domestic events have affected so many of us these past months, and I am no exception. Personally, the COVID-19 pandemic has had only minimal effect on my life, and I infer no disrespect to those that it has when saying this. One member of my extended family contracted the virus, and she did not suffer greatly.
The wildfires, on the other hand, left a memorable mark on our town and the area in which I live. We are surrounded on three sides by redwood forest, and to the West is the Eel River, followed 10 miles later by the Pacific Ocean. While the Redwood forests are fairly resilient, the smoke from fires East, North and South created many days and nights of horrible conditions. Thankfully, the recent rains have put the fires to rest and we have fresh air once again.
The pandemic erased so many wonderful events that I enjoy here on the North coast of California. Our County Fair and bocce tournaments, the parades and festivities of our town's Rodeo and Auto Expo, and the tiny fair and circus that comes through every year, all on hold.
As for my creative endeavors, second to my love of drawing and creating my art, is photography. Now, my website creator and guide, Beau Saunders, and scanner and all-around tech guy, Joseph Wilhelm, are both professional photographers. They use digital cameras, drones, and an array of gadgets and equipment that are truly impressive. Their work is much more complex than what my iPhone 11-pro is capable of, but I am quite happy at this level of photography. Quick and easy! As a matter of fact, as I write this, I received a text message from Joseph, this morning. He got back to me with a project I proposed, in which we will combine one of my recent snapshots with a drawing I did back in the 1980's. It involves a Hobbit. New territory for me! I love it!
In addition, I have recently had a new series of greeting cards printed (featuring 10 of my original images), as well as new limited edition archival prints of the same images. I have made them available on my website for purchase and you can take a look at them here.
On the home front, as I’m spending less time in the company of others, I’ve been devoting a lot of time to the betterment of my home. I had my house painted this past summer, and I’ve completed a number of landscaping projects that were previously just in my mind. I love landscaping, and this pandemic has afforded me the time to complete projects that seemed never to be accomplished. Landscaping is a wonderfully creative outlet.
At my age, 69, the body begins to show you it's weaknesses. Being an athlete, and an active person all of my life, my joints have finally asked for help. I had knee surgery back in June, which turned out great, and I am scheduled to have surgery on a shoulder this winter. With Medicare, I will be a $6,000.00 man! Clarification: For those of you too young to remember, there was a television series, back in 1974, titled: "The Six Million Dollar Man."
I'm optimistic, in that we will again, soon, experience this wonderful life, together!
Thank you,
Rodney Marchetti