The Luxury of Gathering

As we head into fall I’ve been thinking about the solitary winter ahead.

Gathering now seems like an unbelievable luxury.  Hugging is a slim memory.  Yesterday a small gathering was had when George and Aaron and Jackie met us at the Hallie Ford Museum of Art to see the Clifford Gleason exhibition (Clifford Gleason: The Power of Paint) and my exhibition (“Bonnie Hull: Memory as Myth”)…masked and distant …except for the brief moment when Jackie Johnson removed her mask for a quick photo in front of her own painting now on view in the Carl Hall Gallery in the museum, generously purchased and donated by June Brothers.

As we talked while lunching on our porch (socially distant of course)… I thought of all the gatherings and occasions between this time last year and quarantine in mid-March.  I thought of these five and a half months of comparative solitude, and of how one falls out of the habit of interacting, chatting.  Hugging.  Restaurants, museums, galleries, schools, sitting around the kitchen table with friends and family.  Part of a world gone from us.  But…between September 1 and March15th we packed a lot in and looking back was fun…

Good bye to Sally (quilter extraordinaire)

Good bye to RBG, who made all of our lives so much better…(but NOT goodbye to Torry who still makes our lives so much better)

Goodbye to the Bay House Restaurant, scene of many gatherings…

Hello to fall, to THE WINTER ahead.

(We may have more to worry about than just getting together, but for this 39 days I won’t think about that.)

Keep in touch.