A New Prairie/Overlooks (1978- 1981)

First teaching job drew me over 1000 miles away from the home of my first 26 years, to the counterpane prairies that are gateway to the mythical West- Nebraska. During the job interview in Lincoln, I practically stole a car to get far out into the country where I was greeted by seas of wind and monarch butterflies caught in it, attempting to touch down on milkweed hosts. Greater intimacy with wildness and a wider yonder- that was it! “Open Golden” (1979), “Alley-lujah!” (1980) and “A New Prairie” (1981) marked constant discoveries.

Filled, we traveled to the Blue Ridge peaks of the North Carolina in 1981 where wife, NE born son, and I inhabited a sort of treehouse overhanging a mountain rimmed lake. “Overlooks” (1981-82) was about a high vantage point, yet also about why/how/what I fail to see. A not-so-easy celebrant of the given, I slogged up a rocky mountain creek for an hour. That short flash made for a treehouse full of drawings, paintings, and writings over four seasons of an unforgettable year.