Carousel and Oprah

This is the latest painting I have been working on. I had no concrete idea of the concept, but decided to just let myself do what came into my mind. Eventually the meaning came to me, but I won't explain it. It has been fun to just paint by instinct as I used to, and I want to do a lot more of it. This painting isn't finished, but it is close.

I have been laying low over the past week because of an injury to my eye. A branch seemed to jump up from the pile as I was clearing out the brush from last week's trimming marathon. It hit me in the right eye and scratched it. This was a painful injury and actually sent me to the emergency room, where I was examined and given antibiotics and painkillers. The benefit was that I was unable to do much but sit around and complain, so I became acquainted with daytime TV. I saw my first episode of "Oprah Winfry," a talk show I have managed to avoid for years despite its popularity.

I must say there are benefits to being physically out of commission. I have rarely experienced this, forcing myself to paticipate in my daily routines no matter what. It has been very important to me to be invulnerable, to rise above discomfort or pain and keep up the appearance of normality. I am humiliated by any mention that I might not be in perfect health. Nevertheless, alone in my own house I allowed myself the luxury of reclining on the couch and doing nothing. I expected nothing of myself except to feed the dogs and chickens. The days passed lazily, the time measured by the change in TV shows rather than the clock. I was outside my usual activities and duties, luxuriating in inactivity.

Well, I can see how a person could become a hypochondriac.