Once you are past sixty, you have pretty much experienced ... survived ... just about everything. But I had never really had a Life Or Death moment until this weekend. My niece Elizabeth and her mom Marie (who I had not seen in many years) came for the Labor Day Weekend. Naturally, where I live, that must include the water! We put on our suits, and headed for the Slab, a low-water crossing with wide sandy beaches and water cascading over big smooth granite boulders ... so pristine and beautiful and Free! I have brought several groups of friends here, including my grandchildren, and everyone just raves about it. Clean happy burbling water ... or so we thought, as we waded in and then sat and frolicked about, in a nice open area, about waist-deep. After a half hour or so, Elizabeth said, Hey, didn't the water just change? And it did gurgle a little louder, tugged a little harder, but no real cause for alarm, right? The sun was shining, birds were singing, groups of children played and shouted in and out of the water. And so I lifted my hands from the boulder we sat on and enjoyed the floating sensation when suddenly, so fast I cannot think of a term for it ... nanosecond maybe? ... I was being hurled, sucked towards the low water bridge, right where the water ran beneath it. I grabbed ahold of the bridge and clung there, unable to do anything but 'hang on for dear life' a phrase that means so much more than you can know, until you have actually done it. I could hear Marie and Elizabeth calling my name but could do nothing except try with all my might to keep from being sucked beneath the concrete of the crossing. Suddenly I heard/felt Marie try to come to my rescue and then fwwoop! she too was sucked to the concrete and was holding on. She quickly realized that she could do nothing for me and concentrated on clinging to concrete, fighting against the most powerful current I've ever felt. Luckily for us, Elizabeth had the sense to get OUT of the water, to run around and get on the crossing and pull us up. I was in the corner fighting two currents and she couldn't budge me, I think I said 'get Marie first' so she did, pulled her out and then the two of them pulled me out. Terrifying. I will never again chuckle at water rescues seen on TV. Marie almost lost her bikini bottom; my bathing suit was pulled down to my waist, but we didn't care, we were alive. The power of water is an awesome thing.

I have not painted since The Incident. But I did get out on the water again (ON, not in) as we went boating with Randy and Darleen in his wonderful pontoon party boat on the Colorado River. That was great! I took a lot of photos ... beautiful old long-dead trees, reflected in the water, a group of boys jumping into the water from an old railway bridge ... so painting will come again and meanwhile, I'll post another alla prima from last month! It is GOOD to be alive!

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