Christmas Fruit, and Breakthrough Color

I don't have many words to offer today, but I do have some color. This bowl of fruit was declared off limits for one evening, when I did the watercolor, and then was very quickly eaten over the next days. Pomegranates and clementines seem like the most festive of all.

In spite of the fact that Quebec has an extremely high vaccination rate, cases are surging here as they are almost everywhere, driven not by Omicron - yet - but by infections among young children at schools and daycares, who infect their parents, who then take the virus to the workplace. Fortunately, hospitalizations and deaths are still low, and more and more of the 5-11 year-olds are getting vaccinated. Omicron is still a very small percentage, but increasing fast: it will explode, and soon.

It's all really depressing. I won't be eligible for a booster until early January. More restrictions are likely to be imposed, and in my opinion, far too late. The federal government of Canada is requesting that all international trips be cancelled, and it sounds like border restrictions will be re-imposed soon. "Rethink your holiday parties," is both lame and ineffective, but people are desperate to be with their families, too. Sadly, we had already cancelled our plans to be with my father in upstate New York today for his 97th birthday, and obviously we won't be seeing our American family members for Christmas. I have to just try not to think about what that means. Meanwhile, in the U.S. and many other places, people seem to be doing whatever they feel like, and counting on their vaccinations to protect them from serious illness. I hope it works, and wish them well.

So, all I can say, from this interior space where I will be for most of the next few months: color helps. And reading. I've been working on a new print, which you'll see eventually: the carving was complicated and absorbing, and the repetitive process of printing is calming. I've been grateful for it.

I want to think not about breakthrough infections, but about breakthrough color: the way primary red and yellow, and gamboge and intense cobalt blue and viridian push aside everything else we're obsessing about, and make us stop and look, make us feel something emotional and positive.

How are things where you are? And what's helping you cope this holiday season?

Comments

[Claudia]

Love these colors (gamboge!! what a word). I used to do watercolors two lives ago. Wishing you healthy and peaceful holidays, and let’s hope 2022 is a much better year.

[Peter]

I'm loving the colors and admiring the skill it took to use them effectively ...

[Ann Elbourne]

A comforting post, just when I needed comfort. I sadly cancelled a Christmas dinner tomorrow with two grandchildren and their girlfriends who are off to Toronto this weekend. Elizabeth and her family were going to join us, so we would have been 10 people. Granddaughter Emma phoned to ask me whether I felt safe - and I had to admit I didn't. Omicron is exploding and 90% of identified cases are in double-vaccinated people. I need to ground myself in your colours and shapes and the wise advice to look at things which make us feel emotional and positive. Thank you Beth. Your post was uplifting.
Ann E

[Duchesse]

I find an outdoor walk with a friend (all of mine are vaccinated), with a stop for hot chocolate from a window of a local café immensely restorative. Music, colour and I admit, some movies I'd never have watched before.

What disturbs me greatly is a recent visit to my sons from one of their friends since daycare days, a 34 yr old covid denier who is unvaccinated and uses a counterfeit document to get into bars and restaurants. All of their old crew have rounded on him; he says "Isolate the old people and let us live our lives." This in contrast to the young nurse who gave me my booster, and when I remarked on the charming wall murals (including reindeer with bees riding on their antlers) she told me she had spent all weekend making them, so she could reassure children.

[Martine]

Sorry you had to cancel your trip to see your father.
Merci pour tes couleurs et pour tes mots. Ils ont toujours l'effet d'un baume.

[Kathy Hughes]

Agree that your post is comforting Beth except hearing you won't be able to see your dad on his birthday. All we can do is hope for better times in the future. Wishing you and J. a good holiday in spite of things.
Best,
Kathy

[Sharyn]

Hi Beth,
I love your colors! Olof is painting in oils and I'm just fooling with acrylics. Here in NH it is bad also and we are isolated with two very vulnerable elders in lock down.
Most people are going back to masking up but January looks bad here.
We're all tired of it and I am sorry you can't be with your dad. Our old folks are 93 and I'm glad we can spend time with them. If they were in a facility it would be tough.
Keep painting!

[Jean]

I couldn't love this more, Beth. Shared it with my Facebook poetry group, who were writing last week about fruit. They loved it too.