Spring and the Scent of Smoke in the Air

Now that spring is on its way and we have only a few feet of snow left in our yard, it's time to get back to the business of blogging. Paul and I recently returned from a week long trip to Kentucky to join in celebrating his dad, Jim's, 90th birthday. It was a delightful trip and an impromptu party with family members turned out great. Jim is doing extremely well and was so happy to have all of us there. Most of his week was spent in long conversations with family members, playing bridge late into the nights with Bruce, Libby, and Russ, and sipping single malt Scotch with like minded connoisseurs. Though it was cold and wet, winter is a good time to visit Kentucky because you can walk the farm without fear of poison ivy, and the sycamore trees readily display their mottled skin. While there, we learned of the devastating fire on Main Avenue in Durango, which destroyed a T-Shirt shop and two of our favorite restaurants, Seasons and Le Rendezvous. Our hearts go out to all the employees and to Karen Barger, the owner of Seasons, and Pierre Rochat, the owner of Le Rendezvous, and their families. Several relief funds have been set up to help out those affected, including one at First National Bank in Durango. On our return, I notified my insurance adjuster that I had four artworks displayed at Seasons at the time of the fire. I went downtown and saw the horrible condition of the buildings, which were much worse in person than in the newspaper photos. I approached Karen Barger, who was loading up a pick-up truck with remnants from the fire, when she turned to me excitedly and said "I saved two of your pieces!" I was dumbfounded. I didn't understand how anything could have survived what seemed to be an all consuming fire, but it turns out that despite two feet of water in the lower basement level, some things only suffered minimal damage. One of my pieces was at the base of the stairs, near the wine room, and the other was on the wall between the bathroom doors. Though the frames suffered some soot damage, the works themselves are intact. I have decided to rename the pieces "Sentinel" and "Phoenix." Two pieces were destroyed by fire and water, but you can still see the images under the plexiglass. They were still hanging on the wall after the fire, surrounded by burnt debris and charred walls.
We are all grateful that no one was seriously injured and all that was lost were material possessions. The community is hoping the businesses will be rebuilt soon and are looking forward to spending time again with the great staff and enjoying wonderful meals.