I’ve been playing Piano Man by Billy Joel all day as I painted on my porch. The view is astounding and I ending up painting for hours only to find I was painting to the beat of the song. I didn’t realize it at first until I noticed I was waiting between chords to add some fluff strokes to the clouds. I was waiting for the next beat to make the next stroke. Maybe that is only funny to me for it meant I was putting structure to my creative process. And here come those old philosophical tropes again. Bringing back the late-night conversations about freedom, free-spirits, no restraints, the…

Do you still have those pictures of me that you took in Big Bend? You know which ones. As I say that, I also know you have them for you never throw anything like that away. You have all the pictures of the women who wandered through your life, especially those who stumbled and fell. Pictures, notes, ticket stubs, letters, and ephemera. Memory clues, you always called them. Of course, these pictures are in a different class. I smile as I write that. You were taking pictures of Castellon and the yucca plants that were blooming. I had spread out a blanket and somehow my clothes slipped away. Something that…