Uncommon Things That Bring Comfort in Times of Deciding What to Leave Behind

​It's interesting when I come to a place of reserved panic, for example what to take with me in my car when leaving home or work, with hope that all will remain, and undamaged the next time I show up . I left my studio early today because smoke from the Sonoma County fires was building up in that area. My studio is near the Walbridge Fire. This is the third damaging fire for 3 consecutive years in a row in close proximity to me, so I'm a little uncomfortable when I smell smoke, and is now engrained in my psyche to "get the hell out of Dodge" when I do. As I was packing up,  I asked myself, "Wait! I should take something with me!"

I took the same thing that I chose last year - my color charts, the ones I made 12 years ago after losing my first born, full-term grandchild due to a cordal accident. I created 13 color charts after that unimaginable experience, because I wasn't able to paint anything else.

Going over that auspicious time, I know that creating these color charts was the thing that grounded me. That must be the reason I grabbed them. They simply let me know that I will make it through this, too.