Rainy Nights

Rainy Nights

<Last week: Pictures to the Lost Era

 

This year we  had the blessing of a wet winter here in Southern California. And, as I’ve noticed over the years, a wet winter is usually followed by a cool gray spring that can linger into July. With exception of a couple days here and there, this year is holding true to form. The sun half-heartedly melts through the cloud cover around 1:00 PM.  Despite the lingering daylight, the deep afternoons are cool, and the sky is clouded over again by sunset. All too soon enough we’ll awaken to a bright summer heat that won’t let up until after Thanksgiving. But for now the Southland holds its breath against the blast.

The first day of summer comes this week. Despite the wet winter and gray spring, the hills have already lost much of their green. That’s just how it is here. Sad to say, I have not been up to the hills yet this season. I missed winter completely, and there are only four or five days until solstice. Strange, considering how close they are to me, and how frequently I am accustomed to hiking up there. Stranger, since I’ve been immersed in this project for months, now, recording  Pete’s writings, and photographing painting after painting of the hills. Somehow, getting up to  what is now the preserve keeps sliding off the week’s agenda.

 And as I draw closer to finishing the work of photography, and recording, I find myself toying with the idea of staging an all night camera session and finishing everything in one marathon burn. It’s the same kind of urge I’ve encountered near the end of a long road trip. 

Haste is seldom your friend. Even though I know better I’ve fallen for my own stupid ideas more than once. A straight power drive from Wyoming to Los Angeles is a bad idea. So is staying up all night with the camera. Prudence, and patience in all things, especially this. Anyway…

We’re still looking at archive 11, Paintings to The Lost Era. Like The Lost Canyon Trip, The Lost Era slide show was  both a portrait of  rural La Habra in the 1940’s, and a look deep into Pete’s inner world. The Deep Dark Hole sequence was part of the Lost Era, as were the  fantastical Telephonepolies we saw last week. 

As you may have noticed all of this week’s paintings are rain and night scenes. As long as I remember knowing Pete, he was nearly always angry with the weather. He hated the hot dry months, especially during the smoggy 1960’s and 70’s. And accordingly, Pete loved the winter and the rain.  A major feature of The Lost Era was Pete’s childhood recollections of huge thunderstorms rolling through the sparsely settled hills. 

In later life he always kept a microphone set up near an open window just in case there was the sound of rainfall, or best of all, thunder to record. 

The winter of 2018—’19 was one of the wettest, and stormiest seasons in over a decade. Ironic that he missed this one. 

We’ll have more of the Lost Era collection next week, and possibly even a hint of what will follow.

Thank you for stopping by.

NEXT WEEK: Old La Habra >