Yes, it’s a million degrees today, but even so, the nights are longer and cooler, and in the heat of the day, you can see the changes in the landscape. The greens have grown dusty and rich, the thin yellow edge of spring fading, dissipating. Here and there are sprigs and lines of reds and oranges, the first licks of early autumn.

Over the course of the summer, I tutored a neighbor girl in painting. Yesterday, we stood in the hot trailing edge of summer and painted this pond and its fall-edged foliage. I’ve enjoyed painting with her. At 14, she is gifted at painting, among other things. But it’s been hard to get her to step out of doing what she does well.

It’s always scary, leaving what you know for what you don’t. But I think that if you have even just a kernel of faith, you will be led safely down the new path. I urged my young friend on, and watched her hesitate, admit that she was scared, take the first halting step, then the second, then the third. By the fourth, she was smiling. And though she didn’t finish her painting, she knows the way – and it’s no longer so frightening.

If you’re interested in buying this painting, please email me at carrieBjacobson@gmail.com for price and shipping/delivery information.

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This entry was posted on Tuesday, August 31st, 2010 at 6:06 pm and is filed under Carrie Jacobson. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.