I Am Tormented With an Everlasting Itch

Herman Melville, author of the classic novel "Moby Dick" once said—"As for me, I am tormented with an everlasting itch for things remote. I love to sail forbidden seas, and land on barbarous coasts."  Well this morning I have an appreciation for part of that statement....I'm back home in Missouri and am also "TORMENTED WITH AN EVERLASTING ITCH" due to a countless number of chiggar and mosquito bites.  

I stopped counting at about 10 on my right ankle and leg with new ones appearing every few hours.  What makes some of us cursed to be part of the insect food chain while others, my husband in particular, can trop around through the underbrush completely oblivious to all those micro predators and the vast jungle of toxic foliage that cover earth crust of this beautiful state.  

Thinking back about my happy childhood growing up here in the Ozark hills, I find that I often suppressed the bad memories.  Maybe that is some sort of self preservation trick that my mind plays because you see, I have always been on the list of favorite menu items for any and all of the blood sucking and panty line biting pests that were created to inhabit this earth as a result of Adam and Eve and the original sin.  Thanks a lot grandma Eve. 

Looking back,  I'm pretty sure that all my childhood teachers thought me to be in a constant state of sunburn as my complexion was more bright pink than peach due to the vast amounts of "Rhulicream" that my mother had to apply to my body or I would have surely gone insane.  Scratching was just a way of life and the every night "TICK" checks were part of the night time routine the same as  putting on your PJ's and brushing your teeth.  

As my usual practice, I decided to deal with my current stress by turning to humor and art to take my mind off my discomforts.  I had forgotten the chiggers were so small and such a beautiful shade of red.  No larger than a dot from my pen and yet they leave itchy red spots the size of dimes all over your extremities.  They love to get in tight places so all the bumps at my sock and panty lines are a testament to their feasting. 

We had only stopped for a few minutes on a picturesque spot of dirt road we had found.  I walked in the grass just a few feet to get in the back of the truck.  Brad on the other hand tromped all over the area and was even sitting there on the ground enjoying the little shady creek that we took our refuge by.  I sat in the truck the whole time with the door open and feeling itchy.  I couldn't find the culprit but I had the distinct feeling that I was being bitten.  The next morning the tail tale signs were there, pointing to what I had suspected- CHIGGERS!

This is just for fun....if you want to see my serious artwork, please check out my website at Julietownsendstudio.com.  You won't be disappointed.

Remembering the Old Swimming Hole

Swimming Hole- 16 x 24 Acrylic

I have absolutely the fondest summer childhood memories of spending hot afternoons in Missouri playing at the local swimming hole. I had just a few opportunities to swim in a regular swimming pool but I found them to be boring in comparison to the fun there was exploring and enjoying nature that an afternoon at the creek could offer.  You couldn't build dams, forts, hunt frogs or have rock skipping contests at those "Concrete ponds".


My mother would always pack a cooler with cold watermelon, sandwiches, chips and a jug of lemonade.  She would grab the old "River Blanket", air up a couple of old tire inner-tubes that took up the whole trunk and load it all in the Chevy.  She and us three kids would then pile into the car and drive the few miles to our favorite creek so that we could spend the afternoon floating and splashing.

All those memories come flooding back when I see my two beautiful grandsons now enjoying those same childhood pleasures.  I'm so glad they are being raised as "Country Boys".

A couple of weeks ago I actually wrote a small poem called "Swimming Goggles" and knew that I didn't have to look far for the inspiration for the illustration to go with my newest literary masterpiece.  This past week I started working on a painting that is inspired by this amazing photo taken by my son, who is a professional photographer in Leesburg, GA.    I've added a few tweaks here and there but I think I managed to capture their spirit of adventure and childhood innocence in my piece called "Swimming Hole".

Pretty easy to see why I would be inspired by this great shot.

Makes me laugh every time I look at this photo

Swim Goggles

By

Julie Townsend

Fishy, fishy in this brook

Please stop swimming so I can take a look

I want to take a peek at your home below

And these goggles help me see don’t you know

With them I can spend my day

In splashing fun and play

Until my skin is wrinkled and all saggy

And my swim trunks are soaked and all baggy

Seeking out all sorts of lost treasure

Spending time in pretend and fun beyond measure

This vast underwater kingdom is all mine to explore

As long as I don’t get to far from the shore!

To view more of my collection of literary masterpieces visit my website and while you're there, feel free to checkout my other galleries and see if there something that strikes your fancy.  I would love to hear from you.

Winter on My Mind

The weather here in Las Vegas has been unseasonable cold with several days of temperatures never leaving the 30's.  For almost 20 years we have heated our home exclusively with a wood stove.  This works fine at night to take e chill out of the air, but with these temps the house has been like living in a meat locker all day.  The last few days have certainly been a challenge and my studio has been SO cold that I've been painting in my jacket and scarf.  Mittens wouldn't allow for good brush strokes so gloves weren't an option but for a moment I did consider it.  Seems fitting to have a winter scene in progress on my easel and so yesterday I started working on this 16x20 frozen composition in acrylics.  The weather today is supposed to begin warming up and so maybe spring will soon be in the studio air!