ROAD MENDERS

Record high temperatures forecast for today where we live.  The boyfriend is appointed manager of our spring cleaning project which begins today at 10 a.m.  I am to report to room #1 at said time.  Somebody has to take over when one of the two is a proficient procrastinator.  I'll bet I could put off dying if I was near the end.  I'm prepared to obey, keep my nose to the grindstone, so when we're finished I can sit back and resume my love of late-life laziness.

Boyfriend made last night's supper in the electric wok.  Yes, I sinned and went back for seconds.  That's my second big flaw...satisfying my lion-like appetite.  But, then I know someone who has been diagnosed with stage 4 cancer, and she can barely eat.  She weighs 102 pounds.  Given the choice, I'd best not blab and complain about good health.  Oh, I know, chubbiness is claimed to be unhealthy, but the skinny ones are meeting their demise as well.  Oh, I forgot to mention that I'm also a professional rationalizer!

Well, now that my sins are confessed, let's go to the gallery.

Road Menders - 1889

Van Gogh made two versions of this painting.  This first one was painted outdoors, the second in his studio.  Both works depict the repaving of the street in Saint-Remy.  It was Vincent's habit of creating what he called 'repetitions.'  In one case he made as many as nine paintings or drawings of the same subject.  He viewed the repetitions as an opportunity to improve and clarify his initial composition.

In our own lives, it's okay to be self-critical to a point.  Maybe it's okay to embrace our flaws and make them work in our favor.  If we're not quite satisfied with how we do something the first time, then, why not do it again a little differently.  Instead of feeling like we failed, we can look at it as an ongoing process.  Kind of like the kaleidoscope.....a small movement creates an entirely new mosaic of colors.  I like Vincent's word 'repetitions.'  

In a letter to Theo, he wrote:  "The last study I have done is a view of the village, where they were at work under some enormous plane trees - repairing the pavements.  So there are heaps of sand, stones and gigantic trunks--the leaves yellowing and here and there you get a glimpse of a house front and small figures." 

Vincent was fascinated by the beautiful landscapes that he discovered at St. Remy.  He felt inspired, happy and relieved to find a serene and understanding atmosphere among the nuns and nurses who received him at the Saint Paul de Mausole Mental Hospital.  That explains the two nuns in this painting.   

There's the recurring theme of one object painted differently--note the last tree.  Always we see one that doesn't fit in with the rest.  That's Vincent.🖌