reminiscence of gardenia

I began painting in a one room log shack erected on the banks of the pleistocene inland sea that became the drainage sluice behind my grandfather's store - in those days pigments had to be mined and ground to a fine powder - usually by thorough mastication and mixing with turpentine and berries.When we weren't minting our own currency we dabbled in ham radio - which were actually made from sheep - lined up on hill tops during thunder storms in order to generate enough static cling. One year, in order to visit Florida for spring break (where we fixed broken springs) we sold magazine subscriptions to the dead - who preferred Life over Time 2 to 1. Those kinds of wild adventures are far behind us now. Now I find myself and my colleagues vexed by the quotidian meal plan casserole of beans and chilis and beets