These Swans Bring Me Comfort

"Swan Mom and Babe"
Watercolor

With all the chaos in the world these days, it's nice to remember the simple comforts of nature. I found some photos I had taken several years back of a swan family. I watched Dad and Mom raise five little fuzz balls who ended up magnificant swan creatures in their own right. They were wonderful subjects to photograph and would wander close to shore, and I was able to document them quite intimately. Soon the children were as big as the parents, and I could not tell them apart. But alas, the children, as is the nature of the cycle, departed the preserve they were born in and who knows where they went. Sometimes I'll wander over to the preserve, scanning the waters for these heavenly creatures, but none are to be found. Perhaps someday the children, now adults, will come back and raise their own babies. The cycles of life. The moon rising, the sun setting, the seasons changing. Stability offers me comfort in these unsettling times we are in now. I found a photo of Mom Swan and one of her babes tonight while in my studio and felt drawn to paint it, and immediately I was transported back to that special time I had with the swan family. As I painted and the watercolors flowed in a dreamlike quality, I felt comforted by these beautiful birds, as they nestled in close to one another. And then something stirred within my, in the region of my soul. I remembered that sense of safety and nurturing that my own parents had given me, and though they are no longer with me, the memories of their love, and my nature photos, sustain me when life just seems a little out of control.