There's a heat wave that has swept across the USA , reached my neck of the beach yesterday. This weather became personally ironic for several reasons.

The most obvious is that I have been working on a summer beach sunset, concentrating on the effect so the viewer can “feel” the heat – and also refreshing cool from approaching the water.

For the first time since I was four years old, I haven't been swimming yet. Usually I am in by late June, but today is the first day of August. I am still fighting some virus; it began as a kind of cold and has continued as such, with a visit from a bladder infection that was mentioned in another blog. The bladder infection was my own darn fault, brought about by my burning the candle at both ends and the middle while having this “cold”. However, I now know of other people who have my other symptoms and whatever this is, it apparently lingers. I only feel bad and cough when I become physically active. I've been home working at the PC on another site, a presentation for art professionals, on promotional materials, and painting. I have completed a lot of work, so in a way, it's been a good thing.

However, my favorite physical place to be is definitely in water – and the very best is flowing water such as in my local ocean, bays and lake.

We've never needed air conditioning before (this is record breaking heat), but today I could not work on the desktop PC, the one that's used for graphics, web site building, the prints databases, etc., because the temperature was just too hot in here to working on the PC (for the PC's sake, not mine, I was in this studio painting!). So, this blog is a bit late. And it will be short, too.

The beach sunset I've been working on is basically completed except for painting a psalm for the frame. Since it is a part of the Genesis: Sunset-Sunrise series, I've been painting with the words (Hebrew letters as strokes) of Genesis I-II:7. With the reports of global warming, the heat wave and other signs of this problem evident around the globe, I am reminded of Adam being sent out from the Garden of Eden to tend to the earth.  How are we tending to the earth?

I'm going to find a psalm for the frame that addresses this last question. The painting will be titled with a quote from that psalm. I'll update this specific blog entry with that psalm number and title soon.

May you be a blessing and be blessed,

Judy Rey

August 1, 2006