Umbrella At The Seashore

I saw a picture of a poster which is probably a poster picture of an oil painting, recently, which impressed me. Not the process it went through to becoming what it is, but rather the sentiment it displayed.

You get used to seeing posters of most things, some of them rather bizarre.

There are party-hardy posters, deco art posters and cute little puppy posters. Those are the ones, I understand, that sell the best. Puppies. Kittens chasing a ball of twine. Long-necked giraffes with soulful eyes. If it was me, I doubt seriously, I'd want to wake up every morning to a giraffe watching me drink my morning coffee.

Posters of pigtailed girls shyly holding hands with a freckle-faced boy sell well, too. We have Norman Rockwell to thank for that.

The poster that caught my attention, though, was of three people walking along a seashore. Two women and a man. He was holding an umbrella over the two ladies while they sought seashells. Or, perhaps, they searched for crabs to cook for supper later. With salt and some seasoning, crabs make a tasty offering for a gentleman guest.

The scene, colored mostly in yellows, reminded me not so much of a hot day, though certainly, if an umbrella was needed for shade, it must have been hot.

Instead, it nudged a forgotten memory into the clear view of today. My Mother could have been one of those ladies under that large umbrella. It would fit perfectly with her perspective of what life shoud be.

She had a gentle view of her universe which included friends, songs sung around a piano, afternoon refreshments and taking enjoyment of simple pleasures such as hunting for pretty shells.

And I wondered if we all hung that poster-picture of an oil painting on our walls and absorbed that image of life into the very canvas of our being, if, perhaps, we could recreate a world more sane than the one we are experiencing now. Recreate that magical era which produced artists like Chuck Jones, Norman Rockwell, Walt Disney, and songsters like Glenn Miller and Judy Garland who filled our hearts with music. Recreate a world where everything beautiful and mystical is well within our grasp.

Ah, yes, well . . . . I'll put the memory away now, along with the poster, and turn on the TV. It's time for the news and a reality check of what our world is really like. And isn't "Fear Factor" on tonight? Think I'll watch that.
Umbrella At the Seashore © 2005 Chaeli Sullivan