Matters of the Heart

Tomorrow is our 22nd anniversary. We are going to break with tradition and not go to 1789 for dinner, but try a different restaurant - La Miche, in Bethesda. The occasion of our anniversary reminds me of the poem I wrote on the way home from Thanksgiving with his family at the cabin in Upstate New York in 2002:


Thanksgiving 2002

Coming home
We are content
In comfortable quiet
As the Allman Brothers
(Louisville, May 29, 1996)
Mourn
"No one to run with anymore."

But our road is straight and clear.
The threat of snow has disappeared.
And when the horizon pinks, nudging
Baby blanket blue from the sky,
Lights blink on
And once again
We are driving through the night.

With you,
As always,
Even the dark
Is soft
And warm.
Not at all scary.

P.E. Ortman

I painted a portrait of Jim and one of our nephews, the son of his youngest brother, from a picture I took at the cabin the summer before. It is called "Storytime." You can see it at

http://members.purespeed.com/~peo/portraits.html

I also painted an abstract "portrait" of our relationship. It is called "Bold, Beautiful, Strong." You can see it at:

http://members.purespeed.com/~peo/abstracts.html