Madison – Haibane.info

Long Limb by Andrew Wyeth

American artist Andrew Wyeth died last week at the age of 91. His paintings of rural American landscapes and farm life are described by most obsrvers as having a nostalgic tone, but the few of his works I have seen strike me as timeless in a sense, because these same landscapes are the ones I have been seeing in real life after having moved to Wisconsin last year. There’s a serenity and simplicity to such scenes that provokes a kind of introspection. Here’s one that struck me in particular:

Related – posts about Wyeth’s art at Art News Blog and orDover. Also, the Wikipedia entry on Wyeth is worth a read – I didn’t know that Wyeth was often referenced in Peanuts!

welcome to Verona, WI

moving sucks. but we are almost done unpacking. In a week we will have figured out the rhythm of where the stuff is and adapted our routines, but this is gonna be a strange week.

goodbye, Marshfield

Tomorrow is the day we leave this town. In the past year here I have grown to really appreciate the pace of life here. My daughter roamed freely about the common backyard area and knew all our neighbors by name; I could leave my house unlocked and my garage open without fear, and everything was 5 minutes away from everything else. Plus, there’s a raw beauty to central Wisconsin that I don’t think I’ve seen anywhere else, a simple yet dignified beauty that was solidly rooted in the land and the soil. I will definitely miss this place, and I somehow doubt that i will ever be back.

Tomorrow, we move to the Madison area. The excitement of returning to Madison is of course a separate channel entirely from my sentiment at leaving Marshfield behind. In a week’s time, our normal will be renormalized. I intend to embrace madison again and make sure that both my daughters get as much benefit as possible from our (lengthier) sojurn there.