THE RACE IS ON

Spring is almost here!  However, snow is still somewhat abundant around our home at the base of Green Mountain, its depth only halfway up my shins rather than almost to my armpits.  Hmm, perhaps I shouldn't be too optimistic about spring arriving just yet, especially since the weatherman just declared, "more snow".  And then again, while out walking with a couple of friends on Saturday morning, not only did I see a flock of red-winged blackbirds - but the true harbingers of spring - a host of red-breasted robbins bobbing about a field, which only had patches of white snow clinging tenaciously to the flattened yellow grass.  I'm not sure if the crocuses are brave enough to poke their heads up yet or the black bears are rubbing the sleep from their eyes with their big paws but I feel a cheerfulness in the air, another yearly renaissance about to occur.

If only we could start the year over brand new; have a whole new beginning; correct any wrongs of the previous year or better yet, many, many previous years beforehand, to be able to make this world as beautiful and pristine as it once existed.  

The people in my painting, The Race is On had such a chance; a chance to create a whole new world; well perhaps the word "create" is not the correct word, since North America was already in existence.  However, if the so called founders had been intelligent enough and not so greedy, they had a chance to right so many wrongs that were occuring from whence they came.  Imagine just for a moment, discovering a whole new planet similar to the Earth - no, forget about it - the caregivers of the planet would be far outnumberd by the arrival of the bankers, the merchants, the lawyers, the royalty, the dictators, the military and every other blessed entrepreneur who could carve a buck out of it until the planet was just another disgraceful dying cesspool - thank the good Lord, we really can't get too far off this planet or the whole freakin' universe would be in dire jeopardy.

The Race is On          

At first glance, The Race is On appears to be just that – three jolly fellows racing about the universe in their very unusual space craft.  However, if one looks a little closer and places the numbers located on the wings in the correct sequence, they become the year 1492, the time when Christopher Columbus discovered the new world, which of course was much to the surprise of the people who had already been living there thousands of years beforehand.   

Now Chrissy boy was either very foolish or very brave to set sail in search of new lands, especially since many people of that era believed the world was as flat as a pancake and they would plunge off the edge, never to be seen again.  I don't believe Columbus sailed for glory or fame; it was more for money and position he was after.  However, upon returning; he received nothing – no real accolades of any kind.  A person would think that Queen Isabella, as she sat on her Spanish throne having her nails manicured, her hair coifed and being fed sweet chocolates while Chrissy boy struggled to keep his three leaky ships, the Santa Maria, the Pinta and the Nina afloat and the crews from mutinying, he would have at least received a big thank you for his efforts – but no - he received diddly-zilch!  Sort of typical, when you think about it,  Even today,  many of the rich still send the poorer folk out with very little in the way of resources in hopes that they will make them even richer.  Ah, the world and how it turns; or is it the stomach?

Take notice of the gold key, the fishhook and the anchor that are attached to the ships; a touch of symbolic reasoning for many explorers.  The gold key represents the treasures they hoped to discover; the fishhook for catching food during their voyage and the anchor – one may ask what’s so unusual about a ship having an anchor?  The anchor represents the fact, that even though Chrissy boy actually discovered a whole brand new land far, far away from home on the other side of the world; he was still sadly anchored to the same beliefs he had left behind in his wake.  Perhaps, upon his arrival in the new world, if he had been smarter, he would have tried to fit into another way of life instead of sailing back to good old Queen Issy.  And then again, queens are queens, politicians are politicians and bosses are still bosses, so even if he had remained in the new land, conditions would most likely have been very similar in that respect; after all, the new land was full of chiefs and more chiefs.   

Incidentally, we always hear about Chrissy boy, but has anyone ever wondered who the other two captains were on the other ships that accompanied him and how about the names of the crew?  After all, good old Christopher Columbus would never have reached the shores of the new world without them unless he had one hell of a back stroke and the sharks didn't find him very appetizing.

Besides the different coloured horses, which have absolutely no meaning at all, except other than we all on one occasion or another ride on someone's back, there's a little clown fish swimming gleefully behind.  And no, he is not Nemo and neither is he in search of Nemo - he's just a clown fish - like us, just another clown trying to get through life with as little misery as possible.

Just in case anyone is crazy about the painting or is perhaps just crazy and has loads of money - The Race is On is for sale - cheers - eh!