New House--First Steps

So now that I'm able to move around and get things accomplished again, I'm working to put the house in order and try to make it an actual home.

For a week and change now, I had wanted to use a gift that I got as my first official action, because it is special to me and reminds me of where I've come from and the people there that I care about.

The first thing I did to change the house was to hang a painting. This painting:

This painting was given to me the day before I left by my friend Bruce Chandler, a professional artist of some renown in the Washington DC/MD/WV area. It's an oil painting that he did of a stretch of the Shenandoah River not far from where I've just moved from, and I'll cherish it, both for that memory and because it came from Bruce, a shooting buddy and ardent conservative, even though he officially resides in Maryland. Over the past year or so, I've watched Bruce as he's developed his shooting skills and taken a real interest in some classic firearms, and I'm proud to call him a friend right along with his wife Katherine, a liberal lawyer who is nonetheless a truly pleasant and charming person, political discussions aside, of course. ;-)

I shall miss them, and it's my hope that they do come down here and visit. Until then, I shall think of them both every time I see this picture, which now hangs in a place on honor on my wall just inside my front door.