Day 2 1/2
Rocky Road was the theme of the day, from the wonderful early morning visit to Frank Lloyd Wright's Taliesin West made from local rocks and concrete, hours and hours of driving up hills that were almost too much for Mike's Civic, to the disappointing election returns 400 miles later.
Mike and I are starting a new chapter: his retirement. I'm sorry it is under this cloud of post election instability. But sometime between 4 and 6 this morning some thoughts about creativity in the midst of adversity came together. I've often wondered how artists (architects in this instance) managed to keep going during difficult times. When Wright started Taliesin West he was 70. Slept in a tent that leaked on his sleeping bag when it rained. Just like the his apprentices. When he started this project, in 1937 the American economy was suffering an extended depression and the threat of the next war (WWII) loomed on the horizon.
Times like these try wo(men)'s minds. In a perverse way, the election has clarified my values, for my work, my relationships, and what I want to see in the world.