Life doesn't always go as planned

A couple weeks ago I made the long drive to Tulsa to visit my brothers, SIL and nephew.  It was a strange trip to say the least.

I arrived the night before a big winter storm hit.  I stayed in an AirBnB which was a beautiful, newly built duplex.  

Ice arrived before the snow and encased everything in ice.  In addition the temps dropped below zero.  I sent this photo to the owner and she had someone come over right away to check it out.  I didn't want the pipes to freeze.

The first day I pretty much stayed inside, but by day two the weather had cleared.  I was the only tenant in the duplex so I walked around the property looking for a garage or shed that might contain shovel.  No luck.  I once again contacted the owner and she had someone bring me this shovel.  Really?  I thought the proper response would have been sending a snow removal service over, but I guess not.

Eager to get outside I took that shovel down to the bottom of the driveway and tried to expose some blacktop.  The house was located at the end of a long driveway on top of a hill.  I just wanted to make sure I would have some traction at the bottom of the hill so I wouldn't slide into the middle of the street.  It worked!

The AirBnB was really great until Saturday night when the guests in the other half of the duplex threw a gigantic party that lasted into the early hours of the morning.  Who knew that people rented these places just to have parties? (I live a sheltered life.)  They left a huge mess for the owners.  I did not feel safe being there during the party.  I messaged the owner to let her know what she might be facing.  She felt really bad and delivered a care basket to me.

I stayed at home the second day two because of the ice.  The sun finally came out and melted the ice on the roadways for the most part.  I did almost have an encounter with a ditch about a block away from this house, but luckily my car slid to a stop just in time.

Luckily I had brought my mobile art studio with me so I had plenty to do while stuck inside.  I finally got the entire canvas covered so I can start adding the details now.

When I did go out I visited both brothers, one in assisted living and the other in the hospital.  When I arrived at the assisted living facility there was a big sign saying the stomach bug was going around and to enter with caution.  I decided to take a chance. Might have been a mistake because I got really sick, the norovirus was going around Tulsa and I think that's probably what I had.  I figured it would be over in 24 hours, but it actually took me four days to feel better.  Another four days stuck in the house.  The most important thing though is that my brother didn't get ill, that could have been disastrous.

After feeling better I entertained myself with some walks and a really great art museum, The Philbrook.  They don't have a massive collection, but what they have is really good like this Kandinsky. 

They even have a Picasso.

Lots of modern art too like this wooden sculpture.

A mixture of 3-D and 2-D art.

I thought this was really beautiful.

The piano room in the mansion with an exquisite wall mural.

Then I entered a room to the side and I said "can it really be?"  I knew just by the foliage and colors that it must be a Kehinde Wiley painting.  My day was complete!  I love his work.  He did the official portraits of the Obamas and I love his creativity.  I like to be a little different with my art also.

There were a couple rooms with the old Madonna and Child paintings.  I'm not really in to the religious artwork, but I appreciate what they must have gone through to paint these hundreds of years ago when there weren't any art stores that sold tubes of oil paint.

I loved this piece with the bird cages and globe.  What was the artist trying to say?

A Moran painting of the Grand Canyon.

They also had a Rosa Bonheur piece.  She's one of my favorites, a French artist who specialized in animals back in the day when women weren't supposed to be artists.  Her use of light is mesmerizing.  Check out her painting named The Horse Fair which is located at the Met in NY.

My favorite part of visiting the Philbrook is the gardens and tempietto.

Breathtaking view.

I'll leave you with a quote that was etched on the bench inside the gazebo:

"Learning something new everyday is what life is really all about."

Thomas Author Manhart