Daily journal January 28, 2001, Leaving beautiful Lehigh Valley Pennsylvania for home.
From Easton just East of Bethlehem and inspired by the good company of Norman my host, I departed after seeing two beautiful wild deer in the yard next door walking in the snow. It was 10:00am as I drove away to the main highway and Westward admiring the beautiful farms with Dutch style Barns and houses and silos and live animals I could see along the way. Thank God for site and mobility and for a car that runs so beautifully. Most of the grazing land was buried under a foot of snow and the farmers were out feeding the cattle with bales of hay in the bright sunshine of a lovely day. I have not received any splash on my car this entire trip and while most other cars were covered with white salt, my car remains clean except for the inside. I feel good this morning and rejoice in the Lord God and want to read a psalm or sing the song and listen to gospel music as I go along. Psalms 150-1 "Praise you Lord, praise God in his sanctuary; praise him in the firmament of his power. 2-Praise Him for his mighty acts: praise him according to his excellent greatness. 3-Praise him with the sound of the trumpet: praise him with the psaltery and harp, 4-Praise Him with the timbrel and dance: praise him with stringed instruments and organs, 5-Praise Him upon the loud symbols: praise Him upon the high sounding symbols. 6-Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Praise ye the Lord". I praise you Lord for all that you have provided me with. Make me ready now. The Earthquake in Northern India near Pakistan is now reported to have claimed 10,000. What a pity. These people now have much more to be concerned about than the nuclear battle over Kashmir with Pakistan. Life is so cheap in this part of world but the same thing will happen to the great city and to this great nation in the fulfillment of Biblical prophecy and that is why I paint prophecy. Thank God for this great Angel that does ride with me every mile of the dangerous highways and crazy drivers that drive aggressively without common courtesies. There is always danger on every highway. I want to paint what I see especially along this highway if it would take everyday of my time to do so. The Bushes are reported to have gone to a black Methodist church today and clapped their hands and swayed with the audience as they took part in singing of the spirituals. This may be one step in the right direction for the first family and correcting the past. I remember that Bush senior signed a gasoline bill that is now attributed to polluting 25 percent of our water supply. Also the Noelhide law of 1991 making us a Jewish state of religion. After three hours driving West and South on I-81, I am into Maryland and then Eastern West Virginia and by the regional airport stopping at Shoney's for not so quick of a buffet lunch as I noticed all the church ladies crowding the tables and I am inspired to paint what I see including all the natural scenes of silos and farmhouses with big red barns and beautiful farm stylings and always with live animals grazing and fences that stroll along the hillsides in this rolling country. By sundown I have reached I-77 and have my radio tuned to PBS where Rebecca Hoffburger from the American Visionary Art Museum in Baltimore speaking of the new show ‘Treasures of Sound’ by Tracy Wall with and Ray Madison and his fine art needling pictures. I must make it home tonight. Born 1946, a review of Dolly Pardons having written 3000 songs in her life and she said they all have some spiritual emphasis. She grew up in a Pentecostal Church where her grandfather Jake was a Church of God Preacher. When she came out with cropped hair and makeup the neighbors would say that she was just trash, she said "I want to be trash". Coming down the mountain into North Carolina and seeing all lights below reminded me