"Little Moonwatch"

Acrylic on canvas 16"x20" museum wrap

One of the legacies left by my Dad was something my family calls 'Moonwatch". In the years when my folks first lived on the lake, Dad would call on full moon nights and say only one word over the phone: Moonwatch. Getting that call meant only one thing: he was on the water, had a glass of his famous mixture in hand (vodka, grapefruit juice and Fresca) and wanted to share his thrill at the sight of the luscious full moon. I've painted several versions of this view, this being the smallest I've done. The way the moonlight spills across the water is truly something to see.

The land around the lake has slowly developed and now at night we see not only the stars and moon, but the twinkling lights of other houses and docks. But full moon nights are still spectacular and in this day of text messaging it's not unusual for my family to text his code word to each other from all parts of the world. Dad would be so delighted to know that his reverence and appreciation of the natural world has been passed along to all of us in such an enjoyable way.

We let him keep the mixture recipe to himself.