A fork in the road is in sight

Thanks to a young lady who wrote to me about the concept of the knights errant, I have stumbled upon a painter whose work I had not encountered in the past. Viktor Vasnetsov was among the founders of the folklorist / romantic, modernistic movement in Russian art. His paintings often focused on the mythological and the historical elements of Russian life. This particular oil on canvas is called "A Knight at the Crossroads" or "A Warrior at a Fork in the Road." Vasnetsov painted it twice, first in 1878 and then in 1882. This is the 1882 version. The inscription on the menhir, by the way, is this: "If you ride to the left, you will lose your horse, if you ride to the right, you will lose your head." Such is the life of a knight errant, it would seem, no matter into which century he is born and lives.

The dice just keep rolling

On December 31, 2010, I wrote the following words:

Three ideas are floating through my mind as a new year looms on the horizon:

Buy a house in the southern suburbs of Minneapolis/St. Paul and hang out for a year or two writing and writing. This = safety & security.

Move to Florida, buy a boat and hang out for a year or two diving and diving. This = adventure & long-shot gambling.

Travel by ship (a freighter that accepts a few passengers) from America to Europe and decide what to do next upon arrival. There is a run from Duluth, Minnesota, through the Great Lakes, up the St. Lawrence River, across the Atlantic Ocean, through the North Sea and into the Baltic Sea to Gdansk, Poland. This = learning potential & self-discovery.

So, then. How do those three thoughts rate in terms of rolling the dice? And, while I am thinking of it, how do you spell hiatus?

Well, it is evident that I selected safety and security. In the spring, I bought a house in the suburbs of Minneapolis/St. Paul and moved in on the evening of June 28. I have been here six months. I have been perfectly miserable in most regards ever since.

So, just this week, after some discussion with children and a friend or two, I made the decision to stay here for another six months. Then, I will roll the dice once again. One of these times, I expect to find the treasure at the end of the rainbow or to abruptly discover there is no water at the bottom of the cliff from which I leap.