Is this the dead of winter..

 ...or is winter, as we old folk remember, just plain dead?

If damp leaves are blocking the storm drains, your boots are covered with mud instead of snow, and I'm dreaming of a brown Christmas is worming through your consciousness, if these things make you think of winter, then you may be too young to understand. 

Not too many years ago, the standard winter in Wisconsin was like what you're reading about in Buffalo, New York. Where inches of snow are falling upon already fallen feet of snow. There were drifts the plow trucks clearing the streets left in our driveways that took hours to dismantle. We lost cars in drifts, and there was enough material to build an army of snowmen.

Temperatures were so cold that you felt good about some obscure town in northern Minnesota that was always colder than our fair state. This is the place Howard Cossel on Monday Night Football named the 'Frozen Tundra.' Milwaukee was home to the National Bowling Association because it was the only sport sane people played after the golf courses closed.

Now we use umbrellas year-round. We need them to protect us from rain during what used to be winter and the sun in the lengthening summers. I know we will have crossed the line when people no longer buy parkas and long underwear. When we quit planting pine trees and begin planting palm trees. When apple orchards are replaced by oranges. Maybe not in my lifetime, but don't bet against it.

Report From the Art Bar

I returned to Wonderland as reported. The small pieces exhibit is gone. They replaced it with some beautiful urban landscapes. It's worth the trip.

Because of my experience of having brunch on Saturday, I will patronize this place on another day of the week. If anyone thinks the weekend brunch tradition is going away, they haven't tried to get a table at Wonderland or Comet Cafe.

What I Am Working On:

Bus Stop

9 x 12 Gouache

This piece isn't complete. However, it's significant because I painted this without using a reference photo or models.