Acrylic paints, sand from sandstone cliff, September 2010
Hot Springs, SD
I had been meaning to go soak in some hot springs since 2008 with the intention of releasing the pain of the past. I did some research trying to find some springs and the nearest ones are in Hot Springs SD. We decided to make a family trip of it in 2010, our first family vacation in years.
For me this trip was a pilgrimage, an intentional spiritual journey. I felt excited but also nervous that perhaps I would be disappointed again in my hopes. I was praying in a quiet moment, out of long-suffering and pain, and received an image of the waterfall in Costa Rica, running down the mountainside, out of the rainforest, across the road, and down the cliff on the other side.
I love these waterfalls. When I first saw them, I asked the driver to stop and jumped out to splash in the waterfall for sheer joy. I saw various waterfalls during my time there and I remember being on the narrow mountain road surrounded by hundreds of shades of green with tears running down my face, wanting to stop the bus so I could stand among the clouds overlooking the valley and yell, "Vivo yo!" (I live!) in the breeze. I never felt more alive. And I hugged that aliveness to me in the midst of my pain as we drove across South Dakota, grateful for the symbol of life.
We arrived in Hot Springs, winding our way down Main Street toward our hotel, and to my complete shock, there were waterfalls pouring down the cliff, across a footpath, and into the river which runs through town. I had never anticipated a real waterfall! As soon as possible, we strolled the path, drinking from some springs and standing in the spray from a waterfall.
The next morning, early, I grabbed my art supplies and walked the path. I climbed up into a cave in the rock wall and gathered some sand from the sandstone. I walked back to the falls and painted them repeatedly, standing barefoot in the spray. This was my first try and I incorporated the red sand into the paint of my sandstone cliffs. This piece felt too heavy to me so in others I painted only the water spray on earth tone paper. I left wet and happy and went to soak in Evan's Plunge, a giant swimming pool of spring water for several hours. Fabulous.