Rainy Day Esther

I received a big, awkwardly taped package from Clarkdale Arizona the other day. It turns out that my cousin Ellen sent me a precious parcel from Northern Arizona!
A funny painting of my mentor, Esther Burton, which she had picked up at a Verde Valley yard sale.
Esther Burton was one of the first adults to impress me beyond my parents. She taught me how to make espresso and encouraged me to travel with her adventures of Africa. Esther turned me on to cool music and literature. I spent many a night chain smoking filter less cigarettes and listening to Marianne Faithful in attempts of being interesting and deep, because of Esther. She helped me wake up and explore what it meant to be alive. Which sometimes meant making dumb choices along the way.

After Esther died, in Jerome Arizona, I inherited a lovely black and white photograph of her taken by John Lowentstein. I had the photograph framed with reclaimed wood from one of the old hotels in Jerome, and donated the photograph to the Jerome Library.

Well last week this funny painting of Esther showed up in North Carolina. It is almost as though her memory has been colored with the colors of Africa. (No wonder I yearn to go there.)
God Bless!
Thanks Ellen!
Esther Burton