A Painter's Musings on the Visual World

Winter is in the air at the foot of the Andes in southern Patagonia. March is considered a shoulder season and in a normal year, the permanent residents of this small town would again reclaim it from all but the most hard-core hikers and tourists in the next weeks. But this is not a normal year and the town began moving people out a month earlier than usual. Even though there are no cases of Covid-19 in El Chalten, the nationwide quarantine went into effect to keep it at bay in the remote locations. The national park closed its trails and the bus station was busy with backpackers on the last days of operation.  

Sunrise on Fitz Roy

Yesterday was the last painting day. The sky and mountains were enticing as always in the morning before the winds picked up. “One more time,” I told myself as I wandered out to capture a distant glacier as the clouds around the top made edges obsolete. Our painting group has been at it for 13 straight days and the truth is we are too tired for the daunting task of glacial peaks alternately in gleaming sunlight then surrounded by storm clouds. Most days I look at the task of capturing these landscapes and think “Maybe Thomas Moran could get this right.” I will take my meager efforts home as mere color notes and hopefully do a killer studio piece when wind gusts are not buffeting my target. I likened it to the woman applying lipstick in the turbulence scene of the movie “Airplane.”

FitzRoy with a fresh coat of snow

Our group is still cheerful but we are also a little stressed by the uncertainty of what we will find in the airport in Buenos Aires, now solely operating to get travelers out of the country and Argentines back in. We have flights which may or may not operate and special flights to the US whose schedule changes daily. We have heard there is no food or water for sale in the airport, so our hosts at Hosteria El Pilar have once again stepped up to outfit us with dry provisions for the first 24 hours, wherever that may be. I cannot thank these people enough for their kindness. 

Jane Chapin "Our House" Gift for Cristina and Guillermo

I am going to keep kindness in the forefront of my mind as we re-enter the world. One of the generous things Guillermo and Cristina did was break their usual ban on internet and get a special connection for us to communicate as plans and schedules changed almost hourly. Of course, this brought with it the ability to hear all the political bickering back home and predictions of gloom and doom. Most of us muted those sources pretty quickly rather than engage.  Our group is of many political persuasions and our hosts even have very strong opinions they have exchanged, but kindness easily can overcome differences. Being in a small group committed to work together and leave no one behind gives a different perspective on how we speak to each other. 

Winter in mountains we leave behind and the Patagonian winds can be unforgiving. We will leave that to them.