I left home this morning around 8:30 AM with nothing in my mind to paint for the day. When my car hit Palm Beach Blvd., I realized I had not been to the town seat of Alva for quite some time. Therefore, I turned right on Broadway, and then followed the North River Road (Highway 78), heading west.
I just drove out of the town when a familiar site brought something back from my memory. It was a house lot on the roadside. There used to be a small farmhouse with rusty roof sitting there. The first time I painted the house was nearly five years ago. The second time I drove by, I was shocked to see it had been burned down. Like today, I was on the road looking for object for my plein air painting. So I pulled over and found a sad sight. The house was totally grounded except the shack's rusty roof still hanging from the charred frame. The floor beams laid there almost in the same shape as the foundation, only terribly burned. Here and there,you could see children's toys, daily stuff, clothes scattered around. From those things, you could picture a family life with robust children playing around the house. I made a painting again of the burned down house. For both paintings you could find in my blog's "Painting Gallery".
Today as I was nearing the site, I noticed it had been cleaned. Tree branches were tidily piled on one side and annuals, which must have been planted around the house, were still seasonally in full blossom, not knowing no one was there to appreciate their beauty anymore. My eyes quickly moved to a big tree leaning over the dirt road which used to be the drive. Then I noticed a tire hanging from its bough slightly swaying in breeze. It must have belonged to the children of the family. Then I noticed the tire had been recently decorated with garland around it. When I walked closer, I saw Christmas candy ticks and flowers were there under the tire with two solar-powered lights, one on each side. Behind the flowers there were two small crosses with the names of Joyce and Laila written on them. I suddenly felt like being struck by a lightning. Those girls were killed in the fire! I had never known it. After that I also noticed at the base of the tree were two old pumpkins with "Happy Halloween" and "Love you" written on them. I felt sad and realized it was under this tree, the devastated parents came to mourn the girl they lost in the deadly fire. There was also a headless stone statue next to the crosses. It seemed to be a replica of some Indian antique. It had been wrapped with Christmas decoration. I guess he was invited to play the role of guarding angel.
I didn't know what kind of tree it was. It looked like Banyan tree but I was not very sure. I decided to paint the tree in honor of the two unknown girls.
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