Imagine what the ‘Shrink’ would say when he saw the capsized boats in my acrylic paintings:
“So Mister Elam, after you quit racing sailboat dinghies you painted two pictures of capsized sailboats. Do you sometimes dream about a sailboat turning over?”
Of course not. My dinghy crew and I always wore a life jacket. Not afraid of capsizing, but just good practice.
The acrylic painting above is the right side of the painting entitled “Over Early!” The boat has capsized because the committee boat, not shown to the left, fired a cannon across the starting line, and….Doc, it’s just a jokey painting.
“I see. Now let’s talk about your last painting before you took up fiction writing. You depicted a crew sliding off a fifteen-foot ‘Snipe,’ holding onto a rope and pulling the boat into a capsize.”
Hey, Doc that was no joke. My old Abilene friend and I moved to the Olympic Peninsula in Washington state. Frank Clevinger is the skipper. His idea to rent a Snipe and enter the race on Lake Washington. We would be the oldest entry.
And today that painting hangs in a sailboat hardware store that also sells life preservers. Next door to my son Kelson’s office. Kelson is an international sailboat skipper. Once won European Flying Dutchman sailing championship.
“Uh-huh. And what did your son Kelson say when he learned of your capsize?”
He said, “You’re both 80 years old. What ever were you thinking?”
