True Masters

On the Occasion I toured Buckingham Palace, and was first introduced to a True Master's work, I was impressed. I remember there was a long hall of Portraits. Life-size family portraits of the royal families . Each successive King throughout the centuries portrayed on canvas in oil, and all done by the best painters of the time . All of the paintings were works of fine art . All were worth a fortune . Only the best painters were chosen to paint the King, so looking at the portraits , I not only began to understand Britain's Love of her Royalty, and how they are interwoven in England's history, but additionally it was a walk among centuries of the best work on Canvas in oil, in the world.
Pretty heady stuff for the uncultured descendant of one of the bastard sons of King Richard the Lion Hearted. oops. The Lionheart. Don't want to screw this thing up with the royal side of the family
Buckingham Palace is full of Antiques, Fine Art, the best of the best. Which brings me to the True Master, and back to the hall of royal portraits, and when I was impressed. It was because of this impression that I now must admit I was wrong. But first the True Master... In the middle of the Hall there hung a painting by Rembrandt, " The Shipbuilder and his Wife". If the other paintings were worth a fortune, then this defined priceless. Centuries of artwork, the best the King could buy, and that Rembrandt stood out like it was alone. In that hall, on that day, "The Shipbuilder and his Wife" was the only Masterpiece, and the other paintings paled in it's presence .
Now, I was wrong when I told that other idiot, " a man can do anything in five years if he's capable and smart" (Nihilism 3/2/09 ). Unfortunately, "capable and smart" doesn't cover everything.
The hall of portraits is an example of centuries of talent, and only one True Master. This is not to say the others weren't Good, Accomplished, Dedicated, but a lifetime of work could not elevate them to Rembrandt's level.
I was thinking of the Movie 'Amadeus' and the jealousy of the other composer whom knew, despite his hard work and talent , he would never be Mozart. In all things there is no substitution for hard work, but in some, talent to go with hard work cannot be substituted. Really, " talent" might be hard work at a young age, evolved into adult capability, and a lifetime of work . However, some "Talent" can only be defined as a gift.
If every Goose can lay a golden egg, I'm eating the wrong grain.
I have come to the conclusion that there are some things a man can do for a lifetime and never be very good at . I was thinking about this today while playing harmonica.. If one has no background in music, no talent, and no gift, It is not easy to sound good to others playing music, and I'm not sure five years of hard work would make the difference.
Searching for that Golden egg-

A Note to My Oldest Son

What's up Son,
Have you no opinion on American politics? Perfectly fine really, I know nothing about Britain except everybody in London is from somewhere else, and you can meet women from everywhere in the world and never leave the city limits. Oh, and look right or die, 'cause that's the direction from which traffic approaches! Find a good bakery for coffee and a foreign girl, (since I'm a foreigner in London) and it's a hook.
Woke up to snow flakes this morning. Cold. Winter doesn't want to release the mountains from it's grip. When the sun comes out Spring warmth is in it's light though. Meanwhile I'm forced to cut firewood daily to keep warm. Exercise. Next year I'll stock 10 cord of wood, not 2. I can deal with the solitude as long as there is food and firewood in the house. The basics; food, shelter, warmth. Love, laughter, music.
Perverted perceptions of the basics are wrong; green bud and easy money were not part of the original formula. Sugar babies weren't either. I slept with several last night in the pocket of my pajamas. During the night they slipped out of my pocket and proceeded to glue me to the bed. They were still good eating after being removed with a pocketknife. Like honey. The perfect food.
Your cousin got a 60 day notice to move out of the trailer. His dad agreed, and he's got 30 days left and not a clue. It's bite the bullet and grow up for your cousin. I might bring him to southern Oregon as an indentured laborer.
I figure your cousin, Carlos, you and me and it'll be THE PONDEROSA! BonannnnnnnZaaaaaaa!