Reincarnation Reboot

Little Chippie on Dwights shoulder

I fully retired in 2011. Over the years I had many interests that have since been helpful to fill my time now that I am retired. I began to spend time doing acrylic painting. Bob Ross’s The Joy of Painting came on PBS create channel every day at 12:30. I watched in awe, while eating my lunch, as he painted a whole painting in less than a half hour. I began to experiment with his painting techniques and finally found some success.
Little Chippie was a mourning dove who fell out of his nest too early. We began to feed him and he became like a pet, actually eating out of our hand. This was my last personal encounter with Chippie. As he got older he began to be more distant. We went on vacation for two weeks and when we returned he had adjusted to life in the wild. We were sad to lose the connection, but realized this day would come. You can read the original poem at https://wordpress.com/post/rothpoetry.wordpress.com/18410
I wrote a children’s book Little Chippies Big Adventure, which is also an e-book on kindle.
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Painting with my friend
Spring dove brought social closeness
Now the bird has flown

Photo: Dwight L. Roth
Kim at d’Verse asked us to go back and find an autobiographical poem and add prose and a haiku to it for Haibun Monday.

Join us at: https://dversepoets.com

For a preview of my story click the link below:

http://a.co/78yG5dH

54 thoughts on “Reincarnation Reboot

  1. I retired in 2010. Finishing a painting in a half hour is amazing. My grandfather was a landscape/Western artist. He would take months on each painting.

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  2. Love this post, Dwight, and how you cared for the little dove. My neighbour did the same for a young Woodpigeon which fell out of its nest, and it hung around for a while before going back to the wild. Great photo to cherish, too!

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  3. In these stay-in-our-home-more days, I actually took out my paints and sketch paper for the first time in 45+ years yesterday. I got so involved painting two birds….wonderful to just get absorbed and forget about the chaos and challenges our world is facing now. Love the photo and the idea of the dove befriending you 🙂
    PS: seems to me you can join my rejuvenatement club: I never say “retired” – I always say I rejuvenated in December 2012. Seems to me you’ve definitely rejuvenated! 🙂

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    • Good for you! Painting is a wonderful way to pass the time, with great results.
      I can’t even pronounce that (ha ha) so I will stick with retired! No shame in being where you are in life!! Thank you Lillian.

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  4. I wonder how many were inspired by Bob Ross to take up brush and paint for their own pleasure. I loved his soothing presentations. Lovely photo of you and Chippie…and your painting! Thank you for sharing Chippie’s story .. and yours!

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