ART & POETRY BY PAUL & KATHY BOECHER

With summer at its height comes all sorts of activities for families to attend. You don’t have to make an out-of-town trip to see some kind of historical gathering of reenactors. Paul enjoyed setting up his easel and some of his artwork at these events. He often said he was an 1800s kind of guy. In his growing up years, he worked on a farm close to the family lake home. He loved leading a team of horses. He grew a few more muscles taking part in all the work involved with life on a farm. In later years he would find barns that had an interesting look to them. Many were falling apart, but the Wisconsin farms were often very pristine and well cared for. They became the subject of several of his paintings. As time went by, he became part of one of our local county parks as a naturalist. Those reenactments I talk about were a special part of that time period. He often said I’d never get him on the stage, but he sure liked becoming an 1800s farmer, traveling artist or just a Renaissance man with ideas galore. He’d dress in period costume – had a special tent that was big enough to house a lot of his handiwork – gave presentations on what it was like to live in that time – sweat a lot in the heavy clothing worn at the time – enjoyed every minute of being “on stage.” The above sketches were done at one of these events. I think I can see him, can you?

In the weeds and trenches,

In the darkest holes,

Perched within the clenches,

Of yearned for days of old,

A bird of many colors,

Stands guard along the gate,

As colors bloom like flowers,

As spring’s brief advocate,

The new growth brings fresh life,

The gentle rain renews,

The end of snow and winter strife,

Replaced with wondrous views.