Old Fishin’ Hole

Perhaps the best thing about childhood is what we make of it in our memories. I suppose that in the living there were good times and bad, but in the memory, it’s the good times that live on with a certain radiance. I’m sure that my affectin for the simple pleasures of life stem from my memories of grwing up in the little town of Placerville, roaming the California foothills with my friends, savoring the freedom and security of my boyhood, dreaming the dreams of childhood and having so many come true.

Now I celebrate my own very personal childhood memories with The Old Fishin’ Hole. This painting is a historic and much anticipated imge, but the reception I anticipate for The Old Fishin’ Hole stems from something more basic than that. This idyllic image of childhood reminds us of the simple pleasures of a summer day.

Fishing was one of our summer pastimes, and we all had our favorite fishing holes. Covered bridges like this one were rarities in the Sierra foothills, but it seemed, at least in our boyhood imaginings, that big trout gathered in the shadowy depths under those dramatic old bridges. The morning sun dapples the scene in the radiant light of memory.