Some experiences are so extraordinary they seem like miracles. I had that kind of experience several months ago — and this is how it happened:
Most of us have some way of dealing with the stresses of life. I always imagined a beautiful landscape. It had blue wildflowers in the foreground and rolling hills in the distance, and it always provided a wonderful feeling of peace.
I searched for years for a painting similar to my imagined landscape—something I could share with others. I even took up oil painting, but I could not capture the image that was in my mind.
Then, several months ago, I was watching the Antiques Roadshow on television and suddenly there was my imaginary landscape! There were the blue wildflowers and the rolling hills, and there, too, was that remarkable sense of well-being.
It was a beautiful painting by Robert Wood. Unfortunately, the painting was not for sale, and besides, its appraised value was far more than I could afford.
So I began searching the Internet for a print of the painting. My niece in Virginia offered to help. She called back an hour later saying that she could not find a print but that the original painting was going to be sold at an art auction in Dallas, Texas!
I didn’t know what to do. Finally, unable to decide, I prayed for Divine guidance. The next morning I decided straight off that I would bid and that my bid would be two-thirds of the painting’s appraised value. Now things began to move fast — the auction was only two days away.
Then I got some discouraging news. While arranging for an absentee bid, I got to know the staff at the auction house in Dallas. They could tell that I didn’t know beans about art auctions, and they seemed concerned. One of them finally leveled with me.
She said the wildflowers in the painting were bluebonnets, the state flower of Texas, and therefore wealthy Texans were likely to bid up the price (in other words, my chances were slim). She also said the painting was an acknowledged masterpiece (which made my chances even slimmer).
Apparently there were other bluebonnet paintings, but this one from 1929 was probably the first, so it was titled simply Bluebonnets.
Auction day was long and nerve-racking. I finally called Dallas about 4 o’clock. A man answered, and when I asked who won the bid, he said, “Some guy from International Falls, Minnesota.”
“That’s me!” I shouted.
“Congratulations, sir,” he replied, “you were lucky.”
I thanked him, but I believed that luck had little to do with it.
Calls came in from Texas that evening. Most of the callers were worried about the painting. Among other things, they wanted to make sure I knew about the devastating effects of UV light and about having the painting professionally cleaned periodically.
The large painting now hangs above my mantel. And I often imagine myself hiking along its faint path. The path meanders through the bluebonnets and through a deserted farm and then leads to the distant hills crowned emerald-green by the setting sun. And my worries seldom survive the trip.
So my long search is over, and I am grateful for all the help along the way. I am especially grateful to Robert Wood, and I hope that somehow he is aware of the countless lives this painting has brightened.
