A Run Through Time

Writing in Real Time here, for a short break from The Blur Goes to College. On Saturday, Harrison competed in the Run Through Time Half-Marathon in Salida. This was his second time running the race. He placed 14th overall among the 243 entrants, running the 13.2 miles of difficult rocky trails and 1,732 feet of vertical elevation gain in one hour and 53 minutes.

Meanwhile, I was scrambling around on the course to provide support and take pictures at six different locations on the course. In doing so, I managed to run about six miles and more than 1,000 feet of vertical gain, and to not fall on my face.

Afterwards, we had lunch and did some shopping. Just as we were leaving, my phone rang. It was his longtime art teacher, Carrie Smith, who lives in Salida. Harrison was in her class from Kindergarten through his senior year. Throughout his 13 years of K-12 education, Carrie provided a consistent and steady presence in his development and learning. During this time, he also was included in several art field trips, including to the Denver Art Museum, and overnight excursions to Santa Fe, where we visited the Georgia O’Keeffe Museum and Meow Wolf.

Over the years in Carrie’s class, Harrison produced a veritable body of work, including numerous paintings, drawings and sculptures. His work was chosen for the student display at the Third Street Gallery in Westcliffe, and he was granted scholarships from the Sangres Art Guild to help pay his tuition at Colorado Mountain College.

Carrie was one of a handful of true mentors Harrison has been fortunate to encounter in his lifetime. When Harrison went off to college, we sort of lost touch with her.

Carrie said that she had seen on Harrison’s social media that we were in town for the race and asked if we could stop by her house. She said that she was moving away and wanted to see us before she left. I said we’d be there in a couple of minutes.

We had an amazing visit. Carrie said that Harrison had been a very special student to her and that she thinks of him often. She asked Harrison if he would sing for her, and he sang a choir song. Then she invited him out to her garage because she wanted to give him something.

In the garage, Carrie began leafing through a box of paintings for the right one. I noticed a painting of some planets and, knowing Harrison’s interest in space, I mentioned it. She said, no that it was painted by one of her students, but . . . she said . . . “You want planets?” . . . then she produced a painting of a young person looking up at a Solar Eclipse with a mountain range in the background.

She made this painting when she was 17 years old. I was stunned.

Anyone who knows Harrison knows this was the right painting for him. I immediately felt like Carrie had somehow painted Harrison before he arrived in this lifetime. Indeed, I have the theory that art — be it a painting, writing or music — sometimes comes through people as a message from a higher source.

We wish Carrie all the best in her new adventures and hope to visit with her more often in the future.