MarciaChaves-AfternoonDelight

Afternoon Delight, work by Marcia Chaves. A photo from the summer of 1945 inspired this image of a quiet afternoon at our family cottage in Colonial Beach, following my first birthday celebration. World War II was still raging, and the year before, my father had left for training in the US Army a few days after my birth, and later arrived in Europe on Christmas of 1944 to endure the Battle of the Bulge. Meanwhile, my mother and I found a loving home with my grandparents who had built the beach cottage on the shores of the Potomac River in 1936. Generations of summer residents spent long afternoons under the quiet shade of mimosas and the Big Band sounds of Glen Miller. Today as we endure a different struggle, and the isolation of the pandemic quarantine,, the ephemeral peace of these quiet moments has special meaning. (MG: September 2020)