It's finally happened and that one door has pretty much closed for this California landscape painter: I've been advised not to go standing on my recently refurbished left knee, which I would be if I continued teaching that Friday all-day, Advanced Drawing 6 hour class at the college. Went and cleaned out my storage closet, removed my name tag and photos from its door, shed a tear, and then went to lunch at the really good taco place near campus.

Oh good, I'll have another day to paint, I told myself. I know that I'm just saying that to keep from missing my students. They are the best part of teaching and why I always learn more from them than I give to them by teaching. (They say not, but I really do learn from them.)

But I have to take care of my knee lest the surgeon insists on giving me a bionic knee. Hey, I go to the same physical therapy place as where Tiger Woods worked out in the early morning before the Open!

But back to my true love: landscape painting. I don't know what the other door is that friends tell me will open because the teaching door has closed... but I'm looking;) Meanwhile here's another landscape painting of the hills surrounding Santa Ysabel.

"Oaks on a Roll", 9 by 12 inches, oil on stretched canvas. Available: $375