The “Amore” Issue! I love Love. I drive my daughters crazy with this notion. But it is true.
“The Rose” was the very first song I can recall memorizing. I learned it at a church camp in Colorado Springs the summer after completing 7th grade. At the base of the beautiful Rocky Mountains we spent hours singing this song, rehearsing for the performance we would give our families at the end of the camp. Ever since, I have been singing this song to myself when I cannot go to sleep — it has always proven more effective than counting sheep or singing “99 bottles of beer on the wall.”
Over and over again, I recite the words in my head until my eyes get heavy and my anxiety wanes, and off to dream land I go. To me, it describes the various forms of elusive love, which definitely seem the most common types these days (Yes 2020, I am referring to you …). However, it ends with the hope of something on the horizon. How befitting a time to reflect, with winter on the way out and spring in the near future.
You will find several love affairs among the pages of Bella this month. My personal favorite, and my own affair, is my beer-venture! I have fallen in love with the process, the culture, and the tasting of craft beer. It will be a years-long journey that started in high school in Golden, Colorado, with the Coors Brewery, and was resurrected at the Aiken Brewing Company, located next door to my Studio in downtown Aiken. Follow my monthly articles and weekly blogs to participate in my adventure!
In our centerfold, you will find the ADDA’s recommendations for showing your love this month — thee are some amazing specials from local businesses. Don’t forget to take a photo in front of the iconic “Love Is…” mural on Newberry Street. Artist Betsy Wilson-Mahoney’s painting graces Bella’s cover this month — a painting of the lovely Violet Jones standing in front of the mural. It depicts all of the love the people of Aiken poured into their city during the rise of the pandemic.
Artist Robert Campbell returns to Bella with his love for rhinos in Kim Cordell’s article about The Aiken Center for the Arts’ exhibit “Going … Going … Gone,” which features 3 artists who champion animal conservation. Robert’s passion for rhinos is unlike anything I have seen in art — it is truly a love affair witnessed in the brush marks that cross his canvasses and bring life to these amazing animals.
Whatever your Love, however you express it, may you be in Love this month. In Love with the little things, proud moments, new perspectives, acoustic music, fermented beverages, REALLY good food, and the people who pass in and out of your life.
“It’s the heart, afraid of breaking
That never learns to dance
It’s the dream, afraid of waking
That never takes the chance
It’s the one who won’t be taken
Who cannot seem to give
And the soul, afraid of dying
That never learns to live”
from “The Rose,” written by Amanda McBroom
