Log0044 | Duck in Spanish
I’ve spoken many more words to this man on water than on land. Paddling the arteries of Patagonia.
Along the river we’ve dreamt and theorized, complained, complimented, laughed, debated and yes, paddled. What struck me most about him was his openness. It is exceedingly rare to meet someone so willing to discuss such personal topics with a stranger. Perhaps it was because of just that; I was a near stranger and so there were few consequences to what I knew. But that was not the reason, in this case, it was simply his personality.
We shared a common language - English; its rarity definitely inhibited my ability to connect with other people on these river excursions. But he was always willing to drop past my attempts to speak in the local language so that we could discuss topics that were inaccessible in my broken Spanish.
A generous man, he'd open his place to couchsurfers travelling through the region. He was quick to share and slow to borrow (and never money, no never money). He also did not eat meat. On one occasion, during a two day hike, he took only nuts and seeds to “see how my body handles it.”
Over the time I got to know him he’d talked about love lost and found and lost again. He had dreams of one day building a house on some land he had purchased. It would have everything he needed but nothing more. Simple. But big enough for a significant other and the offspring that came along with that sort of thing. The idea was to create a home and a family. As he put it “I want to build my nest to attract a bird.” To me that seemed like quite a fitting way to put it.
I look back on these memories fondly, but as with memory things start to fade and morph the moment after they happen. Years later when you look back through the haze of time, often all that is left that you can rely upon is the feeling, the rest is just aberrations.
And with that I decided to do this drawing entirely from memory. No photographic reference, not even to start. I just tried to recall his type, his face. Short beard, short hair. Dark. Receding. Big features; eyes, nose, mouth. Dark eyes. Full eyebrows. Elliptical head. Strong jaw. Slender build. I figured if anyone would be happy with my failed attempt at drawing them from memory. It would be him.