View from the Dentist's Chair

It was the time of the year to visit the dental surgeon, a friendly and meticulous chap who could connect with the young, even the kids.

As I sat in the dentist's chair, awaiting my turn, I stared into this painting (one of the two views we would get, the other being of the Republic Plaza and the pretty African violets that the dental surgeon grew on his window sill) ...

The longer I waited, the more intensely I stared into the painting. So familiar it was, having seen it for years. Yet each time, I would see something new. Eg the legs of the lounge chairs in the painting.

I wondered what it would be like to sit on those beach lounge chairs, out there, with the vast sky above, with nothing around but water...

I would have said great sense of freedom in the past. But ... after the tsunami of 2005, such scenes reminded me of the destructive waves of the tsunami. :(

And after the unhappy incident that took the lives of fine young men recently at the dragon boat race in Cambodia, somehow the deep blue of the sea in the painting took on shades of darkness and treachery.

One should not look too intensely into the painting. ~~~