Happily Out of Place: The Farmer and The Violin

This painting hangs in the Pattee Hotel in Perry, Iowa, where I went to high school. The rural scene painted by Gary Ernest Smith, called "Celebration of Life," shows a man standing in a freshly plowed field as he plays a violin. He looks happily out of place — like this world-class hotel in a tiny Iowa town. I took the photo of this painting a while ago but wanted to remember it today. "Happily out of place"  I like the sounds of that phrase. Taking an unusual or perhaps even unpopular stand on something - after deciding, happily, that it's the right thing to do - not necessarily what everyone else does. Perhaps we should all do that more.