Recently at my parents’ home, I noticed a piece of artwork hanging the wall. I had seen it many times, but somehow this time, it looked different. Upon inspecting the title written at the bottom, I noticed that it read: “Indian River Reflections,”  Vera Zimmerman, 1987.

The painting shows a menagerie of people standing by the river, their reflection shining in the shallow waters…

“Mom, tell me about this please. Who are these people?”

“Well these are the many people of the Indian River Lagoon. There are Native Americans, African-Americans,  the Spanish, Jonathan Dickinson,  the cattlemen, the “pioneers…”

My eye kept going to the little girl and the dog…

“Things are different but the same,” I thought.

“Who is Vera Zimmerman, the artist,  again? I know you have told me about her before.”

“She is an artist and an archeologist up in Brevard County…”

My mother left to clear the table and I stood there looking at the sketch…thinking about all of the people who have gone before us…

We too stand on the edge of the Indian River Lagoon, our reflections staring back. I wonder how one day, we will be painted?

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Associations of Vera Zimmerman:

http://www.flbrevard.com/History/_history.html

http://www.nbbd.com/npr/archaeology-iras/

http://www.oviasc.org/Old-Vero-Man-Site-History–Old-Vero-Ice-Age-Sites-Commitee–preserving-and-appropriately-excavating-important-Ice-Age-archaeological-and-paleontological-sites-in-Vero-Beach-and-Indian-River-County.html
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USGS Florida Shoreline: (http://coastal.er.usgs.gov/flash/summary.html)