“Now I see in color”

Monday March 7
It was time to head back home today, but before we left Wausau, I wanted to drive into downtown to photograph this striking mural I had noticed. “Now I see in color” is dedicated to the recovery community in Wausau — anyone recovering from drug or alcohol addiction. “Heal. Strengthen. Unify.” are the words painted in the sky over an image of Rib Mountain and a chain of people holding hands. RISE UP Central Wisconsin is a community-based mural arts organization that works with the community to create public artworks that end negative stigmas for various groups of people. Artists work with different populations for each mural. For this mural, the group worked with communities recovering from addiction. The title of the mural, "Now I See in Color," is meant to add on to the themes they heard repeated in workshops. Those at Lakeside Recovery commonly say that during their addiction and efforts toward improvement they feel as if they're living a dark, black-and-white life. Once they come through the healing process, life becomes colorful and beautiful again.
We had a good drive overall, and with losing an hour due to the time difference, we arrived home about 8.30. When we reached the Madison Wisconsin area, we could see they had fresh snowfall there, but fortunately the roads were clear.