Does This Work?

I can't see the painting for the paint.

Oh my, this painting has kicked my butt. I'm still not sure it is actually finished but I've got to give it a rest for a minute. I've lost count of how many times I've painted the wet sand now, and I'm still not entirely happy with it. I think I need to lighten the curlew's legs a bit. I also think the wet sand may be too dark and too blue, but I've been working on and staring at this painting for weeks now so my brain is starting to go numb. And so Dear Readers, I humbly turn to you to ask does this work? Does the wet sand read as wet sand (especially if I de-blue it)? Are the curlew's feet that have sunk a bit into the wet sand believable? Or should I just toss it in the trash and console myself with an entire pint of Ben & Jerry's Chocolate Fudge Brownie? Thank you for your input.

Put 'Em on Ice

For the first time in a week, it was bearable to be outside for any length of time yesterday. In the morning when I left for work, I felt there might be reason to hope since it was 10 F out (the same temperature as the high from the day before.) and sure enough, by my lunch break it was approaching 20 F. I headed outside to see the sun and breath some fresh air and to maybe catch sight of some of the bald eagles that have come into town for the winter.

So here I am walking along the riverfront trail, enjoying being outside for a change and some movement across the river catches my attention. Inexplicably, there's a guy walking around on the river, really close to the edge of the ice. This ought to be interesting, I thought to myself, so I stopped to watch.

Then this guy picks up a good sized river rock and chucks it waaaaaay up in the air and watches it smack back down onto the ice. He then walks out to the rock, picks it up and does it again, and again, and each time the rock falls a little further out onto the river, he walks a little further out on the ice. I decide that I've had enough when I see him throwing the rock onto the ice that is slightly submerged under the water. Call me crazy, but I think when water is flowing over the ice it should be a good indicator that you shouldn't step there, regardless of what the rock says.

Through the wonders of Photoshop, I have highlighted the thrown rock for you to see.

So I'm walking back towards work and start to notice that there are other river rocks scattered here and there on top of the ice in the river. This means that other people (or maybe just this one obsessed guy?) have been performing this same act all up and down the area! Why have I never seen anyone doing this before? I mean, my office is right on the river with a wall of windows facing it and I'm always peeking out the window looking for eagles in the winter; you'd think that I'd have noticed this before.

And why are they doing this? To fish? Sure, the river has trout in it, but there are so many open areas you could just as easily dangle your hook directly into the river rather than going to the bother of drilling a hole in the ice.

I will let you know if I ever find an answer.

Sunday Drives

When I was a kid growing up in Massachusetts, we spent many a Sunday afternoon tooling around New England on back country roads and enjoying the scenery, sometimes taking a hike somewhere, or - my favorite - stopping at a farm stand that had ice cream.

This past Sunday my husband and I took a little after-dinner drive of our own, east of town. I noticed that the balsamroot (like dwarf sunflowers with silvery fuzzy leaves) was finally blooming on the south-facing hillsides while the mountains still had plenty of snow on them. We drove out a twisting one-lane road along a creek. It was so peaceful and beautiful back in that narrow valley, with the lowering sun bathing the cliffs high above us in golden light. I was really hoping for an owl or a moose - I wanted something magical to appear, but instead we got a flock of mountain sheep grazing in someone's yard.











They still had most of their winter coats intact and clearly were relishing the fresh grass. Very cool to see, but not quite the fantasy setting I'd pictured. There was also a large group of wild turkeys in another yard.












Not finding any owls or moose about, we eventually turned around and headed home. Once we got back into town, we stopped at our favorite ice cream stand. I had mocha chip with hot fudge and my husband had huckleberry with oreos. Mmmm. You just shouldn't mess with a good tradition.