Perching

A red squirrel perched on a branch of a pine tree
12-3-12
graphite

A tree frog perched on a Camphor tree
12-1-12
graphite

The river and reflections on a quiet, foggy morning
12-4-12
graphite

Aren't we all just perching somewhere? Biding our time? Taking a breather? Licking our wounds? Taking 5? Evaluating our options? Cooling our heels? Taking notes? Recalibrating? Taking stock of the situation? Re-charging our batteries? Unilaterally calling a truce and saying for a moment: "here body! Here soul! Come here and rest --for just a moment.
Collect your wits, Find your center. Take a breath …until you are called to dive back into the business at hand.

I hope you find some time to perch and reflect in this busy season of expectation.

A Prince of a Frog

detail

Mother's Day Bullfrog
May 13, 2012
conté pencil

Early Sunday morning: The South Natick Dam has been quiet so far this spring. I've seen a few pairs of mallards; they visit and then move on. The fishermen and fishing families are out so I guess there are fish in the river. The Great Blue herons have no predictable hunting pattern yet as far as I can tell. But the trees are all leafed out and small birds are making their nests and the place is rather noisy with all their flitting and chasing. The yellow irises are blooming along the retaining wall above the dam. And that is where I spied this patient bullfrog yesterday morning. This being Massachusetts, perhaps he waited, in vain, for me to kiss him and thus be transformed. Sorry Monsieur Frog, one miraculous transformation is all you get!

Gathering Nuts

"Red Squirrel, Lake Waban" colored pencil

Red Squirrel, le lac Waban" crayon de couleur

Fall is definitely here. And we are harvesting different things:

Some sort of flying circus

Une sorte de Flying Circus

Fearless Fox

Le renard intrépide

Birds in flying machines

Les oiseaux dans des machines volantes

We're having a good time over here. I hope you are too.

The Bridge 1

The water is very low now. Yesterday morning I found a spot just under one of the arches of the Pleasant Street bridge and sketched the view downriver. The sun was bright and there were shadows and reflections on the cool water underneath. Two mallards could be seen through the arch. From this spot, the Charles River winds about 30 miles I guess to Boston Harbor. Over the years we've found our favorite stretches.

colored pencil

All the ducklings have grown up (as far as I can tell) and are gradually becoming part of the larger flock that calls this spot home. I miss them. On this day the air was cool but the sunlight was bright and hot. I did find frogs sunning themselves above the dam. I wonder what on earth they are thinking as they pose, unblinking, like statues for long intervals of time. There was also a turtle bumbling about in the increasingly shallow and muddy water. All I saw was a green, duckweed-festooned dome paddling this way and that as it looked for breakfast. I wonder if this is the same turtle I saw earlier in the summer.

colored pencil