A Warm (Enough) Day for Sketching Outdoors

On Monday afternoon, I went out for a hike with my oldest, Sarah, on what we call a Sketch-potition -- a sketching expedition.  The evergreen woods we strode through were carpeted with twigs and branches blown out of the trees by Sunday's wild windstorm. Ducking under fallen trees was tricky with a pack of art supplies on my back.

 The calm after the storm; the stillness after a brisk hike; the open field after a woods scramble -- yin and yang mingled.  I felt grateful for time to melt into the landscape as I sketched.  The brilliant blue sky spilled long, late rays of the sinking sun into the abandoned picnic area our family refers to as The City of Ember after the novel about a crumbling civilization whose inhabitants don't know how to maintain their infrastructure -- Sarah & I sat in acres of open meadow on top of a hill that once was actively used by park-goers, but due to shrinking state park budgets was closed.  The bluebirds, deer and we still enjoy its charms.