Summer Garden

This stork visited my cottage by the St. John's River and I had a chance to paint him while he/she posed.  (It was a long pose for a bird.)  I was so happy that my art materials were close by and ready to be used when I realized the stork had landed by the raised bed gardens.

It is a good thing I have put away my childish ideas about storks bringing newborn babies to your doorstep.  If storks really brought babies we wouldn't be prepared anymore.  Our sons are grown and we are empty nesters now.  My current babies are my gardens (growing vegetables, fruit and flowers), my artwork, and volunteering.  

Rainy Beach Run

My husband loves to run early in the morning.  Especially, on the beach where he can feel the fresh salt air and hear the waves lapping on the shore.  He runs in all weather conditions.  This day he had the beach all to himself.  No one else was around, not even the birds joined him. 

HOW SWEET THE SOUND

It has been a hot and dry summer here in Wisconsin.   Everyone but especially our farmers are concerned about their crops, live stock and the seeds they are growing for next years crops.  Living in Northeastern Wisconsin we are blessed with lots of lakes and rivers plus seventeen named waterfalls.  (You can even get a map and take a self guided tour by car to see the falls, but it takes an entire day to visit them all.)  Not only are the falls beautiful to visit and paint but their streams feed rivers that then produce our hydroelectricity for our communities.  Today our electrical and crop concerns have been minimized since it is finally raining on the land and into the streams so the waterfalls are rushing once again.  The sound of the rushing water over the rocks is oh so sweet.  I hope all of our other Wisconsin Counties receive rain today as well.

Boathouse Reflections

Living on a canal on the St. John's River is filled with surprises.  Mullet jumping, blue herons visiting in hopes of eating your bait, eagles soaring overhead, manatees gliding beneath the water, alligators looking for mates and friendly boaters, fisherman and neighbors saying hello.  But in the early morning the surprise is how still it is on the canal compared to the rest of the lively day.