Sunday, February 5, 2012

Cottonwood Leaves


Today the temperature is almost 70 degrees, sunny with a gentle breeze. The dogs and I went on a hike to the kudzu hill with backpack & journal thinking I would head down the path into the tangled woods at the upper end of Meetinghouse Creek. That hasn't happened yet because I was dressed completely wrong and got quite hot. Came back to change and remembered along the way that I have several entries that haven't been posted that I should post... then I remembered that the journal with all others except this one is off at the publisher's, and are inaccessible. So here is the one I have from the end of January of Cottonwood leaves. January 25 was also a beautiful day (we've had many unseasonably warm days in the past few weeks) and I enjoyed sneaking away from work to go out and draw.

Old Cottonwood leaves dry out to a pale taupe color that looks ghostly against the russets of a piney woodland floor. They jumped out at me as I walked past and I immediately wanted to draw. Nothing was stirring as I drew, but just behind where I was sitting, something VERY LARGE had been digging into a rotting pine log, looking for insects, I'd say... possibly the male Black Bear that was spotted around here in September, and whose track I found before Christmas, and although female bears would be denning right now, a male Black Bear would be out and about and looking for food. I like to think it was that big old Papa Bear...... let's just say it was!

No comments: