The Path Less Traveled

Snowy Range Country

8" x 10"

Oil

Last month I had the wonderful opportunity of hiking up Medicine Bow Peak in the Snowy Range mountains of southern Wyoming. Besides the breathtaking view, I was with some of the greatest of hiking companions...my two sons Elijah and Joe, plus my brother Robert and niece Noelle.  It's a fabulous way to make memories together!  Towards the top of the summit we encountered a number of slippery snow fields to navigate precariously.  And the weather went stormy- looking for a while with lightning to hustle us along. 

Mountain paths are never a straight shot to the summit.  They are often a long, circuitous route.  Sometimes it seems you are going backwards to go forward.  Mountain hiking resembles so much of life for us as we encounter twists and turns, ups and downs, and changes of direction.  What helps is to keep the end in view...the goal of the summit.  It is so worthwhile in the end!  

Elijah and Joe almost to the summit of Medicine Bow Peak.

Due to some changes in direction on my own life path, I may not be able to post a blog for a week or two.  When I land in a good spot, we'll catch up on where things are at.  Here's a well-known poem by Robert Frost about two roads in life...I'll just give the first and last stanzas here:                    

The Road Not Taken

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,

And sorry I could not travel both

And be one traveler, long I stood

To where it bent in the undergrowth;

...

I shall be telling this with a sigh

Somewhere ages and ages hence:

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I ----

I took the one less traveled by,

And that has made all the difference.

Elijah feeding his Australian sheepdog Lucy who made the hike quite special.

Be brave and courageous!

The Eagle

Soaring Eagle

(small watercolor study)

Here's some well- captured action of an eagle in a poem by Alfred, Lord Tennyson:

The Eagle

He clasps the crag with crooked hands;

Close to the sun in lonely lands,

Ring'd with the azure world, he stands.

The wrinkled sea beneath him crawls;

He watches from his mountain walls,

And like a thunderbolt he falls.  

I love thinking about that last line....the swift "thunderbolt" flash of wing and feathers as he descends at Mach speed down that mountain cliff.  The created world daily offers an infinite variety of wonders to catch our breath and fill us with awe.  I hope your summer has found you outside and in places where you could experience beauty and the grand moments in life.   I want to give credit to my older brother Gordon for the photo source of this eagle study.  He has a growing microbiology lab business in Springdale, Arkansas, but does very well as an amateur photographer.  I love his many photos of nature that he captures digitally.  Recently he went with my sister-in-law Bonnie on a cruise to Alaska and was able to procure this beautiful eagle on camera.

Water Lily at Lauritzen Gardens

(small watercolor study)

 As the month of August moves along through summer, transition happens for many people.  Those who are students or teachers know well the adjustment from summer holidays back to the classroom setting.  May you all experience a freshness and a hope that what you are doing in the daily moments of the class setting can impact others for a lifetime!

For Caleb

(small watercolor study)

Be brave and courageous!

Sketching Day at the Zoo

(Small watercolor study of Venus)

Summer provides great weather and opportunities to get outside and create art.  Living in Omaha, Nebraska provides me with numerous options for sketch practice.  Yesterday I spent much of the day hanging out in the bears' and lions' complexes at the world's #1 rated zoo.... the Henry Doorly Zoo.  I am drawn to the large mammals for my wildlife work.  I enjoyed walking all around their enclosures, observing their mannerisms, movements, and structure.  

I understand that observing animal behavior in captivity is not quite like seeing them in their true habitats, but at least it is better than nothing.  I still can profit by sketching and learning from what I see.

Unless the animals were sleeping, they were in constant motion.  That makes it challenging to just capture basic gestures or parts of the whole.

Although far from being a lion or bear, the flamingos captured my eye, too.  I am totally amazed at how they can balance their plump, plumaged upper body on one spindly long leg.  They don't even wobble!

Being at the zoo reminds me in fresh ways of how amazing our great Creator God is, the infinite variety of His thoughts to have come up with the vast variety of creatures!  It is always time well-spent to slow down and really observe the beauty of the created world.  

Be brave and courageous!