Too Much/Not Enough

Pastel study looking towards Mt. Baker from Anacortes, WA

9" x 12"

"Water, water, everywhere, nor any drop to drink" wrote Samuel Taylor Coleridge in his famous poem, "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner".  That pretty much sums up the problem with water this summer.  The state of Louisiana is suffering from terribly destructive flooding.  A place in eastern Nebraska got dumped on with 8 inches of rain last night.  Out here in the Pacific Northwest, the forests and pastures are parched from weeks and weeks of no rain.  We are wired for Paradise, wanting and needing what is perfect in every area of our lives.  Anything more or less is bound to make us irritable and discontent.  We long for what was lost in Eden.  We yearn for a redeemed world where all is beautiful, good, and safe.  C. S. Lewis wrote about this yearning when he said, "We want something else which can hardly be put into words---to be united with the beauty we see, to pass into it, to receive it into ourselves, to bathe in it, to become part of it."  Something better is coming!  For those who are looking forward to the day when God restores in an even greater way what was lost in Eden, the greatest adventure lies ahead!

High Adventure

As I have seen a child,

Round-eyed and innocent,

Leaving his treasured playthings piled

Where new adventure overtook,

Climb up a little staired ascent,

Holding in fear his parent's hand,

And, trepidant with fresh alarms

Yet gathering courage from each trustful look,

With utter confidence in a last command,

Fling himself laughing into his father's arms---

So I, another child,

Holding my Father's hand,

Now from my busy arts beguiled

By what He promises beyond,

Forgetting all that I have planned, 

And pressing on with faith's sure sight

O'er rock and ridge, through mists and storms,

With confidence that swallows up despond,

From the last crag of life's most glorious height

Cast me exultant into my Father's arms.

---A.W. Spalding

Live bravely and beautifully!

Mr. Chatterbox

Mr. Chatterbox

Small pen/ink/colored pencil study

Ever been around somebody who is a perpetual chatterbox?  They never seem to find an end of things to ramble on about.  I have waited at times, while enduring the ongoing flow of words, for a person to take a breath so I could change topics or graciously find a way to exit out of the conversation.  The breath never seemed to come.  

The dictionary defines a chatterbox as someone who talks at length about trivial matters.  I see three problems involving a chatterbox:

*First, they talk at length.  Oops!  What ever happened to bouncing the ball in conversation?  You talk, they talk, you respond, they respond.  You LISTEN a lot more than you talk.  It isn't about you and what you think.  You should be desiring to draw out of the other person where they're coming from and how they feel about a topic.  You want to grow in understanding of the other person and the topic.  

*Second, they talk about trivial matters.  Again, the dictionary defines trivial as of little value or importance.  Talk that is trivial is frivolous, insignificant, and shallow.  Ouch!  Does that describe where your conversational levels are at?  Is that all the higher your thoughts go?  "Nourish your minds with great thoughts, for you will never go any higher than you think," was good advice given by Benjamin Disraeli, British statesman and novelist who was twice prime minister.  A good way to nourish your thoughts is to read widely and deeply, and especially in God's Word, the Bible.

*Third, they aren't even aware  that they have a problem of dominating conversations or are very trite in subject matter.  If only they could detect the glazy-eyed look of exasperated listeners or their stifled yawns, maybe they would get a clue.  If only they would pause long enough to listen to your subtle suggestions, but sigh....

What we can learn from Mr. or Mrs. Chatterbox is  this:  Let's not be one ourselves.  Let's be engaging, relevant, interesting and interested in what the other has to say.  Let's fashion our words around what the Bible gives as great guidelines for good conversations:

"You must be quick to listen, 

slow to speak,

and slow to get angry."

James 1:19

"Let your conversation be gracious and attractive

so that you will have the right response for everyone."

Colossians 4:6

"Like apples of gold 

in settings of silver

is a word appropriately spoken."

Proverbs 25:11

(Small watercolor study)

Live bravely and  beautifully!

Those Horns and Hoofs

Rocky Mountain Ram

2 ft. x 2 ft.

Woodburned on pine plywood

"Hurtling  through air with massive horn

The crash echoes down the mountain valleys

Perching on hind feet with mighty speed born

Rams duel it out on crevice alleys."

---Bonnie Patterson

One of my favorite mammals to watch, study, or draw is the Rocky Mountain Bighorn Sheep. I can't get enough of them.  They are fascinating to observe, especially as they walk up near- vertical rock faces.  It is astounding how sure-footed they are and seemingly fearless.  

Bighorn sheep are the largest wild sheep in North America, ranging from southern Canada through the western United States to Mexico. Their lifespan is an average of 10 years.  For body size, the rams can get to 42 inches at the shoulders and about 5.1 feet long as adults, weighing up to 300 pounds.  

What I want to focus on regarding the mighty Bighorn is their horns and their hoofs, both marvelous in design and purpose.   First, let's examine their horns.

Imagine having two 30 pound horns on your head!  That is what their horns can weigh.  The horn weight is more than all the bones combined in their body.  Some Bighorn sheep have been measured to having 3 foot 3 inch horn length following the outer curve.  They usually reach full horn curl by around 7 - 8 years.  Some have been recorded to have more than a 1 foot circumference at the base. That's a lot of horn!

"Headgear"

16' x 20"

Acrylic

Looking closer at the Bighorn's skull composition enables you to see how a ram can survive the 20 - 40 m.p.h. charges into another ram during their rut or mating season duels.  Their skulls are thick with a double layer of bone to absorb the repeated collisions.  The National Wildlife Federation described the males as having "large horn cores, enlarged cornual frontal sinuses, and internal bony septa".  Septa are thin membranes dividing 2 structures or soft masses of tissue in an organism. The Bighorns' strong, very powerful neck ligaments are designed to dissipate  the charge impact.  Through the sheeps' anatomy, their brains are wonderfully protected. 

8 ft. x 8 ft. chalk drawing
Denver Chalk Art Festival

Now let's take a look at Bighorn hoofs.  Here again we see intentional design and purpose. Their hoofs can take on those steep vertical rock climbs because the hoofs are split which aids in balance, while the bottoms are made for gripping.  The National Wildlife Federation describes the outer hoofs as being " modified toenails shaped to snag any protrusion, while a soft inner pad provides a grip that conforms to each variable surface."  Thus, the Bighorn's four wheel drive capacity.

The book of Genesis states right off the bat that "In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth."  And part of that creative action was the amazing horn and hoof design of the Rocky Mountain Bighorn Sheep.  Intentional and purposive design.  The same God that made the hoof of the Bighorn is also the one that King David said made him "as sure-footed as a deer, enabling him to stand on mountain heights."  Many times in our lives we will find ourselves in mountainous terrain with the things that life throws at us.  We will need that sure-footed ability that only God can instill in us, to walk wisely and not slip down the treacherous rocky scree in problem situations.  During those times we can be assured that God is our Rock and our Refuge, an "ever present help in times of trouble."  We have an amazing and awesome God!  

 Enjoy a close look at these noble creatures in this Colorado Parks and Wildlife video:

Live bravely and beautifully!

Get Out!

During these warm months of summer, I encourage you to get out doors and develop a new, beneficial habit for your life.  The rewards of being in the out of doors are great in a variety of ways. Neuroscience research shows wonderful impacts on our cognitive abilities, stress levels, emotions, and overall health that being in the world of nature brings.  

To enhance your outdoor experience, I urge you to take up nature journaling.  I have provided you with examples of pages from my own sketchbooks.  When you journal what you are seeing, hearing, and feeling, you embed the experience so much deeper into your memory in ways that just taking a photo will not attain.  

A number of helpful resources exist to help you along the path to nature journaling.  Here are a few:

*  Keeping a Nature Journal:  Discover a Whole New Way of Seeing the World Around You
by Clare Walker Leslie and Charles E. Roth

*The Laws Guide to Nature Drawing and Journaling
by John Muir Laws

When nature journaling, some things you may want to record are:
date
place 
time
temperature
cloud pattern/sky
wind direction
what do you hear
what do you see
several thumbnail sketches of the flora, fauna, and landscape

These sketches are not to be major art productions.  Do not feel the pressure of having to produce a masterpiece.  These are just aids to help you remember what you saw and to look more closely at what you might miss if you were not observing carefully in order to depict an object.  Sometimes your time to nature journal will have to be quick and on the go.  Even then you can try to capture 5 things briefly in little thumbnails.  

  

Children will catch the vision along with you as you romp the countryside and develop their perceptions, wonder, curiosity, and drawing skills.

Being outdoors heightens our senses and deepens our wonder.  We apreciate life on a grander scale.  An amazing, brave Englishwoman, Isabella L. Bird, wrote this piece in her fascinating book, A Lady's LIfe in the Rocky Mountains:

Before long a carnival of colour began which I can only describe as delirious, intoxicating, a hardly bearable joy, a tender anguish, an indescribable yearning, an unearthly music, rich in

love and worship.  It lasted considerably more than an hour...

Isabella wrote this to describe her experience traveling through the High Sierras of California.  If you are a person of faith, being out in creation leads to a grand sense of worship for the Creator God Who made all that exists.  The shepherd King David composed many chapters in the Psalms exulting in God's works and wonders:  

The heavens declare the glory of God;

the skies proclaim the work of His hands.

Psalm 19:1

O Lord, our Lord, 

how majestic is Your name in all the earth!...

When I consider Your heavens, 

the work of Your fingers, 

the moon and the stars,

which You have set in place,

what is man that You are mindful of him,

the son of man that You care for him?
Psalm 8

I like how David expressed his observations in the word "consider".  That involves taking time to ponder and to contemplate what one is seeing, to go deeper with one's thoughts.  Keeping a nature journal can be a valuable asset to considering God's creation and enhancing your worship of the Creator.

Here's a song, "Morning Has Broken", sung by Cat Stevens which celebrates the exuberance felt in creation:

Live bravely and beautifully!