American Holly (Ilex americana)

Yesterday, a sunny and cool Sunday afternoon, I wandered down to the woods near Lawson's Fork where it runs under the old iron bridge on what used to be Old Thompson Road. No longer a road, it alternates between a red clay gully, a flat walkable path, and a barely discernible rut through young trees. Goldfinch, Chickadees and Titmice sang in the trees nearby, and crows called to each other in the distance beyond the river. Radu had disappeared on his usual adventure. Daisy was beside me, as well as Cookie, our skinny little calico cat who, at 12 years old, still enjoys hiking with us.

I had only two hours to draw because we were going to see the matinee showing of Avatar, so my goal was to find something simple to draw. Naturally, it wasn't long before my eye fell on a beautiful, old American Holly tree whose thick, gray trunk was knobbed, wrinkled, and rich with mosses and lichen. This is not simple, I thought. I inspected it closely. Not simple. Oh well, what could I do? I wanted to draw that tree.

I settled in the leaves at a distance so I could see the leaf canopy, but then realized the beauty of the trunk was lost at a distance. When I moved closer I realized that I would not be able to include both the trunk details and the canopy. A choice had to be made. Well, not really. It was the trunk that first attracted me anyway. Once I sat, the canopy was so far above my head I had to lean back to see it. Settling was complicated by Daisy, who drooled on my knee as she sat in front of me, hoping for a treat, as well as by Cookie, who made it clear she would like the drawing part better if I'd let her sit in my lap, on top of the journal. This is the usual pattern of things, so I dealt with my pets (got them interested in things other than me) and then went to work sketching the trunk.

Getting to this point had taken thirty minutes or more, but I finally relaxed and did my best to get lost in the tree for the time I had left. Birds continued to sing nearby. Various woodpeckers chirred and pecked in some of the old dead pines that had been killed by the pine beetle yet are still standing. The crow calls had become lazy - or at least not as insistent as they'd been earlier. Breezes stirred the tree tops and squirrels rattled the leaf litter in the distance - but no human-made sounds were heard while I was drawing.

Cranefly Orchid, Spotted Wintergreen, and more

Today was cloudy and damp, misty at times, windy, and chilly! When we headed out I was so surprised! I went back inside and checked the radar to see if the fine rain was going to turn into something worse. My peek at the radar/sat page made it look like it should be sunny here, and as I walked, I could indeed see blue skies and sun way out on the western horizon. The sun never made it to Middlewood, though, and the misty fog is still here as I type (4:30ish).

The dogs and I wandered down the pipeline. About halfway to Meetinghouse Creek we took a sharp right and climbed a bit of steep north-facing hill. I placed my sit-upon under a canopy of thinning bright red and deep yellow leaves that shivered in the wind. There were green plants all around me and I realized they were all small evergreens: slender Carolina Jessamine, Woodland Sedge, Spotted Wintergreen, American Holly, Moss, and the lovely purple-backed leaf of the Cranefly Orchid. My pen scritch-scratched as I drew, crows cawed loudly as they flapped overhead, the dogs panted as a result of an earlier deer-harassment run. The leaves clicked as they landed in the woods.

My fleece jacket and the scarf around my neck helped me stay warm on the hill for an hour or so. As soon as the chill set in, I packed up and headed back. Radu and Daisy ran ahead and led me through the colorful woods to home.