Things seen in Fall by the falls

Yesterday was one of those Fall days which inspires me to wish that Fall lasted half the year, or more -- crisp, clear air, bright sunshine pouring through leaves doing their annual costume change. I took the opportunity to bicycle up to Florence, where I picked up a sandwich for lunch, then continued on to my old stomping grounds of Leeds, where Jeannine and I lived for a few years. My intention was to sit at one of my favorite spots and eat my lunch, and that's what I did, perched on the old stone work wall above the Leeds dam and waterfall.

I spent most of that time gazing at the lovely reflections in the river…

... and for a short time was mesmerized by the pattern of the spray of water off a log which had gone over the dam and lodged in the falls below...

… but I also got an unexpected treat, due to the fact that I had picked just the right time to see INTO the river -- the sun was at the perfect angle to allow me to look down into the water and see the bottom of the river quite clearly from my seat on the edge of the dam, without reflections getting in the way.

Out of the corner of my eye I saw movement in the water below me, something swimming, something large. (It's visible just to the left of center of this photo.)

I managed to get a fairly decent shot of it -- a large fish, which I think was a trout. 

I rarely see these, especially the big ones, as they tend to be wary and keep to the deeper water. -- PL

Goofy things you hear on the radio

While driving today, I was listening to an author (whose name I forget) being interviewed on a National Public Radio program, and at one point laughed when she spoke of someone working "24/7, five days a week".

To quote the Robot on the old "Lost in Space" TV show, "That does not compute." -- PL

Sad monster

Something recent, and as yet unfinished, from my sketchbook... -- PL

Inking by the ocean

I don't draw much these days, so I sometimes forget how much fun it can be to open a bottle of ink, sit down with a fine tip brush and do some inking… especially when someone else has already done the heavy lifting, i.e. the penciling.

This past week, when Jeannine and I were spending some time at the new place in Maine, I drove up to Wells to visit my pal Steve Lavigne (something I will be doing again this coming Saturday, the 14th, when I join Jim Lawson at Steve's "Shellback Artworks" store from noon until 4PM to do a signing). Steve showed me a cool drawing he'd done of Casey Jones, and I asked him if I could ink it. Steve not only agreed, but gave me a bottle of ink and a brush right off one of his store shelves.

I decided to work on it in a space I'd set up in the new house specifically so Jeannine could sit at a window with a great view of the ocean while she writes or reads. I figured it would probably be a good place to draw as well, and I was right. I had a blast inking the drawing, and occasionally looking up and seeing the waves. 

Here's a vertical panorama I made from some photos I took about halfway through the inking process. -- PL