When it rains, it POURS

Every once and a while, nature reminds us to be humble. After months of little or no rain, a thunderstorm hit Joshua Tree upside the head. Last Tuesday, at around 3 pm or so, rain began to fall in our neighborhood. I was so excited, I ran outside and ran around the house several times, just to feel the drops hit my skin. I couldn't contain my excitement. The rain began to come down harder. Thunder and lightening. Terrified dog. Hail. Louder thunder and lightening. More rain. Hail. The backyard begins to look like a small creek. Then a river. Wind picks up. Now, my elation is turning into something else. The road in front of the house also looks like a river. More rain. Thunder is now loud enough that I jump each time. A loud >CRACK< and a bright, white light. (We think this may have been lightening hitting the house.) More rain. More hail.

Finally, after about an hour, the rain did stop. We were lucky. No water or mud came into our house or garage. No one was hurt. We ended up without internet for a few days, but for the most part, we were unscathed. Others were not so lucky. One man was killed after his car became stuck in the mud and a wall of water came down and rolled his car over several times. Many of our neighbors have mud in their garages and one house had a car buried in mud up past the hubcaps. Our road is washed out in several places. I have never seen anything like it. Ever.

I am a little tired of shoveling dirt and mud. We had to repair part of our driveway and remove mud from the sidewalk around our house. I am also trying to locate a sprinkler head that was beneath one of our trees. I still haven't found it. Trails that were once familiar paths where we walk Pono are now remodeled by the water and nearly unrecognizable. A reminder of the power of water.

Work in the studio has been interrupted somewhat by the storm frenzy and by husband coming home after being away. Nevertheless, I am gearing up for the Hwy 62 Art Tours October 25th & 26th and November 1st and 2nd. I have framed half a dozen small jackrabbit drawings and I am getting things wired for hanging, photographed and hung on the wall!!! Very exciting! If you haven't been to the desert for the Art Tours yet, I highly recommend it. You have a chance to see the studios of many area artists during the best time of the year (weather- wise). I will try to put in a word with the BIG GUY for no big thunderstorms during this event. ;) For more information about the Art Tours, click here.

I'm going to try to have some of these drawings available for sale online soon. I'll keep you updated!

Have a wonderful weekend, everyone!!!

A walk in Sequim, WA

I am visiting family in Sequim, WA for the Thanksgiving holiday. What a complete change from the desert! It rained for 6 hours straight the day before yesterday, which was an absolute marvel to this desert dwelling girl. (Real rain?) When I went for a run yesterday, I could see my breath. Another wonder! And leaves. Oh, and did I mention I have seen shades of green I had nearly forgotten about? I've decided to drink in all of these new sights, and fill up my creative well. It's so important to do this, from time to time.

I thought you might like to come for a walk with my Dad and I.

I am fortunate that my Dad is incredibly patient with me, since I have to stop every ten paces to snap another photograph.

There are deer wandering around this neighborhood, and I have seen them three times now. Here are a couple of shots of them I NEVER would have gotten, had Mr. Pono the fuzzy dog been with me.

Are you doing anything special for Thanksgiving?
I am grateful for you, for reading my blog and sharing your thoughts with me. Happy Thanksgiving!

Green

Bangkok has gotten rain nearly every day, complete with thunder and lightening.  Rain = green.  This post is for all my desert peeps.  I heard you had your own rain, but I don't think you have green like this.  Drink it in.

Snakes and more snakes

One thing about the desert is that you will never get lonely to see a snake. At least, not lately. We have had enough rain, so there is enough for the rodents to eat. Which means there is also plenty for the snakes to eat! Here is another snake we saw a few days ago, while running with the Pono in the morning. Don't worry, I didn't actually get that close to it, I just used my zoom.

We got a tiny bit more rain on Monday afternoon. Not enough to bring us up to the one inch mark yet, but we are closer! For the year, we now have received .91 inches of rain. WHOA. What's nice about the rain is that not only does it cool the air off, but there are beautiful clouds at sunset. I had fun taking photos, so I thought I would share a few with you.



I discovered that even though I thought I was having my studio open on October 11th and 12th, it turns out I was off by one week. So my studio will be open on October 18th and 19th, from 9 to 5 pm. (I swear I did call and ask, but mistakes happen.) At least I will have an extra week to get everything ready to show. I have just started a new series of animal paintings, and I hope to have a photo of one ready to show you tomorrow.

Rain in the Desert

We woke up to rain this morning!! So rare, and that makes it all that much more special and cool. Pono the dog and I got quite wet on our walk, but Pono decided that being able to splash through puddles is worth the wet ears. A small price to pay.

I did spend time in the studio today. Not as much as I would have liked, but at least I got in there. I am struggling with a larger painting that is really being difficult. I am on layer number 4 or 5 by now, and it is still an ugly duckling. I may just have to leave it at that, and move on. To save my sanity. (If I still have some.)

Here is a painting from earlier this week. I think it's 16 x 12 inches. Small. Oil on canvas. It is a swan, only in comparison to the huge ugly duckling, still sitting on my easel, making me want to light a bonfire.

Spring rain and other adventures

It was a pretty good weekend, despite the fact that most of it involved packing more boxes. We managed to take a break, thanks to our friends, Sally and Greg. They invited us for dinner at their house on Saturday night. It was a much needed break. They live out of town on county road 251, in a beautiful house that they built themselves. Our good friend Padgett was also there. We spent some time before eating out on the patio, watching hummingbirds. I was trying to take a photograph of hummingbirds close up, but Sally was the person who got the shot. She also got a shot of me, trying to get a photo. So I got a picture of her, taking a photo of me, and you can see Greg, gallently holding the hummingbird feeder so we could get our closeups.

It has been typical spring weather in Colorado. It is warm in the morning, and then it clouds up for some thunderstorms in the afternoon. I like the weather - you just have to remember to be outside before the rain begins. Pono the dog, on the other hand, hates this weather, since he is terrified of thunder. He basically hides in the bathroom, shivering. I have tried to comfort him, but he is not to be consoled, apparently. I took a photo, looking out our front door this afternoon, so you could see the rain. It was coming down really hard, but I am not sure you can see that in my picture. Maybe you can. You can definitely see how cute our neighbors house is.

Here is a parting shot of Pono, chewing the feet off of his new hedgehog stuffed toy.