Looking Ahead Ahoy!

 

Keep looking ahead! 

There is usually something hopeful on the horizon, even if it is just the dawn of a new day. Maybe there is a red sky tonight, the sun behind the clouds, but that means the storm is moving on!

Strawberry Season Somewhere

In our region, strawberry season is long gone. But we have some strawberry preserves in the refrigerator. Not quite as healthy as fresh picked, but still great!

When I was young, our family would visit our grandparent's farm. Grandma oversaw a big strawberry patch. If we grandkids were careful, and sneaky, we could wander out there and pick a few berries for a stealthy snack. 

Excuse me while I grab a snack of strawberry jam on a few crackers.

Have Nothing to Say?

 

Here we have a nice guy that doesn't know what to say, but knows he needs to say something...

In our social media era, it seems that having nothing to say is no longer a reason to say nothing. Does anybody else remember when we were told, "if you don't have anything nice to say, then don't say anything?"

One thing we have learned, words can hurt!

Apple Harvest Time

 

I wish my tree had more apples...

Our apple tree has been blossoming for many seasons. The first year it produced a huge number of apples. We made a lot of apple sauce! Since then, it has blossomed regularly, but hasn't produced much fruit.

As last winter was ending, I trimmed it hoping it would produce more fruit. In the spring there were a lot of blossoms, followed by a lot of green apples. But through the summer they all disappeared. Now there is only one large lumpy apple. Where did they all go?

Help with apple trees:  I'll see if these sites and videos can help.

https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/edible/fruits/apples/no-fruit-on-apple-trees.htm

https://www.fast-growing-trees.com/pages/apple-trees-guide

https://www.growveg.com/guides/5-solutions-for-unproductive-fruit-trees/

Anybody have any other suggestions?

Pre-Social Media Summers

Summer 2020 has come to an end. With so many people staying home I saw a lot more people, young and old, walking and bicycling in our neighborhood.

Back in the early 1970s, our summer vacations started with jeans, t-shirts, sneakers, a bike, and neighborhood friends. We knew we had a good summer based on the condition of our shoes and jeans in the fall. Holes and patches on the jeans, and shoes that barely stayed together.

We didn't have social media, but we made memories!

Out Running

 

(This is not me.) 

You can still see me running, even after all these years. I'm slower now than I was in my youth. If I think back far enough, I can remember having a runner's high. Running isn't a thrill, but it keeping me healthy.

Misadventures At Sea

 

I met a man who worked his way to the United States on a big ship. That seemed pretty great to me. 

When I drive by Baltimore's harbor on my way to work, I see container ships, tug boats, cruise ships, and more. I imagine many come from far away.

Sometimes I think about crossing the ocean working on a ship. Or staying close to home working on a tug boat.

While visiting good friends in Massachusetts, we agreed to go whale watching in Provincetown. We set off on a medium size boat in search of whales. The seas were rolling, but all seemed well as we traveled straight out to sea. Eventually the captain announced that whales were in sight! 

The boat started turning this way and that to get close to the whales. The unpredictable stops and turns, and rolling of the waves reminded me I get motion sickness. My gastric system began to do very, very bad things. I looked and confirmed that yes, there were whales in the water. Then I spent the rest of the trip below deck wishing I was somewhere else. 

The sea-faring life is not for me, though it is a quick and efficient way to lose some weight.

Fowl Weather

Unpredictable weather has been bothering us lately. July was really hot, August has been cooler, with a lot more rain. Before the last cutting, my yard looked like a hay field, ready for cutting and bailing, except for the part that runs like a river when the rain is falling.

Our bird looks like he is standing in for a weather vane. An okay job if rain is on the way, not so much if a thunderstorm is coming. In that case, his success as a lightening rod will likely be his undoing.  

Another old sketch, revived with color and texture.

A Fowl Family

Instincts are amazing. Bits of compiled code that run the little wet processor in a chicken's head. Chickens don't need anyone to teach them to take care of themselves.

I found this drawing in an old sketchbook. I liked the look of the hen, and the chicks. I especially liked the one on the right. At first I made the mama a white chicken, but as I added color and texture I liked the yellow-gold better. Digital art is easy to change, I can always do something different later.

Our grand boys have chickens, but they don't look like this. And the hens don't have any chicks, but they lay a lot of eggs. Which we help eat. So much for instincts.

A Friendly Rodent

Squirrels are the most common furry quadrupeds we see in our neighborhood. (We also have snakes, but they have no legs or fur, and are disgusting.) Occasionally deer wander through the yard, eating our blueberries and corn. Sometimes we see chipmunks, running with their tails sticking up straight in the air, like the flags we had on our stingray bikes back in the 1970s. Rabbits show up now and then. They have nice ears, so that's fun, but they always seem nervous.

Squirrels always seem happy, sitting up, looking around alertly, or leaping from place to place as if there was nothing to fear. Unfortunately their care-free nature can reveal an underlying foolishness. On one occasion, I saw one happily leap into the street, into the path of an oncoming car (mine). A sad way to go for a happy guy.

The squirrels around here have a peculiar habit. When I am out for my morning walk/jog, I will see squirrels crouched in the road, sipping away at trickles of water emerging from cracks in the road. Why do they do that? Isn't there a better place to get a drink of water? Does it taste better coming from the road? Maybe they think it is from a mineral spring.

The Hungry Fox

There is an old story by the Brothers Grimm about a hungry fox. This story is where we get the idiom "sour grapes." You can read about it in this Wikipedia entry. You can read a version in Latin on this page, if you dare. To make easy on everyone, here is the version on Wikipedia:

Driven by hunger, a fox tried to reach some grapes hanging high on the vine but was unable to, although he leaped with all his strength. As he went away, the fox remarked "Oh, you aren't even ripe yet! I don't need any sour grapes."

People who speak disparagingly of things that they cannot attain would do well to apply this story to themselves.

I made this picture as a fun exercise, starting with another drawing in a sketchbook. I colored it using digital brush strokes in Affinity Designer. Fun and fast!

Early Bird!

The early bird gets the worm! True enough, if you get up early, you can see birds getting worms! They can have them, thanks.

Here is a mystery that has puzzled me through the years. After a good rain, there are usually worms all over the roads and sidewalks. But I never see birds going after them. Are the worms too bloated with rain water to be tasty?

Maybe if I get up earlier on rainy days I will see birds feasting. Maybe I don't see them because they are already full of wormy goodness.

This drawing started as a Sharpy marker drawing on newsprint. I scanned it, traced it in Inkscape, and colored it with Affinity Designer.

Looking Closely at Small Things

The world is full of interesting things. Even uninteresting things become sources of wonder and mystery if you look closely enough.

But sometimes a speck of lint is just lint.

This one started as a chunky marker drawing, the marker was drying out. I scanned it and gave it a good coloring and texturing in Affinity Designer.

Bad Habit Number 80 (Cigar Anyone?)

I have an old friend whom I won't name, called Micah. He likes to smoke cigars. A long time ago he persuaded me to have one. After a couple of minutes with it, I spent the rest of the day green, hiding from sunlight and loud noises. Thanks Micah, for teaching me how to avoid a nasty habit!

Who's House is this Anyway?

A sketch of a nightmare. Hopefully the homeowner prefers bird seed.

Thoughts About Laundry Hanging Outside

When I was a small child, we had a clothes line outside. My mom would hang laundry to dry on summer days. I remember the cool, damp feeling I would get when I ran through the hanging laundry. I don't know if I was supposed to do that, but I'm glad for the memory!

I don't see laundry hanging outside around here.

Technical notes: This was a sketch I did a few years back in one of many sketchbooks. I scanned it and converted it to vector lines with Inkscape. I colored it and added text and texture with Affinity Designer. So there AI!

Cud-Chewing Quadruped

I reclaimed an old drawing that I found filed away in a cabinet. I spent some time, all by myself, adding colors and textures, fooling around until I liked it.

Cows spend a lot of time alone thinking. I wonder, do they ever come to any profound conclusions about life, the universe, and everything?

Sometimes I Need an Elephant

I, like many of you, am often forgetful. When I'm in the middle of doing one thing, I will remember or think of something else. I'm pretty sure if I could just recall all of those forgotten ideas, I would have accomplished something pretty amazing by now, maybe invented something, or cured something.

Apparently elephants don't forget anything. It must be frustrating to have so many great ideas, but not be able to execute on them, because of the lack of opposable thumbs.

Maybe if I had a pet elephant, he could remind me of all the great things I forgot.

Let's Go Camping!

When I was a kid, my grandparents had a camper mounted on the back of a pickup truck. In those simpler times, my brothers, sister, and uncle, would ride in the camper. The best seat was stretched out in the top level, looking out the front window. In hind-sight, not safe. But fun!

Empty Bird House

As families grow in the spring, these places are going to go fast.