Remembering This Day

Barn

pencil Drawing by Jamey age 9

Sunset at Indianola, Texas

personal photo

This time of day, 34 years ago, I was getting a knot in my stomach, a feeling of panic, frustration, and helpnessness. And this is the time of the day that it happened. For a few more hours, that anxiety continued while men searched and afternoon sun streamed into my kitchen window- turning into a nightmare that went on and on, and has only eased a little through the years. Now, it still seems like a dream- a horrible dream that can't be real. Only it is real. It did happen. I was told, and he never came home, so I guess they are right.

Each year, it is a time when I would like to just pull back into darkness, pull the covers over my head, cry, or something. But, often, I had to keep going and look at other peoples' little boys who were, well, being little boys. Full of life and mischief and, sometimes, giving me a hard time. Maybe I helped them some, although I couldn't help mine anymore.

Time has passed and now there are grandsons with their lives and activities. Legos, Hot Wheels, car magazines, "Sponge Bob", and the things that boys like, are so welcome. But there is always that memory of the time that doesn't seem all that long ago.

The afternoon sun is streaming through my window across my drawing table where Simba is sleeping. Boys are playing computer games. Supper is cooking.

The cemetery is there, as always. Out of sight, from here. But we know that so many are resting there. We remember.

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The 22nd World Wide Sketch Crawl is over. We're all looking forward to 23, which should be about in July. Barbara sketched in Port Lavaca, Michael sketched in Calvert, and I sketched in Bryan.

It looks like Sao Paulo, Brazil had the biggest turnout, again, with 154 people out sketching. They also brought donations of items to give to the poor. That was a really nice thing to do.

Hopefully, we can get some groups together in our area for next time.

You can see work and photos from all over the world on the Forum on the World Wide Sketch Crawl website. http://www.sketchcrawl.com/ Or you can just click on the logo in my sidebar.

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Plan to be in Calvert Saturday April 25. That's the day of the annual spring homes tour. It starts on Friday night with a heritage program at The Foundry, with several of the descendants of famous Texas history noteables appearing. You do need tickets for that.

There is also a quilt show, a street dance, lots of music, food, entertainment, shopping, etc. And, of course, the homes tour. You will also need tickets for the tour, but everything else is said to be free.

You can see the events on the Calvert Chamber of Commerce website at

http://www.calverttx.com/ .

This year's tour is called Showcase Calvert 2009.

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Be sure and look at the things in my sidebar. The storks are especially interesting this year. More eggs in the nest at the educational site with the webcam in Poland, so maybe they will have more babies to survive this year. They didn't have any last year. Check out Stork Sites in my sidebar.

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If you have German or Polish/Prussian ancestry, you might enjoy this site. I'm going to add it to my sidebar.

Der Familiename Konitzer/Conitzer

http://www.konitzer-info.de/index_englisch.htm

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Robert Gates, Defense Secretary, was in town for Aggie Muster on the 21st and a dedication for Becky Gates' child care center at A&M, the next day. Gates, former president of A&M, made a wonderful speech during Muster at Reed Arena. I watched on tv, and used a lot of Kleenex! Really a touching service.

Just after Muster, Greta Van Susteran was broadcasting from the George Bush Library. I didn't know she was coming! I would love to meet her. I thought she would be there again last night because she was interviewing Barbara Bush that night. I guess she recorded it, though, because she was in St. Louis for her broadcast.

I know that students went to the Library to meet her when Greta was here previously. They were on tv. I don't want to be on tv. I would just like to meet Greta.

Oddly, Greta reminds me of one of our schoolmates in Calvert! I went back into my old Trevlac and found a picture of the younger student. They do look similar. I know. Greta is not from our part of the country!

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I can't get over what they are planning to do to the MSC. Why on earth would anyone want to go in and just destroy that wonderful place. It is a big part of Aggie tradition, and now, someone wants to change it. Just unbelievable that anyone would do that.

My favorite day is to go to the MSC, have lunch with roast cooked in wine in the cafeteria, with it's beautiful etched glass; go to the craft shop downstairs ( they did away with that, unfortunately and turned it into a frame shop, at one time); tour the 4 art galleries; buy books and art supplies in the book store; maybe visit the recreational facilities downstairs with the bowling alley, etc. I even like to walk through that corner where the post office is. And, of course, we have to sit a while in "the living room" and just look at the piano, the furnishings and flags, the lighted collections, and Rodney Hill's wonderful wood carvings.

It's so reassuring to know how many people have walked through that beautiful area before. And watch the students and visitors enjoying the space. That it has been here for so many years and will remain.

I guess it won't remain much longer, and doesn't seem like it will be a welcoming place anymore. Looks like it is going to be turned into mostly office space and meeting rooms.

I always thought it would be wonderful to be able to come back and stay at the hotel in the MSC while visiting the campus. Of course, I'm not coming back. I'm still here! But that is a dream I have always had. (Would have been even better if I were staying there with a former student husband. That never happened, either, sadly.)

I wonder why they can't just spruce the MSC up with fresh paint, or whatever, and leave a good thing alone. (Seems like they just did that not long ago.) Especially since Aggies are so keen on tradition. I felt like the new people would not understand Aggie traditions and, sure enough, here they go, changing things.

I always made it a point to take students to see the MSC when we went to A&M on field trips, and hope they would be inspired. It always inspired and relaxed me.

I think that is about my favorite place in the whole world.

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My computer has been giving me fits, lately. I updated it and it was even worse yesterday. I was about to pull my hair out or throw the machine out a window by last night. But, I restrained myself and just unplugged it and left it off all night. It worked better today, but some things still don't seem to work like I think they should. And, my tool bars at the top are all changed. I still have to figure out how to get my old toolbar back. I'm not so sure it is the computer, but it's the internet companies.

When you hear that they are going to lay off lots of people, you can't help but wonder if that might have something to do with the problem. Or it is all these people who know computer things, just trying to confuse people like me!

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Softly Call The Muster

Family Photos

As Aggies gather world wide to remember fallen Aggies, we think of those who are no longer with us.

In the MSC, there has been a display of pictures and memorabilia from the families of Aggies who have died. Now, people are gathering at Reed Arena in College Station, on campus, to participate in the largest of the Aggie Musters. One of the most solemn of Aggie traditions, Aggies gather around the world to observe this occasion.

We will watch Muster on tv and listen for the names of those we might have known.

Top Photo: Emil Conitz Jr. Emil didn't get to attend A&M. His father thought it best for him to go to business school in Galveston although Coach Kyle tried his best to get him to come to A&M to play ball-baseball in particular. They wanted him to play so badly that offers were made. The story is that they even promised to name the football field after him. Since he didn't go, it was named for Coach Kyle. Emil graduated from Galveston Business College, just months before the great 1900 storm. He opened his dry goods store in Calvert in 1901 and operated it until he died. He loved the Aggies, though, and supported them all his life.

On Sundays, family drives often led to campus "to see the boys" and he looked forward to games. H encouraged signs in the store windows, supporting the Aggies as traffic flowed through Calvert on Highway 6.

The photo was taken in his store, when Emil was in his 90s, after the head coach at A&M gave Emil the Aggie cap and an elevator pass so he could be sure and see the games at Kyle Field. They called him the oldest Aggie fan. He was giving a gig em sign for me as I took this picture.

There couldn't have been a more loyal Aggie. I'm sure that he was one who bled maroon. He died at age 96.

Middle Photo- Jamey-"My little Aggie"-

He didn't live long enough to go to college, but we all had hopes that he would be the first to go to A&M and graduate as an Aggie. In this photo, he was dressed in his Aggie sweatshirt and giving an Aggie gig em sign. He died at age 11, after this photo was taken.

Bottom Photo-Alfred Conitz-

Alfred graduated from Calvert High School, just in time for the Depression. The class of 1929. It had not hit yet, but he went to college, and made his father proud by going to A&M. He intended to be a cotton classifier. And he was so proud of being on the freshman football team. But, then, the bottom dropped out of the cotton market, so there went that career. And the Great Depression struck. Other students were dropping out, so Alfred did too, and went to work.

Like his father, though, he was always crazy about the Aggies. He liked the family rides to "see the boys" and played around with the Aggie sayings and traditions. At family dinners, we always thought he was speaking German by asking people to pass the cush or pootie or gunwadden. In recent years, we discovered that we were not learning German at all, but it is what they called food items in the dining hall at A&M! Cush was dressing, Pootie was turkey, gunwadding was bread, sky juice was water, sawdust was sugar, etc. He liked to tease and no one told us younger ones any different.

He kept his wool Aggie uniform. And he backed the Aggies completely. He had his wife and sister in law play favorites on the piano like "There'll Be A Hot Time In The Old Town Tonight" and the "Aggie War Hymn". And woe be unto anyone who talked of anything but the game during the Aggie football games, especially the big Aggie-Texas Thanksgiving Day game.

While he didn't remain at A&M to graduate, he was a loyal Aggie until his death at age 72.

I'm sure that they were never remembered by having their names called at an Aggie Muster, but, surely, they were as loyal as any Aggies can be.

So, on Aggie Muster, I am remembering them.

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It's going to be another memorable Muster at Reed Arena this evening. Robert Gates, Defense Secretary and former president of A&M is going to be here along with other dignitaries. The candle lighting and roll call, and the Ross Volunteers marching in the darkness is always amazing.

You can watch on KBTX tv and also KAMU tv.

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Watch the storks!

http://www.bociany.edu.pl/

They had 5 eggs in the nest, the last time I checked. Unfortunately, there are 2 plastic bags in the nest, that those of us who have been watching the storks are concerned about. Hope someone can get those out before they harm the parents or babies.

Look on my sidebar under Stork Sites to see more stork sites. They are fascinating!

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Calvert is getting ready for their big spring tour of homes April 25. A lot of free things going on there including music and a street dance at night. There will be a quilt show. Several descendants of figures from Texas history will be there on Friday night for a presentation and there will be a tour of homes. You will need tickets for those two events.

The weather is supposed to be perfect, so be sure to go to Calvert and enjoy the weekend.

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If you like the tv program, "Last of the Summer Wine", you might enjoy this website.

http://www.lastofthesummerwine.net/index.html

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This is also a solemn day in Texas history. It's San Jacinto Day. There are observances being held for that memorable time. On FaceBook, the Sam Houston group page told about observances recognizing that historic battle in the Houston area. This is the battle, after the Alamo, that turned the tide for Texas Independence, when the Texas Army defeated the Mexican army and captured Santa Ana.

There is an impressive monument, the San Jacinto Monument, which we toured as students in Calvert-many years ago. If you haven't been, you should make it a point to go. The Battleship Texas is also on display there.

A day of rememberance.

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Winecups at Sunset

Winecups at Sunset

6" x 8"

oil

My e-mail got hung up yesterday, so I tried many different ways to send out my blog. Nothing seems to have worked right. I finally figured out today that, perhaps, one e-mail file I was trying to send was too large and it wouldn't go. I deleted it all, and everything seemed to start to work again.

I apologize if you got my blog more than once, of if you didn't get it at all.

Please be sure to scroll down and read Wednesday's post, if you didn't get yesterday's blog.

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A mail box beside a country road. Winecups blooming in the grass beside the base of the box. Sunset driving long shadows from a house across an open field. A nice time of day. A nice time of year. Spring in Texas.

The little painting above is done with oil paint on stretched canvas.

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Please let me know if you see anything of interest to you.

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The Circus arrived at Reed Arena yesterday! Much excitement!

This isn't the full three ring circus, but is a new concept that Ringling Bros. is using, with just one ring. There are still elephants, big cats, and all kinds of acts and clowns to delight all ages.

It ends Saturday.

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One more day to Sketch Crawl! Saturday April 11, 2009

http://www.sketchcrawl.com/

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/BrazosValley_Sketchers

Join us!

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If you are in the Brazos Valley area, meet at Mud Creek Pottery on Main Street in Calvert about 8:30 a.m. or the LaSalle Hotel in downtown Bryan, also about 8:30 a.m. Meet in the courtyard or the coffee shop. After 10:00 a.m, in Bryan, register at the Frame Gallery, 216 N. Bryan Ave.

Once we meet, we can see if we have a group, where we want to sketch, and if we want to work alone or with someone else.

Just bring yourself, paper and pencil or pen, or whatever sketching, painting, or journaling materials that you prefer. Also bring any personal items you need like a hat, sunglasses, folding chair or stool, or camera. Of course, you should bring any money that you want to spend.

The Sketch Crawl is FREE, but you might want to buy something to eat, drink, etc.

The weather forecast is calling for possible thunderstorms starting to move in on Saturday. That should not affect us. The stores will be open so we could find a place to work indoors. I'm thinking of several possibilities.

In Calvert, you have all those great show windows to look through at Mud Creek Pottery, if you need to work inside for a while.

Of course, there are always restaurants where it would be nice to spend some time and enjoy something to eat or drink.

It really is a nice day for anyone who likes to sketch, draw, journal, or doodle.

Let me know if you have any questions.

I'm anxious to see what everyone does, as well as to participate myself!

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Have you watched the storks, yet? Look for links to stork webcams in my sidebar under Stork Sites. They are fascinating!

Friday Night Date

Friday Night Date

8.5" x 11"

pencil

There was a comment on FaceBook today stating that they remembered the days when weekends meant dating and hanging out with friends. I still remember those times, too, although the person reminiscing is a lot younger than I am.

I did this little pencil sketch a while ago, remembering a Friday night date when I was a teenager in Calvert.

A younger girl in our group had a date with a boy from the next town. He didn't have a car. But his friend had a car. The guy with a car was willing to double date, but he didn't have a date. So, the girl asked me if I would like to go. My friends all told me to go. I was a bit hesitant because I was shy, couldn't think of clever conversation, and this was the first boy from out of town, that I had not grown up with, who I would be going out with.

We went to the Eloia to see a movie, which was okay because we didn't really have time to go out of town and be home by 10 p.m. The movie did the talking for us, so we didn't really have to say much. I think he was just about as shy as I was.

So, here we are, in my drawing, sitting in the car after the show, parked in front of the old abandoned movie theatre beside the bank. The sign from the Eloia and the street lights light up the night. Notice that the car is not parallel parked. At that time, our wide Main Street, which was also the highway, allowed cars to just pull in. You can see the other couple in the back seat through the rear view mirror, and their knees on the seat of the car.

My date was really cute , but, as I said, I think he was as shy as I was, so there wasn't much talking. Thankfully, the other girl was lively and talkative, so I just listened. Imagine my surprise when my date leaned over and kissed me! I didn't know what to do! It was a sweet, tender kiss and I almost passed out!

In our little group, we had talked about what to do if a boy tried to kiss you, and how to kiss. But, at this time, I was at a loss as to what to do! What do you do with your nose. And should you let a boy kiss you on a first date. All those big questions that people encounter as they grow up and start to date.

I worried about my manners and felt that I didn't know what to do or order when eating out. And I felt so stupid, waiting for a boy to come around and open my door for me. I thought that I didn't have enough experience at eating out. I was very uncomfortable at this business of dating a stranger. I had dated before, but it was always with the boy I started going out with in elementary school, and had known all my life.

On top of that, what if they didn't like you. Or you didn't like them. Or if you did something stupid like tripping and falling or if you needed to go to the bathroom! And what about the other couple. What if they didn't want to go home yet, and you needed to be at home earlier. So many problems!

Yes, I remember dating and hanging out with friends on weekends and every day. We were a small school in a small community, and most of us grew up together and are still friends. It's sad to think of those who are no longer with us. We did have some good times .

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Congratulations to Kathi Appelt! See her link in my sidebar under Artists and Authors. There was an article about her latest book in "The Texas Observer". See "What The Woods Knew" by Robert Leleyx dated April 3-09 at http://www.texasobserver.org/. Interesting review of her book, "The Underneath".

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Lots of things going on locally tonight. Hope you are involved in some of them.

In downtown Bryan, they are showing the movie "Grease" tonight as part of the First Friday festivitites.

At Rudder Hall on campus, Karl Rove and Juan Williams are appearing. That should be very interesting.

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Monday April 6

National Tartan Day-Wear your tartan! If you don't have one, look in my sidebar and you can find a link to a place where you can design your own tartan. I still like the one that I designed last year on that site.

Brazos Valley Art League-meets at noon at the Art Center in College Station.

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Great News for Stork Watchers!

The storks are back in Poland!!!

Go to my sidebar and see the list of sites under Stork Sites. Mama and Papa stork have returned to the nest where all the babies died from a fungus a couple of years ago. That was so sad! Last year, the adults didn't return to the nest at all. But, now a pair of storks has taken up residence in the nest, and the webcams are working.

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Join us for the 22nd World Wide Sketch Crawl

Saturday April 11, 2009

http://www.sketchcrawl.com/

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Thanks for reading and sharing!

A Simple Print

Angel From A Crystal Star

6" x 8"

block print

Summer vacation is just a few days away. At least school is out here for the students on Thursday. I guess that I should have posted this project during school time, but, maybe, if you are looking for a Vacation Bible School project, or something for your kids to do at home, this one is pretty simple and kids seem to like it. Teachers may find this useful for another school year.

Personally, I don't think that I have the patience to do a long printmaking project with traditional materials, so this worked great for students, and for me. I have done the more traditional, longer methods, but it is not one of my favorite things since it really tries my patience.

Materials

1. old newspapers to cover work surface

2. pencil or ball point pens (old pens that no longer work are best!) You can even use a nail, or anything that has a point that you can cut into styrfoam with.

3. styrfoam trays (like the ones that are used to put meat , tomatoes, etc. on at the grocery stores. ) I made friends with the butcher who let me have a good supply of these for students, and also you might be able to buy them for a small cost. I've also seen them offered in art supply catalogues from time to time. They work great for palettes, and other things too!

4. Scratch paper

5. Brayer (you could also use a spoon or other old object for applying the ink)

6. Rolling pin (an old wooden rolling pin would be best. You don't want to use a rolling pin that you would later use for cooking! )

7. Block Printing Ink (your choice of colors) I like to use the water based Speedball Block Printing inks. Starting with one color on one design as I did above is the easiest.

8. Block Printing paper

I like to use Speedball Block printing paper, but you can use anything you like or might have. Even a heavy paper towel! You just want to be careful to avoid using a paper that is so fragile that it will tear, or one that is so thin that the ink will go through easily.

9. Paper towels and something like Wisk, hand soap, Windex, or even Amway's LOC to clean up with.

10. Scissors

11. (optional) If you have some kind of rack to place the prints on while they dry, that would be good. If you don't have a special drying rack for pictures, you could use something like an old shelf from a closet, one of those metal affairs, a plastic milk crate-the box type with the holes in it, or you could even hang a clothesline away from traffic, and use clothespins to hang the prints. Drying time isn't all that long, if you use the water based inks. Usually they are ready the next day.

Procedure

1. Use scratch paper and pencil to draw your design and plan. Remember that all letters and numbers have to be backward or, when you print, they will look like you are looking in a mirror!

2. Cover your work space with newspapers and gather all materials.

3. Trim the edges or lip off your styrfoam tray (plate)

4. Draw your design from the plan onto a styrfoam tray. (plate)

5. Once you are sure of your design, use pencil, pen, or other tool to deepen the lines in your plate. Some lines may also need to be wider. Varying the lines makes them more interesting.

Be sure that you don't press too hard or you will go all the way through the styrfoam, leaving a hole. If that happens, work with it, and make something out of it. Or, you may want to start over.

6. Use a seperate styrfoam try to put your ink in. Squeeze out some on the stryfoam tray, then spread it out fairly evenly with a spoon or your brayer. You don't want it too deep or too thin.

You may have to test your brayer in it, then spread that on some scrap paper in order to know just how much ink to use.

7. Ink your plate. To do this, use the ink of your choice on your brayer and cover the plate (design on styrfoam tray) with an even coat of ink.

8. Print. Place the inked plate on the block printing paper. Try to center it, leaving a nice border, depending on the size of your plate and the paper. Also be careful to not wiggle the plate once it has been placed on the paper.

9. Roll. Apply gentle, smooth pressure by rolling the rolling pin, or a spoon, over the plate. You can protect your tool by using some newspaper on top of the plate. That will minimize any paint that might come out from under the plate.

As an alternative to the rolling pin, you can use a spoon and just rub, in a circular motion, over the plate. You do want to be sure that all of the areas on the plate have touched the paper, evenly.

10. Pull the print. Carefully pull the plate away from the paper. It should be a bit sticky. Pull from one edge out, slowly.

11. Hang the print to dry.

12. Once the print is dry, use a pencil under it to write the title in the center, your name on the left, the date and print number on the right.

13. If you desire using more colors in a print, you will need to make a seperate plate for each color. This becomes a bit more complex, but will work just fine, once you plan your design, and have done a simple one color print to understand how printmaking works.

Another thing that you can do is to add touches of color with a brush and acrylic paint, watercolors, or any medium that you would like to use, depending on what you are trying to create.

14. You can use this technique to make cards, book plates, pictures, stationary, etc.

15. To clean up, I like to use Wisk, or Amway's LOC, and Windex. That is for tables and brayers. The water based ink should come off hands with just soap and water.

In my design above, I was demonstrating this for a class. Somehow, a hole appeared in my plate, so I decided that I could use this for a Book Plate, and just leave that area blank. I planned to use calligraphy to fill in my name, book title, or whatever I wanted to add later.

This is one of my drawings of girls that I have always liked to do, but this one was done as a print, with black ink.

Once a color has been used on the tray, it can be washed off, dried, and another color can be used. They can be reused as long as desired, as long as the tray doesn't crack from too much use or pressure.

If you should decide to use oil based block printing ink, you will also need solvents to clean your plate and equipment. Look at the tube of ink or check out what is recommended for use with oil based inks. After using the oil based things, I still use my usual cleaning products to remove the solvents from tables and tools. You will also need to see if you can use them on styrfoam, as that may make your plate dissolve! Test out a little on some styrfoam scrap, or you might just opt to use a piece of wood or linoleum for printing. And that is going to involve a few more tools than I have listed. A pencil or pen won't be strong enough. But, that is another project.

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I hope that you enjoyed this project and will join my mailing list!

Please sign my Guest Book at the bottom of the page.

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Stork Watch

I have added another link to a stork cam, this one has sound and can be enlarged to full screen. You can hear the storks making noises, as well as background noises of the area. This one is in the Przygodzice nest. There is another link to it, too, that I have been watching, but it doesn't have sound.

Sadly, we seem to have lost one little baby stork, as there are only four now. But those left are really something to watch. One baby, especially, is very active, and seems like he is going to start running or flying as fast as he can!

The Ustron nest that we watched so much last year doesn't seem to have but one adult stork, still, and no eggs. This is the one where all the babies died. Maybe the parents knew that there had been illness there, or they were sad from losing their babies. The nest was cleaned, sanitized, etc. to make it safe for the storks this year. Maybe that was just too much human contact and the storks won't come back there.

I don't know. I grew up hearing that, if you touch a bird nest, or a baby bird, the parents would not come back, or wouldn't take care of the baby anymore.

Maybe that was a story that adults told us to make us leave bird nests and wild things alone, or maybe it is true.

Perhaps something happened to one of the storks, or both. Maybe they decided to start a new home elsewhere. Maybe they got a divorce and moved on. I don't have any idea, but we have been discussing them a bit on a Polish genealogy list. Lots of people enjoy watching the storks.

I hope that all the babies stay well and will fly off safely into their adult lives, when that time comes.

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Sketch Crawl

Look at the top of my page, in the sidebar, and notice the link that I have added to Sketch Crawl. You can now click on their logo and go to the Sketch Crawl web site.

I hope that everyone will join in!

If you are in this area and want to be a part of the Sketch Crawl on June 21, let me know! I hope that we can "Draw the Brazos Valley" and get a lot of participation that day.

Look under Bryan/College Station under Forums for the 18th and 19th Sketch Crawls and you will find me there. You can register and add a note there under my post, or you can register yourself.

If you are in a different area, you can register there, too. Start a group from where ever you are, if you want. Just plan to sketch that day, for at least a little while. And let someone know about it, probably on the SC site, or let me know. Groups, solo, families, beginners, students, adults, professional-anyone, anywhere. And, remember, it is FREE!

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Exciting Stork News

This is going to be a really short post. I just looked at the stork nest web camera in Przygodzic. It's 6:48 a.m. here, but is just after 1:40 p.m. there. (Okay, I already forgot the exact time that the clock on the picture from Poland gave.)

I was so excited to see the adult stork stand up, showing the baby storks, all huddled together under the adult. She sat back down quickly, though. It was particularly interesting because the camera shot seemed to be closer this time.

The only way that I knew that the last egg has hatched is because of the animation at the bottom of the picture. This shows all 5 eggs have hatched.

Now, we get to watch as the babies grow and see the parents as they care for their family. I hope that they all make it this year. It's easy to get attached to the storks. They really are fascinating.

The above drawing was actually done last year. There was rain that day and the adult stork was protecting her little ones while she seemed to draw herself ( I guess it was a she. I still don't know how you tell Mama from Papa Stork!) into a ball, while still providing shelter for the little ones.

I used a $314 Draughting Pencil to do this drawing on acid free drawing paper.

Remember that, if you are interested in purchasing one of my stork drawings, I will donate part of the procedes to the school in Ustron that has been sponsoring a web cam that we enjoyed so much last year.

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I hope that you will subscribe to my blog or join my group, Art By Cecelia.

If you haven't signed my Guest Book, please go to the bottom of this page and sign my book.

Thank you for reading and sharing.

More Calvert Drawings

Barbara sketched the Calvert City Cemetery

In the top photo, Barbara is sitting by the car, sketching one of the gates to the cemetery in Calvert. Her sketch is the drawing below the photo.

This lovely park-like cemetery is the final resting place for many of our family members, friends, neighbors, and members of the community.

We grew up just a few houses away from the cemetery.

I remember that, at one time, Edie, who lived next door to the cemetery, would alert us kids to a funeral going on. Several of us would go home and get a fruit jar, put water in it, and pick wildflowers that grew in the empty lots around us. As mourners left the cemetery, we timidly presented them with a jar or a handful of Indian Paintbrushes or tiny little yellow, purple or blue flowers.

We had a lot of Indian Paintbrushes, but I know of only one spot where there were Bluebonnets growing wild at the edge of town near the school. Of course, we believed that we would be put in jail immediatly, if we picked a Bluebonnet, so those were not even considered. There were lots of flowers in the park across the street, but we dared not pick any of those, either. The temptation was great, but, if Mrs. Sneed saw you pick a flower in the park, well, it would be too bad! And, on top of it, there was supposed to be a $5 fine if you got caught picking a flower in the park. We knew better than to pick any of the flowers from the beds of the neighborhood ladies' homes. And, the wildflowers were really pretty and cheerful.

I thought that the deceased would have a lot of flowers on their grave. But those left behind must feel sad at leaving their loved one in the cemetery. So, maybe they could use some pretty flowers to make them a little happier.

The dark clad recipients quietly thanked us and left the cemetery as we walked backward into Edie's yard to watch.

I don't have any idea who the people were, or who had died. It just seemed like something we should do since we were so close to the cemetery.

In this cemetery, there are quite a few graves that are at an angle. These are victims of the terrible Yellow Fever epidemic that wiped out about half the town. No one knew what caused Yellow Fever, so the graves were put at an angle in hopes that no one would ever open those graves and allow the germs or whatever might be causing the illness, to escape and cause another outbreak of Yellow Fever. The population was over 4, 000 at that time, and, after the epidemic, about 2,500 remained. The population remained in that range, even when I was in school.

Since they were burying people, night and day, I don't think that anyone will ever know exactly how many people died then, or even who they all were.

My great-grandfather had a cobbler shop, one of the first businesses in town. He had a "Chinaman" working for him who contracted Yellow Fever and died. That's the closest that any of my family members came to the disease, as far as I have been able to find out. But old timers talked about it, and it is still a topic of conversation even today.

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Stork Update!

The nest in Przygodzic has 3 babies in it! Three eggs have hatched, with 2 more to go! I haven't been able to see them as one of the storks is always sitting on the nest when I have taken time to look. But I can tell about the eggs from the animated little eggs at the bottom or their camera shot.

You can check out the other links, and the link I have that says Stork Cams, which has a list of many cameras trained on stork nests in various places.

Hope the babies make it this year!

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I added something for those of you who are Hillary Clinton supporters and for those who just like to design t-shirts. It's under Design a T Shirt. She had a "widget" on her website to add to your blog, where you can design a t-shirt for her campaign. Unfortunately, the whole thing doesn't show, but I think enough is showing so that you can design a shirt, or click on links you want.

I know one thing. After my recent experience of trying to paint a t-shirt with acrylics on a stretchy t-shirt, I'll try not to do that again! I started it a year ago, and I'm still not finished! That material is so hard to paint on!

I don't know how anyone can paint enough t-shirts to make a living at it, go to shows, and that sort of thing. One was enough for me! I have another shirt to paint, but this one may just remain plain-unless I really get in the mood for doing something frustrating! (I guess that should read challenging. I think that painting on fabric is a lot more than challenging, though. It's sort of like sewing. It doesn't take long before I am ready to throw the sewing machine in the garbage can, when I try to sew! Not nearly enough patience.)

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I enjoyed watching Bill Stubbs on Houston PBS tv. "Moment of Luxury" took us to New York last night. Really enjoyed the trip. In our area, the program is on Monday night at 8 p.m. Check your listings to see when it is shown in your area.

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Thank you for reading and sharing.

Let me know if you see something that interests you.

Please remember to sign my Guest Book at the bottom of this page.

Mother

Mother

watercolor

The moon was full, the night that it happened, so many years ago. But it seems like just yesterday. Each detail, sensation, smell, and emotion are even more fresh than they were then. Probably, they are more keen because they were blocked by disbelief and unreality, then. It all seems, as it did at the time, like a bad dream that leaves you feeling empty, drained, anxious, questioning, and afraid. I wish that it had been just a nightmare, but time insists that it did happen and is real.

Some life goes on.

In the small watercolor above, I used a limited palette of blue and brown. I used Winsor Newton watercolors on 300# watercolor paper. I like working on the heavier paper best. This is one in a series of seven paintings that I did using this color combination. This is one of my paintings that seems to relate to the work of the German Expressionist, Kathe Kollwitz.

This painting shows a weeping mother, clutching torn clothing and a shoe. One child behind her, out of her sight, tries to hang onto her as life slips away. A second child reaches up to her, wanting to be held.

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Stork Update

Mama and Papa stork are well into their rhythm of taking care of the 5 eggs in their nest, according to the web cam for the nest in Przygodzic.

It looks like the web cam for the nest in Ustron is working now. This one is a school project.

You can find more in the sidebar under Stork Sites. The link that says Stork Cams gives a list of stork sites, including the one at Ustron.

I still can't find the one that we watched last year that had sound with it. We could hear music in the background, at times, traffic noises, and even the noises that the storks made with their bills.

If you would like to purchase one of my stork drawings, I will donate a portion of the price to the school project.

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Remember to check out the Sketch Crawl website at http://www.sketchcrawl.com . The 19th World Wide Sketch Crawl will be June 21. I hope that we can get a good turnout from the Brazos Valley area to participate this time. (Along with the rest of the world!)

Saturday June 21 is also the date of the Texas Reds Festival in downtown Bryan. I have added a link under events.

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Thank you for reading and sharing.

Please let me know if you see something of interest to you.

Popcorn and a Movie

Popcorn

9" x 12"

pencil

What would Saturday be without a good, ole fashioned "shoot em up" movie, and, of course, popcorn has to go with that. Thank goodness for the old movie and western channels on tv, and things like tapes of those wonderful old shows.

Of course, Tim Holt was, and still is, my favorite. We had some pretty good arguments about who was best, Roy Rogers or Tim Holt, when we were growing up. Tim was right up there, in the movie magazines, with Roy, and sometimes, Gene Autrey was in the top, too.

This past week, I was looking at some things on You Tube and then tried doing a search. I was so thrilled to find some clips from some of the Tim Holt movies! I hope I can figure out how to use the things I saved and can go back and watch them again.

Also found old Gene Autrey and Roy Rogers music and parts of shows. And I went on to find things like clips from "The Pirates of Penzance".

Now if I could just watch the whole movies on my computer! (The sound isn't too good on my bedroom tv, so, if I can get things on the computer, that's a plus.) I could go in the den and watch on the big tv, but my computer is not there.

I'm not happy with what the Western channels are doing-putting old tv programs on instead of the movies. I never did like "Big Valley", "Bat Masterson", or "The Rifleman". And I got really sick of "Gunsmoke", back in those days. Didn't care for most of the tv westerns. Of course, we had to watch because we only got about 2 stations on tv! So people watched whatever was on in the evenings, especially.

Those old 1930s-1950s westerns were the best. They should put those old tv programs on the channels that have the old tv programs, and not the movie channels.

There are a few of the newer westerns that were pretty good, but they still can't beat those old cowboy shows we used to watch at the Eloia. I like the ones with James Garner and Peter Graves. Those have sort of grown on me. I didn't care for them when they first came out, but, now, after seeing them on tv several times, I kind of enjoy them.

I thought that one of those old tv shows stations was going to have the really old shows that I enjoy like "Our Miss Brooks", "Dobie Gillis", "My Little Margie", and those kind of programs. But, it wasn't long before we got the "new" shows, like "Leave It To Beaver", "The Brady Bunch", and "I Love Lucy". Now we get those and even newer shows like "Roseanne" and "George Lopez", and "All In The Family". I guess those are okay, but others just cause my poor thumb to get tired from changing channels with the remote.

I can't think of any particular movie of Tim's that was my favorite. I loved all of his westerns. And he was so cute, I could have just watched those shows, over and over. Still could!

I think that the only movie that I didn't like was "Treasure of the Sierra Madre". The story was good, and I do appreciate it more now than I did when it came out. But I hated that beard on Tim. Hid his pretty face! (Well, I just don't like beards and mustaches on anyone.)

I used to have photo albums full of pictures of movie stars and a special album just of Tim. Also had stacks of movie magazines and comic books that my mother threw out when I went off to college.

It was such a thrill to get those movie star pictures in the mail. We could just write a fan letter, addressed to the star in Hollywood, California, with a 2 cent stamp on it, and, soon, we would get a picture, often autographed, back in the mail. I sent off letters at least every week! Sometimes, stars would send us a picture that we didn't even write for. I remember that I had one of Vera Ellen, with a nice message on it. I had not written to her. And I was so excited to find that, when I jumped off a porch into some wet shrubs, with my photo in hand, that the ink actually smeared. That was "the test" to know if someone actually signed it or if it had just been stamped. I had a similar picture from Nina Fochs, with real ink on it. (I didn't even know who she was, so I knew that I had not written a fan letter to her.) Wish I still had those wonderful albums.

One of my treasures, now, is the biography of Tim Holt. Lots of pictures and stories. I sat down, when that book came, and read it straight through. (Unlike the biography of Robert E. Lee that I have been reading a little bit of at a time for at least 10 years, and I'm only about half way through! I am determined that I am going to finish it, one of these days.)

The Eloia was catty cornered from Grandpa's dry goods store, so I would watch through the big plate glass show windows for time to go across the street to the picture show on Saturday afternoons. I could see the colorful popcorn machine, with its colored lights, reflecting against the white building , rolled out from behind a blonde wooden door for each show. Carl Jr., when he was at home, would pop and sell the popcorn, while his mother, Eloise, took up tickets, and his father, Carl Sr., would sweep and take up tickets. Carl or Carl Jr. would run the projector upstairs. They all took turns walking up and down the aisles during the show to make sure that everyone behaved and didn't leave a mess. They only sold small sacks of popcorn for a nickle. For drinks, we had a chilled water fountain. If you wanted a Coke, you had to wait and go to the drugstore or to a grocery store after the show.

Sometimes, I had to help at the store and couldn't go to the show, and, believe me, I was wanting Grandpa to tell me, "Things are slow. Here's a quarter. Go on to the show."

But, even when things were slow, there were usually jobs to be done, like stringing handkerchiefs or putting pin tickets on merchandise, or just straightening things. Sometimes I would entertain myself by trying on the hats in the three way mirror, or sit by myself in the ladies changing room, dusting or sweeping, and just dream. Or I might sit on the floor at the edge of the show window and watch the people on the street, hoping to see a friend or a cute boy go by. That was the spot where Grandma and the other ladies who worked elected to sit while they strung handkerchiefs or put prices on merchandise. When Toot worked, she would sometimes sit there and write letters, when there were no customers or jobs to do.

The men tended to sit around the center of the store near the stove and the cash register. There were chairs and a bench there. A good place to gossip and swap stories.

If someone felt bad or just got extra sleepy, there were two shoe benches in the shoe department, where people sat to try on shoes.

When I could go to the show, sometimes I made the rounds at the grocery store in back ,and the dry goods store. A nickle from each person would get me into the show and buy me some popcorn, with a nickle left over to go to the drugstore afterward for a Coke or a scoop of ice cream. If I came up a nickle short, tears would usually bring me the extra money I needed.

After I started getting actually paid to work, my 50 cents a day, and later a dollar a day, would take care of my needs for a 12 cent tube of lipstick and picture shows and drugstore for the week.

We didn't always have cowboy shows on Saturday. Sometimes we had things like "The Three Stooges", or "Tarzan" movies. Usually all black and white movies during the week, with the technicolor movies saved for Sunday.

It still doesn't seem like Saturday without a good cowboy show, though.

And, now, I have to add that, Saturday night doesn't seem right without "Last of the Summer Wine" and other British comedies.

"Popcorn", the drawing above, was done with pencil on Canson acid free paper. This is a sketch made as a preliminary work for a challenge issued by Myrna Wacknov.

The challenge is to draw popcorn, then look at it to see what you can see in it. Something like looking at clouds to see what you can find there. The boys made popcorn while they watched a movie, so I borrowed a few kernels to use for my project. I haven't completed the finished work of what I see in the popcorn, however. But I do see lots of shapes and possiblities in what I have drawn.

And, like the homework story, somehow, the dog got my little ziplock bag of popcorn that I had drawn, and tore a big hole in it, leaving me with smashed kernels on the floor. (Good thing I was not using it as a still life!) And, fortunately, I can use my imagination to complete the picture/s.

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Stork Update

I've added another stork cam under Stork Sites. This one is in Hungary. Click on Hungarian Cam to watch.

The nest in Przygodzic now has 5 eggs in it! Now we must wait patiently for them to hatch. Meanwhile, we can watch Mama and Papa stork as they take turns tending to the eggs.

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Be sure to check out the links in my sidebar. From time to time I will add new things there.

Also sign my guest book, at the bottom of the page.

You can subscribe to my blog to get updates easily. Just type your e-mail address where it says "Subscribe" and click on the button beside it. Or, you can click on the link where it says to join my group.

Let me know if you see something of interest to you. Most of the work on my blog is for sale. Barbara says that her work is for sale, too!

Thank you for sharing and for your support.

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Stork Update/ Color Harmonies

Stork Update:
There are now two eggs in the nest! I finally figured out what the little white things are at the bottom of the picture, and those are little animated eggs hatching. They show the number of eggs in the nest. There had been just one. Now there are two little cartoon eggs.

Also, I added another link under Stork Sites that you might like to check out. Links #4 and 5 in my list don't seem to be working. They worked last year. I'm not sure what one says, so it could be that they have taken the site down. I thought that the other was working, but, apparently that is not the case. Maybe it will work later.

Funds might have been a problem. That's why I'm offering to donate part of the money from sales of my stork pictures to the project. So if you would like a lovely stork picture, or if you would just like to contribute to the fund, let me know. We can arrange for a picture, or I can put you in touch with those who are working with the project, or the lady who has been collecting to help them out.

I don't see that the Black Stork nest web cam in Germany is showing anything live, either. I enjoyed watching that one last year too. However, I have left it there because there is some interesting information on stork migration and their adventures in the sidebar. Hopefully, the camera will be back operating again soon.

Calvert Sign:
There has been a movie on tv about the life of Johnny Cash the past few days. My daughter pointed out to me that, at some time, maybe about 1957, Johnny and his crew were in Calvert. At least, according to the tv movie. I watched a bit of it and, sure enough, they make a stop at a little town as they are traveling from Austin toward East Texas. As the men are standing around, doing goodness-knows-what (since they start a small fire in a tree!), there is the big Calvert sign behind them. Of course, that sign was not really there in 1957. As I recall, there was only the city limit sign, and a concrete block sign that was put up by or for the FFA and several organizations like the Lions Club had additions on that sign. It had some flowers planted around it and was a nice, simple welcome to town.
Now, I wonder about the sign in the movie. It was a nice backdrop and a bit of advertisement, I guess.
I do know that they also showed neon lights from a motel in the background, near the sign. Calvert never had one of those! (Reminds me of the movies about Houston and the movie makers will have to throw in some big mountains in the background. I'm always sure that those movie makers have never been to Houston, or Texas!)
My daughter told me that it was the sign that advertises Calvert as the Antique Center of Texas. I didn't see that part. I thought the men were in front of it, but I did see Calvert on it and the sort of odd shape that it has.
If you get to see the movie, watch for the sign and let me know what you think. If you have actual information about why it was in the movie, I would like to know that too. Not complaining or anything like that. Just wondering.

Dream Tree Slide Show
I added a slide show (below) of some of the watercolors that I have done of the "Dream Tree" that I have talked about previously.
This was a tree that I saw in a dream and I woke up saying that I just had to go back and paint that tree. I think it was supposed to be in Franklin. Nothing I have actually seen, except in that dream.
Myrna Wacknov, on her Creativity Journey blog, issued a challenge a while back to write down all of the colors on your palette on little slips of paper. Put those in something, then draw out 3 colors. Use those colors to do a painting. Repeat as many times as you like.
I used my light table to trace several small versions of my "Dream Tree" on watercolor paper that ranged in size from 5 1/2" x 8 1/2" to 7" x 10".
The first color combination that I drew was Winsor Violet, Yellow (Pale), and Indigo Blue. I really liked the results I got with that so I did another one. The sky in the second one was much darker than the first, but it is still nice.
Then I did one in more realistic colors, thinking of the golds and colors of winter grass around here.
Next, I tried one, beginning with a color that I like-Cobalt Violet, and decided to make a violet tree. I added in other colors of yellow and green to complete the painting.
A monochromatic painting using all blue was my next choice.
Finally, I drew 3 more colors to use. This time, I limited my palette to Alizaron Crimson, Sepia, and Lemon Yellow. I have to confess that I had to cheat a little bit. I ran out of Sepia so I added in some Burnt Sienna just to complete the painting.
I could do many more! I do have one more drawn on a larger sheet of paper that needs to be painted still.
I thought that I would really get tired of doing one thing over and over. But, each one was different enough that I still had a challenge to figure out how to approach each area. Just thinking of how to use the limited number of colors was a challenge in itself.

Storms
I'm staying up, watching the tvweather news from Temple. There is a big line of storms headed this way and they have had a tornado warning for Temple and Milam county. For a short while, there were big, black dots in scattered all along that line of red and orange. Wish I knew what that meant! Kind of scarey, especially since there was a tornado at Breckenridge earlier as this front moved through.
I guess it is safe here, right now. I'm watching my weather forecasting cat as much as I am watching the tv weather! So far, she is just walking around, looking at things.
If she starts flattening out to the floor and just creeps along or stops dead in her tracks, I will know to unplug the computer and hide her under her favorite blanket. All we need is a bit of rain in the area, and Bitsy goes into action, looking scared stiff. When she comes out of hiding, we know it is safe and the rain or storm has passed. Sometimes the weather people miss the forecast, but Bitsy never does!

Art Notes:
Check out Virginia Vaughan's blog from the link under Artists and Authors on my sidebar. "Texas Country Reporter" is going to film her for their program while she paints 24 paintings in 24 hours. These will be done on the farm where she and her family recently moved from.
"Extracurricular" will be on display at the P. David Romei Art Center in College Staion. If you are here, be sure to go by and see some of the work by area art teachers.
I've been reading about Houston Interior Designer, Bill Stubbs. He is starting a new series on Houston PBS tv. There are a lot of very interesting things online about him. I'll have to check out his book, "I Hate Red! You're Fired!".
Thanks for reading and sharing. Please sign my Guest Book at the bottom of this page.
You can also join my group by filling out the little subscribe box at the top of the page, or you can click on the link that leads you to my group.
And do let me know if you would like one of the stork pictures.
Hope those storms weaken and just leave us with some nice, gentle rain, and only where it is needed so badly.

Congratulations, Mama and Papa Stork!

It's spring and the storks are arriving back in Poland!

Last night, (in the wee hours of the morning, actually), I was checking out the web cams for the various stork sites that I listed in my sidebar under Stork Sites . In one nest, Mama and Papa stork looked like they were settling in really well, just snuggling down, flapping wings, and twisting around as those beautiful birds will do.

Lo and behold, as they stood up, I noticed a white spot in the nest. An egg! The first one that I have seen this year. Looks like the season for eggs and new babies is upon us.

I was going to get my pencil and sketchbook out and draw, but decided that I probably should try to go to bed. (The tomcats had other ideas, though. They have figured out how to make me get up, just about the time my eyes close and I drift off to sleep!) I may as well have stayed up and sketched the storks!

You can click on the links on the right under Stork Sites to see the various sites I have found to share. Some are in Poland, some are in Germany. Some have English, and some do not. But, you can usually figure out what is going. Or what I do is to ask someone who can advise me!

Debbie Greenlee has been very kind to keep us informed and has given me permission to share information with you.

The nest with the egg is on the Bociany Przygodzic site at http://www.bociany.ec.pl . If you look below the web cam to the big words, "Froum Galeria" and click another window opens for a bulletin board. On that new page, click on he second message topic, "Kadry...z przmruz.eniem oka ;)2008". A new page comes up. Scroll down the photos and click on "PODZIWIA". Scroll down until you get the enlarged photo and you can see that it is an egg that she is tending to. Apparently, this egg was made on April 5, according to the other photo on that last page.

Here is another website for watching storks. Look at

http://www.bociany.edu.pl/projekt.php?str=2

This is a school project that is very interesting. At this site, there is a diary of how the project started. It doesn't have an English page, but it is still of interest.

Scroll down to the bottom of the page and click on the words, "Zobacz film. An 18 minute film will show you what was involved in this project. Although everything is in Polish, you can get a feel for the language by listening. You probably will be able to understand what is going on without understanding Polish. At the end, there is a champagne and ribbon cutting event.

Monika, who is the leader of the Ustron~stork project, has invited people to post a message on the project's website.

Here are two threads where you can guess the arrival of Beskidek and Czantorek, although Beskidek has already arrived.

Beskidek: http://www.bociany.edu.pl/forum/viewtopic.php?t=729

Czantorek: http://www.bociany.edu.pl/forum/viewtopic.php?t=765

Monika advises that you can write in English on the forum. She expressed wishes for a happy year for the storks.

There is a page on their site called "Przyjaciele", which means friends. This will include names of people who are helping to support the project.

Ustron ~ is in Beilsko-Bial~a (southern Poland) near Katowice.

The storks in this nest are named "Beskidek (father/ojciec) and Czantorke (mother/matka).

Beskidek meanst "little Beskid", referring to the Beskid mounton range in which Ustron~is located. It's similar to Americans living near the Rocky Mountains, such as in Denver, and calling an eagle there "Rocky".

Czantorka comes from Mount Czantoria Wielka which is a prominent peak in the Beskids, and it is in Ustron~.

The organizers of the online stork project are Monika Kosinska (director) and Marek Radziszewski of "SNEP Kol~o 15 w Ustroniu", Association of Elementary School Teachers, Circle 15 (read this as Chapter 15) in Ustron, a teachers organization in Poland. Their website is

http://www.snep.ids.bielsko.pl/

They held a symposium (for kids) about storks on June 5, 2007. See more about this event with cute pictures of the kids with their storks at

http://www.snep.ids.bielsko.pl/konkurs.htm

Debbie has been very nice in trying to collect funds to help with the expenses of the stork project. So, if you are interested in contributing, let me know and I'll tell Debbie.

Also, if you would like to purchase one of my pencil drawings of the storks, let me know. I will contribute a portion of sales toward the stork project.

The above sketch was done last year, after I discovered the stork web cams. I really liked the way that this stork was stretching out those wings toward the camera. So powerful! I used a #314 Draughting pencil to draw the storks.

If you are as fascinated as I am with the storks, you might want to make yourself a little chart that shows what time it is in Poland, as compared to where you are. I did this last year. They are interesting even during their night time hours, but it is also helpful to watch during daylight in order to appreciate the colors and surroundings even more.

Enjoy watching those amazing birds! I hope that they have a wonderful year with many healthy babies!

Storks After Loss

Looking For Family

8.5" x 11"

Pencil

There was a time during the summer, when, as we watched the storks in Poland via webcams, in one nest, the babies began to die, and one remaining egg didn't hatch. The last surviving baby was removed in an effort to save it, but, it, too, died shortly. There was a fungus that was the culprit, so the nest was treated.

The parents flew away, and it was not known if the storks would return.

Eventually, one lone stork returned. He (I just assume it was the male, since I can't tell them apart), let himself down onto the nest and looked around as if wondering, "Where is my family?"

The other stork did return after a while, although there were no more babies to care for. Like the other nests, the adults did leave on their migration to winter in Africa.

Too Much Wind

8.5" x 11"

Pencil

The lone stork, possibly the Papa, appeared to be feeling the loss of his family. For a while, he just stood in the nest, pacing a little, as if looking for any signs of the other adult stork and the babies. After all, he had spent quite a few nights, braving the wind and the rain, standing on one foot for long periods of time, turning the eggs, and all the other duties that storks have to do. Now, where had the others gone?

One night, he returned to the nest, looked around it, and the wind picked up. He spread his wings out and jumped up and down, as if letting all his anger loose at the wind. "Too much wind!" It seemed as if he might shout it, if he could. But, having no voice to shout, or words to say, all he could do was to just jump up and down and face that wind, clatter his beak at it, and try to make it stop. He seemed to have had about all the difficulties that he could take and was about ready to explode.

As I observed the storks, they seemed to be not only graceful and strong, but also they exhibited emotions and expressions. I could see joy, love, sorrow, grief, anger, desperation, tiredness, energy in their faces and in their actions.

And, as I drew them, for once, my animal drawings didn't come out to look like cartoon characters. I was pleased with that, and with the studies I was able to do as quick sketches.

Sometimes, thebirds seemed to stay still, holding a pose, and looking at me, as if to say, "Draw me like this." Other times, they were quite active but showed very interesting poses.

I probably did more drawings from this particular nest because it wasn't a site where I could save a picture, if I found the pose interesting. Also, there was such amazment that those thin birds, could withstand the wind, rain, cold and hot temperatures, perched way up high-even standing on one leg, at times in what appeared to be high wind. And, in this nest, there was such anxiety and sadness over the illness and loss of the babies that we had all waited for.

While such may be the ways of nature, it is still sad to see those things happen to living things. When the birds would pant in their nests, I felt so bad that I couldn't do anything for them.

I couldn't do anything for them, but I could draw them and other people can now observe what I saw. And, maybe, that will increase some awareness and efforts at preservation.

I just read a news item today about the possibility that there will be no more polar bears in the years to come. I love to watch polar bears, too. They remind me of Olde English Sheepdogs, which are also a lot of fun to watch. I hope that they can survive, along with many other species, and make a comeback like alligators and wolves are doing. We must leave them space and care for even the smallest of creatures. Just look at those little faces, and bodies. How could we not want to help them!

You can enjoy more about storks on the sidebar of my page under Stork Sites. While some of the webcams have shut down, for now, as the storks are going to winter in Africa, or just have a drawing or sign where a live picture used to be, there are still some sites that have photos, galleries, forums, and information about storks. There is even one that has tracking information on some storks. And, next spring, when the storks return, the links to the webcams should be working, and you can find the links to them in one place on my blog. Then you, too, can watch a stork family grow. I feel like I have learned quite a bit, and have been somewhat productive in making these drawings. I plan to do more.

The webcams that I have been watching are in Poland and Germany.

Be sure and check out the other sites I have on the sidebar of my page. There are Artists and Authors, Interesting Sites, and Eye Sites, besides the Stork Sites section.

Thank you for reading and for your comments and support. I do welcome inquiries. Please share my sites with anyone who you think might be interested.

Migration

Twilight Greeting
8.5" x 11''
pencil
Last May, I learned about several webcams that showed nesting storks in Poland and Germany through one of my genealogy groups. We had some discussions, and some of us were fascinated as we watched these graceful birds, night and day. Not only did I learn new things, but I became interested in doing quick sketches of the birds as they went about the business of nesting and raising their new families. Their emotions seemed to come through the camera to the screen, and, sometimes, it even seemed as if they would pose for me as I drew.
We went through joy as the eggs hatched and the babies appeared, and suffered loss when the babies didn't make it. One whole nest of babies didn't survive. It was terrible to watch the babies pant and struggle to breathe, before they died. One last baby from that nest was taken away, in hopes they could save it, but it, too, died shortly. How sad it was to see that empty nest, and to watch the parents as they left, then returned to the empty nest.
One bird, possibly the male (I never could tell them apart), returned to the nest and looked lost. As winds picked up, he jumped in the air, flapping his wings and looking like he was really angry.
Babies in the other nests grew, tested their wings, flying some, walking around some, and in a short time, were ready for their first migration to Africa.
Now, when I go to those websites, they are empty. Someone on the list explained that the baby birds left early for their winter migration this year. This might indicate that there will be an early, cold winter.
I've been thinking that we might also have a cold, early winter this year, here in Texas. The cats' fur has turned darker, and it's longer and thicker. Since we have had so much rain, and lower temperatures, maybe we will have a real winter this year. And, since we had rain on the first day of school, the year might also be wet.
The birds gave us so much pleasure, that I'm going to really miss being able to watch them. I hope that they will have a safe trip, and winter, and will return to the nests in the spring.
As I searched the sites today, and looked at blank pictures, empty nests, or even words that I can't read, ( I don't read Polish or German), I thought it might be nice to share some of the sketches I did. I like the way they came out, rather loose and free.
The above picture, "Twilight Greeting", shows one couple, as they greeted each other. One had just returned to the nest while the other sat on the eggs. From what I have read, they don't have voices, as we know them, but they do "talk" by throwing their heads back, and clattering their bills together, while making noises back deep in their throats.
I'm going to add some links to the sidebar of my page. These are some of the places that I have been enjoying the storks, and I thought that, while the birds are now gone, there are still pictures in the galleries and information available. When the birds return next spring, the links will be there for visitors to enjoy. These will be listed under Stork Sites.
My youngest grandson has been enjoying the stork sites with me and he, obviously, noticed that I was drawing, and talking about, storks. He came into my room one day, telling me that he saw a stork in a tree on the street behind us. He was excited and drew a picture of it. He thought it was a black stork, but I told him that I don't think we have storks in this area. It might have been a crane, or a heron. He said it was in a tree. Another day, he saw it walking in the street. He did a nice drawing, I thought.
Also look for a new section on my blog called Eye Sites, with links to some websites that have information about Macular Degeneration.
Thank you for reading and sharing. I do welcome inquiries and comments