Back to Reality, Whatever That Means

American goldfinch, eating sunflower seeds on the hoof

What do you do when you have a galleryful of artwork up for sale? Do more artwork!

As a kind of warmup for the next batch o’ art, I’m out in the garden with binoculars and a scope, sketching the birdies. Don’t know exactly what I’ll do with the drawings, but one never knows, and it’s good to keep your hands busy and your mind engaged. In this hot dry weather  (summer arrived last week and someone shut off the rain  and turned the heat up) the pond and waterfall is highly attractive to a lot of wildlife, as is the fruiting pear tree which is ringing the dinner bell for all sorts of omnivores and frugivores. There’s a lovely lady coyote, very pregnant, who’s been coming out in early evenings to pick up fallen fruit and devour it on the lawn. I wish her and her soon-to-be pups well. She’s an enchanting creature, in a thin summer coat, with an elegant long nose and wise, angled eyes in a sensitive face. And I’m keeping the cat indoors anyway.

Red-bellied Woodpecker, drawn through the scope.