Observations
One benefit of consistently sketching and drawing from life is that it makes a person much more observant. While I have not been sketching much the past few months, the observation part has stayed with me, and then I have recommenced another habit that enhances observation, a daily walk. Currently my husband and I try to get out the door before actual sunrise when it is light enough to see snakes and other critters to be avoided but as cool as it is going to be that day.
My husband is the fifth generation on this ranch and has lived it, worked it, and learned it his whole life. Still, walking the ranch is a totally different experience than riding in or on any sort of vehicle. He has noticed things he never would have seen if he had been riding. The fact that we are walking the same roads every day also keeps things at top of mind, resulting in him getting some work done this summer that he had previously been simmering in the far back of his mind.
I have some observations from this spring and summer that I am sure are signs of something, but I do not know how to interpret them. First is that I have not seen a single dung beetle of any sort on this ranch this year. Additionally, we had very few June bugs in the spring. Yesterday I realized I have not seen a single scorpion dead or alive in any of the buildings. We had a few scissortails but not as many as usual, and they did not hang around very long. I never saw any summer tanagers in the woods next to my house and I always have at least a few. Finally, the hummingbirds have been more stand-offish this summer and seem to be heading off to migrate earlier than usual. Oh, we had none of the little green caterpillars eating the trees this year, at least so far.
As I type this out, I get an uneasy feeling. My grandfather, Papa, was a farmer in middle Tennessee, born in 1896 and a thorough man of the land.
He put a lot of stock by doing things “by the signs,” as I know people used to do around here. He would have noticed all of the things mentioned in the previous paragraph, and have many more to add. Papa would have had some interpretations as to what it all means. He believed God sent signs and signals like this to help us.
This year’s El Niño is being described as “supersized” and “historic,” so it makes sense to me that it could be related to my observations. Most of what I read and hear from weather folks can best be summarized this way, “we can’t say exactly what will happen where, but it will be unprecedented.” That only enhances my sense of unease. It could turn out to be the perfect fall, winter, and spring for us— just enough cold and the exact right amount of rain to fill ponds and make the next year’s growing season the “unprecedented” in that prediction. I think I will hope for that. SpringCreekArtsGuild@gmail.com