4th of July Campout

Usually, by this time of year our extended family has had two camp-outs, but not in a COVID-19 year. We finally make it out for our July 4 traditional camp-out. Bathrooms were open this time but labeled "Use At Own Risk". We use the one in our trailer. Most of our regulars were here but, as we are all growing older, fewer are still active campers. I had the chance to get jamming in with Ed to entertain the clan by fireside. This is a high point for me! It's the perfect setting.

On the second night Ed was busy with other family obligations.  We had a fire at our camper and some others came over but left early. I had some time by our fireside to do some solo playing. However, it was into the Quiet Hours (10 p.m.-6 a.m.), and a park ranger came over to shut me down after a half hour. A regular occurrence for me. I'm always amazed that playing and singing is considered illegal behavior. It's acoustic! The sound doesn't travel that far and I may not be professional but I can hold a tune, but we are still breaking the law.

Trivia - it's never too hot for a fire! We sweat through the day but we love the fire at night. And my wife and I had Smores one night. Timeless!

A New Routine

I think this place will be seeing a lot of me in the following months. It is the Cancer Center. Today is just a bone scan to assess any possible spread of the cancer. The radioactive injection is three hours before the actual scan, and I'm on my own for that time. So - SKETCH! I set up my lawn chair out in the parking lot and bought a high-end coffee from the Roasterie kiosk and immersed myself in the process. It's been too long since I've sketched. It's like meeting an old friend to spend time.

Trivia - this building does not have a blue roof on the middle section. I felt that the grey on brick color scheme needed to be spruced up. Seeing the finished sketch I don't think blue was the correct accent color, but it's still better than grey on brick. I'm always amazed at how hard cars are to sketch. I have long realized I just need to go out and sketch them more often, like my need to sketch people. Just don't seem to get it done, though.

Patience

As you can see from my posting rate, I've been very quiet. This COVID-19 has me in an artistic funk. I could easily be sketching around the house, but I'm not in the mood. Other things on my mind, and the post elude to. But I'll always be sketching. I can't walk away from this form of expression. I suspect I may have lost all my viewership, but I'll still post. Hope somebody is out there.

I found this wicker ball in an antique store and couldn't stop looking at it. It's the type of object that would take forever to sketch in detail but still called out to be sketched, so I bought it. Some time has passed since I bought it, as I was looking for the right time to sketch it. Today is the day. It's Father's Day and our kids live out of state. So, it's quiet, just Wilma and I, and a COVID-19 isolation weekend. It will be a treat to myself to do it today! I had planned on doing a full pencil rendering in 100% detail and then inking it in, but it just grates me wrong to spend that much time on one drawing. The drawing would look great but I don't have the mindset to spend that length of time on one drawing. I'm a sketcher of daily life, not a formal artist. So, I did the old some detail-some implied method, and I like it.

If you read far enough you'll see I included some gloomy news, too. I did not start this sketch to be about cancer, but as I was writing the text, it just came to me. I saw how it all tied together, so to speak. It's been heavy on my mind since the diagnosis last week. And, good or bad, this journal is about daily life, so it had to be said.

New At Last!

I love my bicycle! Haven't changed my opinion since childhood. This summer I haven't ridden near enough, but I love it when I do. Big miles are enjoyable. Cycling gloves seem to last forever, but given enough years they do wear out. That makes me happy. Worn out gloves are proof that the rider has put in the miles. Can't fake that. Mine finally started pulling apart, so I had my excuse to go out and buy a new pair, guilt-free.

This is my first pair to have the gel padding, and they were the most comfortable. Not cheap, but cost per mile isn't bad. I went for a ride on our rail-to-trail near our house. To go toward Topeka the trail has the proper limestone screenings (fine gravel), but away from Topeka and I quickly run into the original granite ballast. This stuff is rough and loose, and easy to loose control and wreck if you don't focus. I made it to the trail's end and then jumped up on the asphalt road to circle back home. This was my first time to do it, and it felt good. I belong to the organization that's building the trail and we plan on laying down limestone screenings this year or next.

In a couple weeks a local bike store has organized an overnight bike ride, with camping at a local lake's campground. I hope to pack some sketch gear and have something to report later.

No Spark Joy

I've been making strides to get rid of "stuff". Our daughter gave me a copy of Marie Kondo's book on "The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up". I can't bring myself to apply it everywhere, but she makes a persuasive case that we don't need to keep all the things we have. I even like the challenge it presents to think it all through and question the past. She has a better way to fold cloths in your dresser. Her acid test for keeping something is great. Does it "spark joy". Love it!

So, I made this sketch for some things that don't spark joy anymore. The CD player is very very old by technology standards. It was the first generation mobile player. It still plays but the sound skips with the slightest bump! Not sure if there is someone out there that would find joy in this or not. It's not junk, though (yet).

The mini waffle iron never really sparked joy. I found it in a discount bin. Such a buy! Really marked down . . . such a steal! That little voice in my head said 'don't' but I did. Never used it.

The coffee mug I never wanted. I found it at a local art/craft fair. The artist had two mugs. Both different but roughly similar. I fell in love with the other one and she made me a (marginal) deal if I bought both. The other one still 'sparks joy'. This one not.

So, these will all go to Goodwill. Every little bit helps clear the house. We have a basement, though, that I need to hit, and I've been avoiding it. I want to develop my editing skills before I/we hit it to improve my confidence because it will be tough.

And A Seat Belt, Too!

We live just outside of town. A quarter-section parceled out like a mini-suburbia of five homes within a pasture section. The lots are bigger than suburbia, though. We (more precisely I) mow three acres. I like mowing but don't like the lost time that I could be doing fun things like sketching. My latest mower (zero turn, or ZTR) is in its sixteenth year and  burning oil for the last three years and an idler pulley just worked itself loose. The last time I mowed, I popped the belt about ten times. Frustrating. I've not putting any more money in repairs.

I've been looking at mowers in recent years to determine what my next mower will be, so after popping the belt so many times, I spent a couple lunch-hours talking to a local retailer and pulled the trigger. I still get sticker shock but I'll use it for many years. I chose one a little wider and faster than my current one. The three and a half hours needed to mow the yard is just too painfully long. We need to speed it up.

I've just mowed once, and it's taking some time to get the feel of it. It's a ZTR, too, but from a different manufacturer so it's different. It's going to work out nicely. It will be faster. This thing is so fast that it comes with a seat belt. It's raining right now or I'd be mowing now!

March Sketch Crawl

Time for the USk KC sketch crawl! I missed the last one, and will miss the next one, so I made it a goal to hit this one. I like going to this Bass Pro store in east Kansas City. I've sketched there with a prior sketch group that has folded. This store is loaded with nick-knacks to draw. This Kansas City group is a nice group. I've always felt welcome, even though I'm not a local.

I had a real failure to draw the inverted canoe mounted above my head. Total mental process meltdown. The eyes could see it but the brain hijacked that message and forced what I THOUGHT I was seeing and threw off all my angles and lengths. I just couldn't handle the foreshortening and non-typical position. Seems like a good challenge I need to try again.

What I DID like was the antlers. I've tried them before and only had limited success. If I were to lay it out in pencil I could be assured success, but I lay it out in ink. It's tough to catch the graceful symmetry and curves and balance with ink. I feel good about this one.