Recently I've been looking skyward.  We have such beautiful blue skies in the summer here.  The sky and clouds inspired a few sketches this week.

Clouds suit my mood just fine.
 ~Marie Lu, Champion

I run like I have cirrus clouds for legs and rainbow knees. What is life, if not a marathon of love?

~Jarod Kintz, Love quotes for the ages. And the ageless sages.

Nature is a mutable cloud which is always and never the same.
~Ralph Waldo Emerson

Dream’s elixir veered between light and clouds to save the blue..
~Munia Khan

...my dreams are tangled in images of stars and clouds and firelight - we go camping at night - it's my lucid dream of being with you...
~John Geddes, A Familiar Rain

It's been a week of contrasts.  Since I've been walking more I've had time to notice the details of some of our city's buildings.  Not rushing through traffic or peering out the window of a crowded bus.  The time and space have revealed an interesting history.  One when buildings were more exuberant.    Intricate brick work and elaborate carvings.  Yet when I get home I turn to drawing flowers.

Hard stone and soft petals.

Brick and bracts.

Monochrome and the bright colors of feathers.

Even personalities were juxtaposed this week.  The curious and enthusiastic up against the weary and defeated.  Kindness and cruelty.  It's made for some interesting days and given me plenty to reflect on.

Another inspiration that time and space of walking has produced is my interest in the sky and clouds.  I'm hoping to find some time to sketch and paint some cloudscapes.  You can't beat our blue skies here.  Maybe I'll bring some to you soon.

This poem by Wallace Stevens had been my favorite for many years.  It came to me this week.  Maybe it was the mention of blue birds in the title or maybe something more.  Either way this week I've been thinking about birds. 

I hear them chattering when I walk or while I'm out in my garden.  I wonder what they're saying.  The redwing blackbirds and the crows seem to have quite a lot to say.  For all of this chatter I know so few of them by sound.  From my time in New Mexico I've learned to recognize the wing beats of hummingbirds and the call of sandhill cranes as they migrated along the Rio Grande.  Here in Wisconsin the familiar sounds are the seagulls and robins.  Cardinals, chickadees, and wrens nest nearby and I've come to know them as well.  Walking the path at work, a co-worker is teaching me to pick out the call of the catbird.  Yet there are so many more out there.

I saw an oriole nest on the far edge of a nearby park, hanging from a large willow along the edge of marshy stream.  Now when I walk that path I hope to catch sight of one of the birds.  They visited the yard in New Mexico and one day I'll catch sight of them here  too.

I've always loved eagles, especially bald eagles.  They aren't an uncommon sight here.  They often show up at times when I am looking for answers.  Showing me a path, if I will only follow them.

In  a previous job, I drove passed an egret nest every morning.  Each spring I would watched for their return.

I love a bird's strong yet delicate wings, stretched out on currents, soaring over head, feathers looking like fingers raking the air. 

I have a small collection of feathers.  Plenty of turkey feathers, a blue jay, seagull, and even a tiny pink flamingo feather that I found at the zoo.

I took a long walk enjoying another beautiful day.  I've been down this prairie path in the arboretum before, but this time was the best.  It had gotten overgrown.  The sumac and grasses had grown so tall they were over my head and the black-eyed susan and milkweed crowded in on the path.  It felt like a summer tunnel, wild and untended the way a prairie should be.

As I wound my way along the path a red-winged black bird squawked that I was coming too close to her home.  My attention on the bird, I rounded the bend to find myself face to face with a doe and her two fawns.  We stood for a few moments just looking at each other.  Neither alarmed.  She let me pull out my camera without a twitch.  Finally she turned around and coaxed her babes back the way they'd come.  I gave her a little time then continued on behind them.  It wasn't long until I met them again.  This time the fawns disappeared without a sound as she leapt through the bushes.

I made a few sketch from the walk.  A green frog that I found taking a nap on a fence.  I heard his friends calling to each other in a nearby pond.  They sounded like banjo strings being plucked.

One of the many blacked-eyed susan's and the red winged blackbird that had me distracted as I stumbled on the family of deer.

We've been having the most beautiful summer.  Sunny and mild with the bright blue skies that we get here.  I've been trying to take advantage of this time taking long walks and spending time in the garden.  This has put me up close with plants of all sorts.  Some of my favorites are the wild ones.  Weeds often, but I love discovering their beauty and often their forgotten value.  Long before we relied on grocery stores and pharmacies people turned to the wild plants.  This week I tried to capture a few of them on paper.  I hope you enjoy them too.

Sage - a reliable staple in my garden.  It makes a lovely tea that claims to keep me mentally sharp and impart wisdom.  It's also nice in the kitchen.

Wood Sorrel - an edible green,that is said to be a good herb.  Although often too much for people with kidney issues and rheumatiod arthritis.        

Red Clover - the field along the path at work has seas of pink clover.  Such a pretty sight.  Used as a tea for women.

Chamomile - a lovely mild nighttime tea.  I've just added it to my garden this season and have high hopes for it.

Dandelion - one of my favorites.  Fresh salad greens, medicinal roots, and fields of bright yellow in spring.