Gotta Go Sleep...

Bubbles produced by turtles "breathing" underwater, I'd learned to recognize and distinguish from the ones made by carp. But the ones I saw in the creek were different. There it was again! I went to look, and it was breathing pretty regularly. What could it be?

I drew a picture of the bubble-blowing critter at the bottom of the creek, then took it home to see if I could check online what it was. I'm still not sure, but one possibility is a freshwater clam called, in Japanese, the "shijimi". So I decided to name it Jimmie,

This morning, I went to the clinic to pick up my medicine, and since it was still cool, I took a little hop to the park--and today, I was able to do three little sketches--I'll be posting about them too.

For now though, I'm super sleepy, and I think I'll go lie down for a little nap.

UNFINISHED BUT GOOD FOR NOW

It's not exactly finished--I haven't colored it--but I think I like it like this, altho' there are still lots of things I want to do with it....

This is Mime Mime, one of the dozen or so carp that swam up to Duck Pond from Deeper Pond in one of the heavy rains.

I'm not a glorified masterpiece yet either, but I think I should be pleased with what I am: His workmanship!

UNLIKELY BLESSING

On the way to the park is a grassy field on which I usually see birds gather. I've seen starlings, pigeons, crows, finches, swallows, and of course, sparrows. But one day, it seemed God nudged me to go to the field just across the road from it. There's usually nothing there...but that day, there was a sweet little lady bug--see?

Hm; no matter how unlikely, is God leading? If He is, a certain smile is waiting on the other end.

CRAYON MILKY

I'd taken this photo quite a while ago. It was last year by the time I got the nerve to draw it the first time. I tried to draw it again today.

It's the plain carp Milky, nothing exceptional, but in the photograph, it looks like a piece of purple wax is swimming through the reflection of colorful leaves in the water. I think this is one of my favorite pictures of Milky, especially because she is one of my favorite carp.

Wasn't Sara Fin my favorite? Well, that was my very first carp friend, and it was like my guardian angel. What about Slit, the one who played games with me? Yes, the only carp I knew as a young 'un who is still alive. And now I'm saying Milky is my favorite? I find they're all favorites in different ways.

NOW I get it. I know someone who says God loves her BEST. That's because He can love a lot of people best in different ways--it doesn't have to be just one!

Thanks, Milky.

NOTHING BUT LEAVES

I'd never seen that hummingbird at the park before. I quickly took a picture of it from where I was behind the bush. But when I got up closer, I saw it was just emerald and rose leaves sitting on a boulder at Bottleneck. Leaves can be very pretty, but even they can be pretty disappointing.

Wasn't there a time Jesus was disappointed with only leaves instead of figs?

JUST THE BEST...OR BENDABLE?

I guess I was interested, but at the same time, I wasn't interested. I was interested in drawing pretty flowers, but I wanted to draw flowers smiling in the sun, swaying in the breeze. I wasn't interested in just pretty flowers.

Even in this sketch of the pigeon, the field flowers are drawn bent at 45-degree angles, and the petals aren't distinct at all.

Am I doing my utmost to be the best soul I can possibly be? Maybe it would be better to be willing to let God bend me however He wants. After all, He may not be interested in mere pretty souls.

DANDY THE BABY GRASSHOPPER

I'd been taking pictures of turtles in the pond when I saw, in the grass nearby, a baby grasshopper trying to stay on top of a dandelion flower. I could see it was slowly disintegrating under him. When those dandelion seeds fly away, I hope, like his name, he'll just hop down onto the grass.

I'm not a grasshopper. I may be in for a hurtful landing if I'm resting in the wrong comforts.

DEAR ABI

Oh dear. I thot she knew B-day meant Birthday.

When Abi the Abu (Robber Fly) said she could make the "Happy B-Day" sign with her grains of sand, I didn't know she was going to do this.

I'd strained my eyes to see what it was she'd formed in the ground, and realized it read: "Happy BUG Day"!

For my sister's birthday. I can't send her a photo of a sign celebrating insect life, can I? Oh well. Maybe She can use a chuckle on her birthday anyway.

"Thank you, Abi," I said, snapping a photo of what she made.

-----------------------------------------

Okay. When Abi posed for me, it looked perfect for a sign, but she looked way too small and the grasses too unimportant, so they were drawn much bigger than they were in the photograph...and the story got "much bigger" too... Whoever heard of a spelling Fly?

Only spiders spell. Even Charlotte knows that.

NOTICING

After fully recharging my camera, I noticed I'd managed to take ONE photo of the damselfly before it had turned off.  I'd wanted to photograph it because  last week, the day the roly poly came to the Irrigation Ditch, this little damselfly had come also to listen to my stories--I wonder if it knew I noticed?

Sunday, I was very early to online church, so I viewed some art lessons; got on ZOOM when it was time; then forgot about the art video. Until evening, my mind was occupied by things heard during the service and fellowship-prayer time afterwards.

I'd asked God to help me enjoy art but please not let it become my idol. He let me see I didn't think twice about tossing it away--not even thinking about it for a while. I'd wanted to "listen to His stories" that day...and He'd noticed.

Adversity or Prelude to Blessings?

Rats. The camera shut down after just one picture. I followed the pretty dragonfly toward the pond but then gave up when I spied...a charming little elf-like sparrow peeking out from behind a large rock.

Did he see me? I began sketching him from the shade of the tree he kept hopping towards, and I continued doing so until I had completed the monochrome version of today's drawing (I colored it at home). If the battery hadn't run out, I would've probably tried to photograph the bird--and possibly scared it away, instead of ending up with this.

I started to head out to the other side of the park...when a large insect floated onto the branch above my head. 

This poor thing--called a crane fly--is thought of as a mosquito on steroids, but it does not bite, cannot harm humans, and in fact, lives only 10 to 15 days.

So when I saw it had made the special effort to lift up from pond reeds to the tree branch to get my attention to be drawn too--well, I just couldn't say no. I stood there under the tree branch with my brush pens sketching until my picture was finished--people walking through the park couldn't see the insect so didn't know what I could possibly be interested in...a tree?

I'd started out the day thinking, "Camera died; no pictures today." But I went home with two!

I'VE GOT A SECRET

One day at the park, I saw somebody else with a camera aiming at something in the pond and clicking his shutter, then somehow beaming with the air of--"GOT IT!" And then it was almost like he tried to hide his expression, like he didn't want to give away the secret that there was something really good there, and he wanted to keep it to himself. Well, you can imagine what that did. 

Right. I grabbed my compact camera and took off in the direction he came from!

Maybe I missed what he saw, because by the time I got there, all I saw was a very pretty water lily scene.  You'll just have to see real beauty yourself in wildlife--God has put breathtaking displays of it all over the place. Here is my rendering of the sight that day.

But I wonder...do I go around with an expression of secret joy on my face to make others want to get it for themselves too?

MOARK

I went to the park and was greeted with a sound from that area I haven't heard in a long time.

"CROAAAK!"

It came from those tall grasses growing at Corner Cove. Much greenery had been cut back there. the carp nest area had been exposed, and it looked so bald before...but I realized it was green, lush, and there was no way now I could see the croaker calling to me.

"You've called to me several mornings now," I said in the direction of the sound. "Can I give you a name and we be friends? Do you want a specific name?" (There was a frog that for some reason wanted to be called "Baretta"!)

I waited, and I heard a short Croak.

"Just 'Croak'?" Well, since it's always been a morning call, can we make it a Morn Croak, so 'Moark'?"

I went home that day happy to have made another friend and also thinking, "My, grass and vines sure grow fast!"

(The carp in the water isn't Panda, Wavy, Kiss, Fleck, Milky, Triangle, or PolyCarp, but one of the others waiting to be named.)

A BROKEN--STRONGER--HEART

The other day, one of my crow friends posed for me, and altho' he looked like an eagle at first, I realized when I drew him, it was not at all the image I sketched. It was of a lonely bird!

Blackie the crow and his mother had always been together, until she sacrificed herself to make sure he got away--from then on, he showed up by himself. Whenever he landed on a branch, he would not feel the familiar second bounce; bathing in the stream meant not seeing a second reflection in the water; and catching a worm meant not feeling a playful tug on the other end anymore. I'd never associated feelings with crows before, but for at least a month, I sensed something akin to mourning from Blackie.

But while animals usually do not care for those of other species, it was Blackie, a crow, I saw fly off of his branch to protect a weak carp from human teasing. It seems the crow with the broken heart had a capacity the other crows did not know.

Could it be God could make you better than what you know now, by bringing situations in your life that break your heart? Hm.

PRETTY BLUE BIRD

The other day, Peter--that's the name of my pretty blue Kawasemi friend--came to the branches of Step Creek.

"I won't take a picture of you," I told him; "The other birds--I can photograph them, so all I need is something to get me started if I want to sketch them; but I don't photograph you. You know that. (I promised not to take any pictures of it, and since Dec. 2020 I have not.)  Can you hold still so I can draw you real good?"

Sometimes God just wants us to sit still, I think, so he can bless us real good.

ROLLY POLLY

Several little fellers visited the Irrigation Ditch today, and I had to post one of them.

When I was a little girl, there was a missionary in mainland Japan I really liked by the name of Roland Reasoner. He was an American but spoke Japanese like a native. His children went to the Christian Academy in Japan, still around today. His daughter graduated from CAJ, went on to college, got married, changed her name to Zosel then came back to teach at the school for missionary children I attended--she and her husband were several of my favorite teachers, and she was my basketball team coach too! My parents used to call this missionary "Rolly".

Today's Rolly had a friend I named Polly. Polly stayed on the side and watched as Rolly posed for me. Then, when I was getting ready to go home, she joined him.

I think they went for a walk--Rolly and Polly both.

FROG EGGS, TURTLE HEADS

I'm not sure I should even post this picture, because I'm not really sure what it is. This is drawn from a photo taken in the spring.

I asked the pond critters for something new to sketch, instead of the same old swimming poses I drew them in. But I wasn't sure what the toads would give me when I heard them calling to me one day.

I went over to where I'd heard their croaking and looked down, but I didn't see anything, felt a strange urge to take a picture of it. Could it be toad eggs just before they hatched? 

Bilbo wasn't much help when I went over to the Irrigation Ditch and asked him what he thought. He thought I should just sketch turtles.

HE SEES LITTLEST BIRDS

An art-loving friend saw my bird drawing from imagination and sent me a photograph of actual birds with brightly colored plumage, saying she'd found them! I guess they'd been singing for her too. I thank God for friends like this.

Even if most people never see them or know about some of the encouraging things they do, I guess the important thing is that a heavenly Father makes eternal records of everything HE sees, isn't it?

I'D ALREADY DRAWN HIM

How was I to know she'd say that at the end?

There's an artist online--I found her quick and ready smile refreshing, and I learned she loves the Lord. I decided to sketch her while watching one of her videos, and in order to show her personality, I also drew her shaggy dog. 

Imagine...at the end of the video...the tragic announcement was made that the canine had gotten sick and died, would be making no more appearances!

Instead of her pets, maybe I should've drawn her with her husband. I'm sure he'll be around a lot longer!

SINGING BIRD

I always thought the birds outside my window sang the prettiest of all Japan. I think they were sparrows, but I never saw them, so I'm not sure.

Last year, when trying to do gesture drawing of the sparrows at the park, I couldn't photograph any of them, so I just decided to draw a picture of one of those birds outside my window completely from imagination.

Something with a bright, cheery message like they always give me must be pink and purple, emitting rays of bright gold, don't you think?

THEY DID IT AGAIN

After the heavy rains, I'd gone back to the park and was photographing basking baby turtles when...didn't I notice familiar movement in the surface of the pond water?

Sure enough, the water level in the stream from the connecting pond on the other side of the other side of the park rose enough for carp to come up here again. I tried not to show it, but I was ecstatic. You just couldn't see the fish in the deeper murky pond--but here, where it's shallower, their shading differences were more apparent, scars/scratches/and fish scale groupings could be seen.

I could call my little swimming angels by name again! Besides, some were old friends, and I'd only have to name half a dozen or so. Panda, Fleck, Wavy, Mime Mime, & Kiss I already knew. Time to think of names. What a happy thing to have to do.

QUASI AND THE RED CARP

I'd promised the turtles at the Irrigation Ditch a story a long time ago. This is what I could come up with, using the characters of a turtle and baby red carp that used to swim there:

*   *   *   *   *   *   *

Quasi the turtle looked down at the little red carp in the ditch.

"Maybe I'm not the prettiest animal in the park, like the bright blue Kawasemi all the photographers want to get a picture of. And I don't have a rich voice heard clear across the pond, like Mr. Toad. And I'm not real smart, like the crows and ravens who can figure out everything about the skies, trees, grasses."

"But you'll still be glad to call me a friend."

The fish looked up at him. "Why?"

"Because I can save your life from herons."

Quasi the turtle knew the little carp was afraid of herons who loved to eat baby carp. But the herons thought of Quasi as a hero and did anything she asked. So if she said this red carp was her friend so please leave her alone, they would.

"What happened?" The fish wanted to know. "How come you're their hero?"

"It was an accident," Quasi began explaining. She had gotten used to telling this story. "I was digging for bugs and pulling at berries on a bush on a hill when I lost my balance and came falling down,

crashed into the face of a cat who was about to pounce on heron chicks that fell out of their nests. I was going to thank the cat for catching me, but it thought I attacked it and saw the muddied berries around my mouth as victims' bloodied meat so screamed and ran away. Herons came then and thot I protected their chicks, call me a hero and won't listen to any of my explanations."

The little red carp happily twirled around in the water cheering, "YAY, Quasi!"

Sheepishly, Quasi asked, "So, can I call you my little carp friend?"

"You can call me whatever you want," the first seemed to reply; "just let me stay by your side!"

DROWSY DRAWING

I wanted to cry. I had spent so much time on it.

After hours working on the drawing of our group shot after my grandson's 2-year birthday celebration, I'd been ready to go to bed. I was so sleepy but had determined to finish this picture before ending the practically perfect day. Oh--I forgot to tell you--that poster I made for my grandson was an all-nighter made, very unwisely just before my daughter's family came, so I hadn't slept at all. When we were celebrating his birthday, I so enjoyed the time--mostly probably because my sisters and friends were praying God would bless my time--but now? The Sandman had come something awful!

The very last detail I did was myself, and I wanted to draw the shadow around the chin...but it ended up looking like a bearded woman!

I could fix it, but I was too tired to care anymore. I showed Kinya, and we just laughed. And I went to bed. Maybe I'll fix it up later.

SO THEY CAME HERE INSTEAD

I just adore my daughter's little boy. I hear that happens to most grandparents. So when she called last week and invited me and my husband over to their home to celebrate his two-year birthday, I of course was delighted.

Only one problem. Because of a side effect of the medicine Zonisamide I'm taking for epilepsy, I have to stay out of the summer heat. Well, when my daughter invited me to go down to her place--it takes about an hour by streetcar, and the forecast was for a hot day. Heartbroken, I told her I couldn't go. I'd prayed God would bring down temperatures so I could attend a women's church activity, but it had gone up instead. What was God doing?

But several minutes later, my daughter called saying her husband had suggested that if I couldn't go down to their place, maybe they could bring their son up to Iwatsuki!

I decided to make a "Happy Birthday" poster for my grandson, pasting on it pictures drawn the past two years.

We had cake here; then I showed them a shortcut to the park. Naoki worried the sun might be too hot for me, but it was cool with a nice breeze too--last week's rise in temperature seems to have been to make sure leading was very clear for me, for the church ladies, for my daughter and for her husband!

God's answers are always so much wiser than our prayers, aren't they?

BRUSH PENS? THAT WAS FAST!

It's raining again--sigh. Do You want me to stay home and put up some other things on the blog, Lord?

Last year was the time I began experimenting with these brush pens, and I had to post some drawings with them, Altho' before brush pens, I'd been spending quite a bit of time drawing endless detail with colored pencil, I found I could work pretty quickly with these, and they gave me much brighter color than the pencils. Here are some of them:

Turtle bubbles, two carp...Basking mallard & reflections on pond surface...After dentist visit, promised romp at the park

Crow surveys field...Teal fly lands on red leaf atop black boulder

I asked Kinya yesterday to order some brush pen replacements online for me. I thot it would be at least a few days, but I guess the company branch just happened to be making deliveries, because the doorbell rang, and they were just delivered!

The only thing I know faster than that is when God answers before I call.

This feller seemed to want to know what I was doing, so. I let him see--I was sketching a red dragonfly!

It's the Same Fountain, A Different Angle

I mentioned the "Gesture Drawings" and the fountain in the May 28 post.

I looked back on gesture drawings done at that fountain. I'd seen a mallard on the dark, damp side of the boulder, looking for bugs, I think, and quickly sketched it then with watercolor brush pen.

I decided to touch it up a little with color pencil to post it today--it looks like I won't be going to the park; it's forecasted to rain all day.

To carp, mallards, turtles, or toads, who are swimming in water anyway, it shouldn't make that much difference, but...

The same day I did the gesture drawing of the mallard at the fountain, I also did a quick sketch of Barry, a great blue heron who came down to the lily pads of Deeper Pond on the other side of the park, so I decided to post that too, adding some color pencil to that as well. 

I thought you said No

Today, I saw a photo of a turtle who'd come to the Irrigation Ditch the very day I'd told them I couldn't sketch them because I'd done turtles so many times...but I found I couldn't resist and found myself unable to stop until the wee hours of the night, when it was finally done.

I hear God is like that in that we don't have to beg Him to bless us; He can't help Himself.

Oh--this is that turtle who came to the Irrigation Ditch wanting to be sketched. I would name him Noah; only, I would have no way of recognizing him among all the other turtles.