I don't really know what you look like!

"Please come back," I said to the brown butterfly. It had looked so pretty sitting atop the bright red hurricane lilies, but now flitted away and wouldn't come back. And I didn't get what I needed to do the sketch. The flowers were much harder to do the actual drawing too--I couldn't do either B-fly or flower right; maybe I should just scrap it. No--even the butterfly wouldn't expect more than my best, I decided.

I Sketched Him Six Times This Month!

They were back at Duck Pond again. But the critters knew I couldn't say no. I had to sketch today; I didn't have a choice! I'd forgotten to insert the memory card into my camera, so I couldn't take any photographs.

Snorkel and Ruby didn't come tho', so today's picture is only of the birds. Also, I felt like much of the detail in the original sketch would be lost if I colored the whole thing, so after talking it over with Kinya, I decided to color only the birds.

Besides, it's the design of the Mallards I think handsome, the flash of the Kawasemi I feel striking. Most people, when they see pictures of these birds, don't give much attention to the color of the boulder, water, foilage...do they?

At the tail end of my park visit this morning, I noticed the cameramen were engrossed with the six grown ducklings who showed up at one pond and were swimming together. I left the charming sight and came to a quiet corner. In a few minutes, I heard a familiar call--it was Peter the Kawasemi! I showed him the drawing, thanking him for posing this morning--and all month, for that matter!

THEY MOVED

Here's Peter the Kawasemi at Step Creek with Mr. Mallard, a Ruby Dragonfly, and...can you see Snorkel in Inner Creek?

I told them I'd drawn all of them before, but they told me they'd moved from Duck Pond to Step Creek.

KOREE Story, version #2

I think this is the way I'm going to tell the story to the park animals, since I rather doubt they know the Pinocchio tale.

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KOREE and the String

"Gotcha!" a gruff voice sounded while fat hands grabbed at Koree the cormorant's loins and hoisted him out of the water onto a flat boat. It was the evil tax collector who wanted to separate him from the peasant boy Kuri. The tax collector wanted to use him to make money for himself, whereas Kuri just wanted to be friends.

"I tie this string around your neck like this, and you can't eat up all the large fish in my pond, just bring them to me to sell at the market," the man said, holding Koree by the neck. "There." But just then, he lost his footing, and slipped. Koree saw his chance and flew away, string and all.

But no matter how he flung it around, the string would not come off. Kuri will have to undo the knot, Koree thought. But he could not go to the woods where Kuri usually played; the tax collector was in the pond nearby.

What would he do? Koree was circling the air, when he saw ripples in the water. It was little Kuri! But what was that he was carrying? Koree could see it was his fisherman father, who loved the water but could not swim. From his place way up in the sky, Koree could also see swimming out into the deep ocean was the giant whale-shark, could also see carnage of a fisherman's boat. Right away, he guessed what had happened.

Kuri had seen his father's craft attacked by the monster fish, known for harming fishermen in the area. Right away, he had gone to help his father and somehow managed to chase it away with a spear. But it had completely broken the boat. The father clung to Kuri, who struggled to support both of them and tried to get to the nearest island shore.

"C'mon Kuri, you can do it," Koree thought. But just when they were almost there, a wave bounced back from a boulder on shore and hit Kuri in the face, turning his body around. He was so tired now and could not see that he was swimming out toward the sea...in the direction of the whale-shark!

"Oh, no!" Koree thought. Quickly, he swooped down towards the two in the water. "Kuri! Kuri!"

When the boy looked up towards the sound, the wet, dangling string slapped him in the face. Instinctively, he grabbed it.

"Hang on!" Koree pulled as hard as he could to get Kuri and his father to dry land.

The tax collector, seeing everything from his flat boat, said, "The string around the cormorant's neck was tied there to bring large fish to the fisherman; but the bird used it to keep the fisherman from going to the large fish!" That is a very smart cormorant indeed. It seems the tax collector thought he needed to start thinking about becoming friends with this bird, because he never bothered this family again.

END

IT'S ALL COLORED IN, M&M

Actually, one of the first friends that greeted me at the park was Mister Mallard, the father I sketched with his ducklings at Step Creek before I went up to Sendai last week. I thought it only fair to color it in and do the details, like I do when I finish up most of my other drawings, not leave it halfway done, like I did over the weekend...so here 'tis. That's M&M in the back, with 2 of his offspring in the water.

ANYONE FOR FISH?

I think Peter thought I needed some help in getting back to sketching and came back to Duck Pond this morning. I've gotta say, it does give me real incentive to draw, seeing such a bright, pretty bird sitting on the rock right in front of my eyes.

I turned away the Dragonfly, Turtle, and Mallards, since I'd drawn them with the Kawasemi before, but if you look really close, you can see a Carp in the water, swishing its tail.

DO WE BELONG TO HIM?

Finally, I got to go back to the park. The critters all welcomed me back--about twelve different types of animals came out to see me! Here are three more photos--I couldn't spend much time today. I promise I'll get back to sketching soon!

Beetles' inner wings are so fine--translucent--and hard to catch open, since they get retracted very quickly as soon as the insects land--but this one showed me not only its copper colored capes, but his golden striped waistcoat as well.

I've heard some crayfish say "I will be the best, most delectable meat" for predators. I wonder if this one ended his crawling days thinking he would reach his ideal.

It looks like Stripey the fly will help do a thorough job, if there is any meat left to wonder about.

When I was leaving to go home, I thought I saw a glint of light at the side of the path. It was a butterfly the size of my pinky fingernail.

Don't you love how God took time to form charming designs for His tiniest creatures? That's it, isn't it? They're His. The creatures don't decide to be anything; God simply makes them according to His pleasure.

THIS IS MY FATHER'S WORLD

I'll start going back to the park--and sketching--tomorrow. Here are a few more pics before I do:

I couldn't believe it when I saw this one, so I had to take a photo. Grass was growing out of a rock in the creek, & it looked like the blade split perpendicularly, into the form of a cross. Since Okinawa has been called "The Rock", I grinned, saying, "There's a Cross on the Island!"

I've written numerous times about the dainty little hoverfly that buzzes about, masquerading as a bee. This one with its iridescent wings held me charmed more than all the others, I think.

No matter how insignificant we are, do we go about reflecting His beauty the best we can?

Altho' the park's decreasing greenery saddens me, I'm repeatedly reminded Creator God is completely aware of everything. One morning, God deliberately lifted the clouds over some thinning bushes I was mourning and shined rays from heaven.

I almost seemed to hear, "Don't forget: this is still my universe."

I WONDER IF THEY MISSED ME

It's the 19th, the day to go back to Iwatsuki, but I thot I'd load a few more reference photos before going home.

The first is probably one of my favorites. The baby grasshopper on top of a disintegrating dandelion flower--I didn't know how to draw white without using acrylic paint, so altho' I was thrilled to get this photo, I just did my best in composing the illustration for the previous post (June 22).

My second pic is of Pelle of the Pellucid Fly (July 22 post), This is another one in which the real thing was much, much prettier than what I could draw--but you can see it by seeing this photo. I only wish it showed you how big it was tho'. There is nothing in it to compare its size; but it was HUGE!

The last photo? I didn't have room for a drawing of a carp "flapping its wings" in the water "trying to learn to fly" in the story of "black carp" (Aug. 17 post), taken again this year at carp walk. Silly feller. He's at it again.

Hope you enjoyed the photos. I wonder if the critters at the park missed me at all or even noticed I was gone?

EVEN CROWS KNOW THAT

This weekend hasn't afforded time to draw or color, so I'll just post the black/white sketch I started last week plus some of my photos, since my last post did mention how Elizabeth Elliot and I both enjoyed the hobby of photography. I'm sure if she'd been born in an era of computers and blogging, she'd have posted her photos too.

This one looks like turtles at the waters of Lower Bridge are kissing, but you can see the head of the turtle on the left is up closer; he was basking on land, while the turtle on the right is still swimming in the pond so farther away. It's just that the edges of their muzzles align vertically in the photo.

But I think this crow will let all in the park know the way things really are. I wonder how many park residents listen to his announcements from the telephone wire--he has enough antennas set up. What, those aren't antennas?

June...even crows know that.

ELIZABETH KNEW TOO

N

This illustration made me happy. Remember I told you I was reading a book about Elizabeth Elliot? I found out one of the hobbies she picked up was that of photography (yes, that was before digital photography, when photographers went through rolls of film to get one good shot.)

I know...I'd begun coloring the black and white photo in her book, when I remembered the photo I wanted to pair it with--the one I'd taken of myself--was also in black and white!

 

When I began taking pictures on my compact camera, I could edit, delete, or save on a memory card, a luxury Elizabeth did not have. In heaven someday, we'll be able to carry on about how, no matter how advanced the technology, it is impossible for the camera lens to adequately capture the Beauty of our Creator.

GOD'S TAKE-AWAY'S

Today, I'm going to the city of Sendai, where my sister Janice will be coming with some relatives to see a daughter who studied at the university there. I'll be joining up with them for a few days, will be back next Tues.

Altho' it seems like I won't be able to go to the park, I'll be posting a picture from Step Creek while away. It was done yesterday morning in black and white.

Meanwhile--today's post is about something totally unrelated, from the last two photos taken of an apartment building going up nearby. One shows a worker forming the front steps; the last shows how the cement has hardened, and the plywood guides have been removed. This reminded me of a conversation I had with my Mom years ago.

I want to know I love God for Himself, but it's just easy to live for God--I have support of friends, family, and church. Shouldn't God take away these "crutches" so my faith could become firmer and more genuine, I'd asked. She'd responded that God gave us girding as long as we needed it and would take it away in His own time.

Like those wooden planks were taken away when the cement was set?

MALLARD STUFF TODAY

I went to the park later this morning, hoping I could sketch until time the postal bank opened. I needed to go draw some money to pay my husband back for a recent loan. Peter the Kawasemi seemed to know I wanted to sketch, because he came out today.

This morning's picture was with the mallards. But the post, much too small, makes Peter's prize catch of the fish trailing from his beak look like his belly! Maybe I should've drawn its tail flicking to the right. Next time.

They were 2 of the 6 ducklings born last summer. Now that they're big enough, their father, M&M, spends much time with them (before, the mother allowed only another female mallard to get close).

In fact, afterwards, I saw him at Step Creek with all 6 ducklings. This is M&M. Er, maybe he was with Nancy plus her 5 grown ducklings. Now that they're so big, I can't differentiate them from their mother anymore.

KOREE AND THE SWIMMING PUPPET

I mentioned re-reading Silas Marner. But did I tell you I'd gone back and looked at some of the classic literature that Hollywood and Broadway have made into movies that are--well, most who have actually read those original books will tell you too--ridiculously different?

I used to shy away from Tarzan because he was given the no-brain-muscle-man-you-Jane-grunt-me-he-man image. Did you know he was also a gentleman who taught himself to read and write...including, for that matter, the FRENCH language? Many crowd-pleasing movies leave that part out.

And in Pinocchio, you never hear about the snail with the nightcap or exploding caterpillar or almost-drowned bulldog...so I ended up imagining the following:

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One day when Koree was out swimming at the pond, all of a sudden, he felt fat hands grab his flanks and lift him out of the water onto a flat boat. A gruff voice spoke.

"Now I know what to do with you!" It was the evil tax collector who wanted to take him away from his friend Kuri and use him to make money. He began to tie a string around Koree's neck. "This way, you can't eat up all the big fish in my pond, just bring them to me to sell at the market." But just then, the man's feet slipped, and down he went.

Koree saw his chance and flew away, string and all. But try as he would, he couldn't get it off; it was knotted. He'd have Kuri do it. Koree didn't want to go back to the pond where the tax collector was even if Kuri was probably in the woods nearby, so he circled in the sky. But what was that in the water?

Koree had seen many fish, eels, and turtles, but this was like none of those. He stared hard. Yes, it was a wooden puppet with an old man clinging to it! From way up where Koree was, he could see ripples made from a whale shark going out into the ocean. They had escaped from having been swallowed by it and were now trying to get to land.

But it was apparent the old man couldn't swim. The puppet, who couldn't sink, was struggling to support both of them. But its glassy eyes showed they had been swimming for some time and were beginning to mist over. The doll's weakened appendages would stop moving soon, and all would be over for the two.

"C'mon, you're almost there, "Koree thought, but then he saw a wave hit a boulder on shore, sending a rebounding wave straight at the duo. The force of the splash hit the puppet in the face and got him turned around completely, so he began swimming towards the sea...in the direction of the whale shark!

"Oh no!" Koree gulped. That puppet can't see anymore! He flew down with the dangling string, calling out, "Grab this! Hang onto the string!"

"Huh?" The puppet had no idea where the voice was coming from, or what it meant. But he was almost expired anyway. He grabbed at what he could feel, and he held on tightly while he felt water rushing under him, held on until he felt solid sand and rock underneath him, with his elderly companion breathing at his side. Then he knew they were safe at last and let go of the string, closed his eyes, and rested.

Koree smiled and flew away, circled the sky again until he found the woods where Kuri was--the tax collector was gone--so, checking to make sure it was safe, he came down. He had Kuri untie the string from his neck, and the two went home. At supper that night, Kuri's father said the village fishermen said they'd seen a curious sight of a bird towing an alligator to a beach where it seemed to melt away.

"Do you know anything about that, Koree?" the father asked the bird. Koree first looked at Kuri, who began to say, "That string I took from your neck..." but Father's delicious catch seemed to interest the cormorant much more than any more talk that night.

END

Just felt like it - RESIDENT ALIEN

I know I just posted some photos, so it isn't time for a photo story yet, but I just felt like posting it...

1 Mr. Carp, is that you from across the pond?

2 Yup; one outsider coming to live

3 with family here is better'n

4 Three aliens living with me there!

Maybe it has something to do with how happy I felt to see the carp when I got back to the park.

UM...TODAY IS SHOW AND TELL?

Here's the picture. It rained hard today, so I stayed home and worked on it! While sitting at my desk. I got an unexpected call from Yoshitaka Ishikawa, from Okinawa.

We'd cheered him on in a soap box derby when he was in junior high; he taught Sunday School then went onto Bible School, married, returned to pastor the village church. At my Dad's funeral, he said Daddy introduced him, not just to Christ, but also to lemonade (Sept. 8, 2016 post). He is the pastor who came to my stepmother's funeral and sat behind the person she led to the Lord 50 years ago.

Wait--how did that happen? I was going to show you a picture but ended up telling you about Ishikawa Sensei!

Well...I hope you enjoyed the picture of the carp, damselfly (can you even see it on the rock???), and toad. I TOLD Moark to come out even a little, that I could hear him, but can't SEE his beautiful croaks. You'll have to imagine him under those leaves there on the right side, ok?

THIRSTY, PUPPY?

"Thirsty, Puppy?" I heard at my side. The sun was getting high in the sky, and I needed to get back before it got hot. I hurried around the park visitors....wait; that dog at the drinking fountain--how was he drinking? The owner put a ladle-like attachment on the end of a small bottle to let the dog lap a little at a time.

Isn't that the way God is gentle with us and gives us things in small increments we're able to handle, I said. I had to get a picture. I found myself snapping a photo, then rushing home.

It was cooler today, so I did take my time to sketch, and I will be posting that later, but again, I did only the initial black & white at the park, and I'll post the colored version later.

Right now, it looks like this:

FIGURING OUT SOME THINGS

Yay. Photo Story time! It's just that when it got cool enough to go back to the park in the morning, I got some pictures I just had to post.

A more experienced photographer might've been able to do something like this on purpose, but not me. God had me stand at the right place where the light would shine into the lens at just the right angle--I couldn't tell you how it was done. But the picture seems to sing out how my heart was feeling to be able to get out and see my park friends again.

Because it still gets terribly hot during the daytime tho', I go out early in the morning. Altho' the sun's rays coming into the camera lens in that picture make it look like it was really bright out, that was 5:30 Aug. 30. On Sept. 2, when I went out at 5, the moon liked like this:

Most people schedule picnics on fair weather days, but I ended up aiming for a day when showers brought down the temperatures.

I was delighted to hear my toad friends and see about three others at the park this year. Other years, no humans came on wet days. Maybe it's been so hot this year, more folk are realizing precipitation isn't all that harmful, can be something to be grateful for.

Yeah, some things I used to grumble about, I realize later on can actually be blessings. He just knows I take a while before I figure out some of these things.

HE WANTS TO BE WITH ME!

←This is what I drew at the park, added the color and other details at home to get yesterday's result. I'm still a little rusty.

I guess Peter the Kawasemi (below) understood I really wanted to practice some more. He came around again today and posed in the same pond on a different boulder, but this time, instead of saying hello to a dragonfly, I caught him looking down at a turtle poking his snout out of the water. 　　　　　　　 　 　(That's ↓ supposed to be a turtle's head!)

All my park pals seem to know I want to get back to drawing a lot but can't stay out sketching like I used to before. I can't believe how I stood out there just drawing them in the sun--but now I'm just trying to stare real hard and burn images into my mind to be able to finish up at home where it's cooler.

It boggles my mind how God can take time with his individual creatures--with me--wow.

GETTING THE BASICS

It was cool this morning too--78.8 by 5--so I got out to the park, and as I went in the back "turnstile gate", I heard the Kawasemi bird's call from Duck Pond. it was resting on a perch one of the cameramen had set up there for it. Excited, I began sketching.

But the bird flew off the branch onto a rock in the pond. Rats; I'd have to start over. I tried to get the general lines down quickly. This time, when the bird flew to the fountain ropes in the center of the pond, I didn't panic. I had the basic shapes down so I was ok.

Getting the basics down is so necessary and worth it, isn't it? Having been away from the park for a month, I'll have to work at drawing from real life. Anyway.. . Here is today's sketch of Peter and a dragonfly. 

After my park visit this morning, I wondered if my son didn't have to go to work today; he was still in bed. Then I remembered I'd tried to come home while it was still cool. It wasn't time to get up yet.