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!

BLACK & WHITE

Here's something, "hisashiburi," as they say, in English. It's just that for this Japanese post, I had to compose it all right now, whereas the English things are already all done so aren't taking up as much of my time. Anyway...

I went back to the park today. But I'm still not back up to par physically so decided to do simple sketches. It seems the animals were notified, even before I came, of what I'd have to do, because...

As soon as I got there, I saw Eida the Great Blue Heron in the back in the reeds of the inner flow of Step Creek.

"As beautiful as always," I said, pulling out the small notebook. "Can I draw you? Please?" and began sketching. But maybe I said too much. Eida seemed to get embarrassed and moved away, so I couldn't make a very good drawing. Oh well.

When I put the notebook away and walked around the pond to the other side of the park, I saw the egret fishing on the other side of Deeper Pond as well as two cameramen focused intently on a tiny blue bird on this side of the pond. It was Peter the Kawasemi, standing tall as a sentinel on a branch.

"Just for you," he seemed to say. Oh yes. His name. I've learned to distinguish the call of the Kawasemi from the other small birds, think its "piping" is just as pretty as all the rest; altho' the Pied Piper of Hamelin was red and yellow, I figure the flying piper of Iwatsuki can be blue and yellow. The long, black beak does look a little like a fife, after all. What do you mean Peter, it does not either? You were listening?

When I finished sketching Peter, I looked up and saw the egret was gone. I walked over the Main Bridge to see the area of the pond where she had been, when...

A white form moved around in the reeds--it was Alabaster! She hadn't gone home after all! Of the three birds today, she was the closest. Of course, I sketched her. By next week, I'll probably be able to work out of my larger sketchbook and full range of colors, not just black brush pen.

I wonder if that is how God feels about some of His children too who do that which is right in the sight of the LORD, but not with a perfect heart, as...wasn't it King Amaziah? Isn't that like composing an accurate picture in black and white, but not trying to make it as pretty as possible?

My Ability to Draw Less meant God Sent More Out for Me

I finally went back to the park today. It was forecasted to have warm temperatures in the afternoon, so what I decided to do was...

On my last visit to the 100-yen shop, I asked God to show me a small, unlined notepad to do quick sketches at the park, and He had exactly ONE such notebook in the store waiting for me on the shelf. So I took it with me, determined to do only simple drawings. When I take my 9 x 14 sketchbook --which is actually called a "small" sketchbook-- and have an entire set of my watercolor brush markers, I get in the frame of mind to make a nice picture.

Okay, composing a picture in 1-2 hours with brush pen is a lot faster than the 10 hours or so I spend doing it with color pencils, but still...

Most people get over COVID in a few days, I hear. It's been 2 weeks for me now, and altho' my fever is completely gone, I still have that lingering cough and feel that phlegm. 

So I told myself I wouldn't stay out in the cold and lose myself in my drawing as I always do, but kept myself down to doing simple sketches in this small notebook with ONE black brush pen. Then I'd go home. Better to do it this way and come out again tomorrow, and the next day, and keep getting stronger, than to try to stay out to make a better drawing but end up in bed again.

I think the critters understood what I was doing. Because instead of only a few animals coming out and giving me really nice scenes to draw, a lot came out giving me a lot of simple pictures to sketch! It was as if my park friends said to me, "Whatever you do, it's okay. Were glad you're better. Welcome back!"

I came home after making the 3rd drawing--actually, I was almost shocked to see the turtles--altho' terribly happy--I always miss them every winter--who don't usually come out of hibernation until the end of February!

I didn't draw these, but they came too: Alabaster the egret came from the Moto Arakawa River, Peter the Kawasemi, and I saw Kara the Finch, Patrick the Pigeon, several Crows, Hero the Thrush, and several Carp.

ON SISSY'S BACK

My stepmother told me when she was just a baby, her mother was so busy, she would strap her to her 7-yr-old sister’s back and go out to the fields to work. One day, she lost her balance and fell smack on her back—in other words, on the infant’s face—and couldn’t right herself. She lay there on the ground like an upturned turtle--for hours until someone came along and helped her up. By then, the baby had stopped breathing and was turning purple. The older sister was sure she had murdered her baby sister.

But God had other plans for this baby and couldn’t let it die just yet. When the grandmother saw it, she held it upside down by the legs and gave it several firm whacks in the fanny as a physician might do, and a strong cry brought relief to the parents...and the sister.