Launch (Original doodle)

"Launch"

Doodle Art

9" X 12"

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Pay attention

Few words are more annoying then "It might be flyable".

The world comes to a grinding halt when they are uttered.  Should I make dinner? Is there time to walk the dog? Are we barbecuing with the family this weekend?  Can the parents come over for the holiday?

Well, that depends, it might be flyable.  And it really doesn't help that there have been a slew of accidents the last couple of years and I have been chewing the inside of my cheek raw wondering about the ROR of this sport...

It has been a long  month of torrential rain.  With a lot of the extra time on my hands, I have begun running with my little dog regularly, doodling up a storm, packing healthy lunches...
Sagely I started to consider and acknowledge... it may be time to part ways with my beloved M3.

Last night the rain cleared.  It was four weeks to the day since I was last in the air.  After getting off work, unpacking my cooler, I started dinner and ate the moment my partner was home too.  Changed shoes and took little dog for a walk/run.  Towards the end, where I could have kept going for the extra half mile, I saw a wing lift up above a roof....

Well, no harm in heading back to the house a little sooner...

I might as well wear an extra sweater and bring my gloves...

Just in case, I'll put my gear in the car too...

I pulled up in the parking lot and getting out, I could see the wind was cross so I didn't hurry. I visited with folks until, out of the corner of my eye, I watched the wind sock straighten out.

Somehow, I was hooked in before I thought about it and off launch.

Probably a lower bench flight I mused, it was a little late to catch an upper bench flight.  Once off launch, I headed right; dodging the crowd that always goes left.  There is more lift to the southern end but with more obstacles fighting over it, little room to use it. By going right, if there is lift, it is mine to turn in.

I looked down and see between the thick stubby trees below my feet, a doe and fawn.  We made eye contact. I smiled and waved.

"Werido" said the flick of her ears as she dismissed me and went back to munching.

I laugh as I dance, gaining a teeny bit more altitude with each gentle flat figure eight.   I spent twenty quiet minutes in the rocking waves until I saw I was above everyone and in the lower lift band at last.

I swung my self over to the southern end.  Benching above the parking lot's hot asphalt isn't an option.  It spits up eky hot heat and can be nasty business -if you are tempted, resist!. High above the crowd, and just behind the restrooms,  I pull an easy-going 360 to turn in a fat rotating thermal and head to the back ridge.

My heart always accelerates when I do this because sometimes, this little M3 of mine, reminds me it's an M3 and to pay the hell attention.

A third of the way there -Boom!  My left tip is pulled up and forward, I hear the right tip curl and my related hand relaxes in response.  Ooooo.... don't look, weight shift left just enough and right pressure is back with an audible snap.  Good, weight shift right, 180 from the hill and I am in the upper lift band.

PS: I am a total chicken about the idea of "blow back" (i.e. getting sucked over the ridge) so I am always way more forward than most folks.  Plenty of room for all of this.

All right, time to check; how is my forward air speed? Count to ten slowly, watching... and yes, all is good.  Cool, let's do some figure eights and climb up.

PS PS: This is all going by click-click-click in my head, maybe a whole minute in total time.

Ok, it is not so quiet up here.  ;)

But... then, in minutes, the glass off is up here too.  Buttery air; gentle, thick, welcoming air.  The kind of air I, klutz of the world, am graceful in.

At the end, as I flew out to leave the lift band, I leaned back and looked up and smiled at my wing.   Maybe we do have to part ways sometime but not at this time.  For now, I will keep flying.

PS PS PS If you are an instructor, I am totally cool with feedback on my piloting decisions. 

Rainy Day Doodles (Original Work)

Showers and Flowers
11" X 14"

   

Gir and Elephant - Besties
11" X 14"
Finished

       

    

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A Dream and a Question

It was cold, it was warm; sunlight broke intermittently through low clouds and blinded the shadows lying on the ground. 

“Turn around”, the intensity of the whisper burned the chilled sidewalk.  Although unheard, she paused, heart heavy in her wrists, the weight of his eyes on her shoulders; she curled her fingers into knots and just like that, those three moments between them became forever.  The stars marked it, the light watched it and the wind would carry it with her always.

Are we separate wings on the butterfly? Carrying life between us in the disguise of a body?  Or is that the illusion and we are each the butterfly in its entirety?

If she had turned around, would the moment have climaxed to perfection?  Or would the frailty of it been exposed, letting it fall like a house of cards?

Are the longings, desires between two people, are they piano notes hung in the sky to be turned into children’s bedtime stories? Are they just legends that could never be lived in ‘real’ life? Are they mirages we seem doomed to chase throughout our lives?

Is she frozen because she wants to turn or because she knows he wants her to turn? Are they reflecting each other?

Or is the Moment worth more than anything else? 

"Two"

7.5" X 7".5

Gouche Watercolor on loose paper

No Hands! (Original Work/ Doodle)

Finished

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A Walk in Gold (Original Art)

I started this piece a couple of months ago, 18 March 2015.

Just as I finished the back drop I 'lost' it; it being my idea, the moment and the emotion I was following; it completely evaporated.   Over the last few weeks I occasionally wander over to impatiently stare at it for a minute.  Sometimes I even pick up a paint brush and twirl it in my fingers. But nope, nothing flickers. 

Until this last Sunday morning.... ;)  I woke up at 5am from a dream.  In the dream I was walking, barefoot, in the glow of orange and yellow; I was in a field bathed in light.  Chortling to myself, I gleefully knew exactly where I wanted to be.  

First things first. Caffeine!    

I slipped out of bed, into yoga pants and down the stairs to flick on my coffee pot.  As it finished brewing, Char came to inquire. I poured a mug and I tossed my lovely cat on my shoulder to head back to my sacred place of plants, sunlight and brushes.  Char took his seat next to me on the chair and was out in two minutes.   

Five hours later, around 10am, I finished the sunrise portion and sliced the heavy paper to fit onto this 9" X 12"  canvas backdrop. Now to work on the second part of the piece.  I will re-post when done. 

6 May 2015 Done   :) 

'A Walk in Gold'

9" X 12" X .75"

Available