Redbud & rain

        There is a small circular sidewalk just south of the Natrue Center, which, from the west, is on the way to what I refer to as the "Big Prairie."  It is here in the circle on a drizzly day in early October that I found this redbud sticking up in the air.  It seems every day, every change of weather or lighting, there are new things to observe.   And new ways to see old things.    The day was wet enough that I could stand drawing in the middle of the walk and be in no one's way.
        I have seen birds here often enough that it is surprising that I get any drawing done. I identified my first Olive-sided Flycatcher sitting high on a dead tree in the middle of this circle.  He sat there long enough over a couple days that at one point we could park in the lot to the north and I could show him to Stephanie.
        Seems like a lot of saplings like this one adopt this pose - jogging side to side between the leaves. Elms do it for sure, and you can often spot them from some distance sticking up above an overgrown fence row. But this redbud there that day in the fine mist of a rain was begging "interpreted" - so I pulled a sketch pad from my bag and got to work. Maybe I risked getting a good sketch pad wet, but the rain had nearly stopped.
        This ink-over-pencil drawing took maybe a half hour start to finish. Yah, I know you probably say it looks like it too!