Audubon Sketch Journal Project #1

On the 2nd day of Autumn, my sketch journal project at Gilsland Farm, headquarters of The Audubon Society, begins. There'll be a workshop to teach & an exhibit of my notes & book later on. But for now, I go there, I slow down, I watch, I listen. An adventure, a journey of discovery begins.

There are surprises & discoveries in the yard of the Environmental Education Center alone. A gracious senior woman brings in a beautifully formed nest to donate & to identify, & with it an elegant story. Groundhogs, who will be sleeping under ground in another month, wander freely. They wear tags on their ears because a scientist at USM studies them. A monarch butterfly surprises me with camouflage on the underside of its wings as it feeds on some little weed on the ground...I make observations in ignorance, knowing that at the Center I can ask & learn about what I'm observing.

I walk one of the trails in late afternoon golden air & find a bench overlooking the the river. Colors so magnificent, even more so because as sunset approaches I know that they will fade...Day #1 at the Audubon.