Morning Walks and a Curious Squirrel

  Several months ago it dawned on me that with leaving for either my part time job at Macys (average start time 6:30 am) and/or being at the studio on my days off and/or after finishing my shift at my part time job, my only time out doors was spent walking to and from my car, to either work, studio or condo.  Could that be why I was a bit grumpy and off center? Yes. So I decided to begin taking a morning walk on the days I was off from Macys.
  A few mile form my studio there is a beautiful park with lots of rolling hills and lovely eucalyptus trees. This became my walking place.
   Along with the rolling hills and trees this park also is home to a swimming pool, baseball fields, tennis courts, a frisbee golf course and the essential park amenities of picnic tables and bar-b-que cook areas.
  Mornings are generally quiet, and as I walk up and down the hills I fully enjoy the sights, scents and sounds of my journey. Runners run by. Walkers walk by. The gentle splish splash of Seniors as they exercise in the pool. People text and walk their dogs... or dogs walk their texting people. Kids in day camps play soccer. The squeak of tennis shoes on the court and the twang and the pop of rackets hitting tennis balls.
  Wild roses bloom in a tangle of native plants along a dirt path. And beautiful old eucalyptus trees reach to the sky, branches swaying fill the air with their pungent healing scent. Birds chirping and chittering and squirrels with fluffy tails twitching, race up and down the tree trunks...
   Now if this were a movie the last shot would be a close-up of a squirrel running in slow motion and the musical sound track would change from a lilting melody to a dark and somber dirge...Why?
   For those of you who follow me on Facebook you most likely saw my post last week about the power outage at my studio. Unable to stay and paint I came home and took advantage of the outage to begin writing this post. Little did I know that as I was writing about happy squirrels it was a poor curious squirrel who was the cause of the power outage that left 45,000 people without power.
  So I now dedicate this post all the dogs and cats and woodland critters who never were able to finish their journey across the road to see what was on the other side... and to all the birds and bees and flying insects whose fate it was to decorate the hood or windshield of the giant metal monsters roaming everywhere...and finally the innocent squirrel whose curiosity led him to a shocking end.
  Humans and Nature...each of our lives affects the other.
Morning Walk/Oil on gessoed watercolor board 6"x10"/ 1999