What a glorious day! I don’t think I remember the last time we had sun. So, off I went to the woods with my paints and my high spirits. I have to say, my job has great benefits! After a hike into the Kickapoo Valley Reserve on the Ho-Chunk land, I came to this tree that is said to be an old Indian marker tree. It looks a bit funny painted, but what fun to study it with its branches reaching straight out and the knob on top. The marsh below the ridge was a cacophony of peepers, cranes, and geese. I feel recharged after a long winter.
I thought I’d pass on a great break down mahl stick idea Tom came up with. It is a wooden shot gun cleaning rod. He refashioned the end where the cleaning wad was with a hook so it can hang on my easel. It breaks down nicely to fit in my pack.
