Day 1: June 15, 2023

Yesterday, June 14 (Flag Day), I drove 10 hours from Dallas, Texas, to Beatrice, Nebraska. Beatrice is pronounced "Bee-At-Riss." Homestead National Historical Park is located just 4 miles outside of Beatrice.

You really should visit the park's website to learn of its mission and history. The history is actually quite interesting. I think 3 of my 4 sets of great-grandparents were homesteaders -- so I am naturally interested in the themes of this park.

 Today, Thursday, June 15, I arrived as the Park opened. I met the staff and was welcomed during their morning "huddle" meeting.

This is the visitors center as viewed from highway 4. The building is designed with a shape remniscent of a plow.

This illustrates how much land in Montana was homesteaded.

I learned that Montana had more homesteads than any other state.

I was asked to help Ranger Jesse with his educational program for 13 Beatrice summer day camp kids. The program was titled "Bats Eat Bugs." First they played a game similar to Marco Polo where a blindfolded kid pretended to be a bat and had to find the other kids who were bugs.

Later, I helped these girls, Sophie and Alina, build bat houses.

 

I bought this vest and had my name embroidered on the front and "Artist-In-Residence " embroidered on the back. I thought it would help identify me. It will be my uniform during my two-week tenure here.

Next I took a walk-about to orient myself to the park and its natural features and views. The park has 3 miles of trails, and I walked them all.

This is Cub Creek, the main water feature of the park.

This view looks across the park back towards the visitors center.

This hedgerow was allegedly planted by the homesteader, Daniel Freeman, maybe 130 years ago.

This is a homesteader cabin from a few miles away. It was relocated here because Daniel Freeman's canin/house was demolished before his property became a National Park in the 1930s. A family of 12 lived in this cabin!

After lunch, I walked to this shaded and serene spot and did some sketching. As an amateur artist, I am just trying different things/techniques/media. Remember, I am not a professional artist.

This is charcoal on paper (kinda messy -- my fingeres became blackened).

This is colored chalk on paper (messy and hard to get crisp lines).

Here I am mimicking some simplistic Japanese techniques. These images are Sharpie permanent marker on paper.

The gravesite of Daniel Freeman and his wife are located a stone's throw from the visitor center on the property's high ground, overlooking his homestead.

I saw this small ground squirrel. I wopuld have thought it to be a chipmunk, but it was living in a burrow adjacent to the visitor's center.

After "work," I went to the Farmer's Market in Beatrice. Beatrice is a healthy community of more than 12,000 people. It has a Walmart. I didn't find anything I needed to buy.