Day 2: More Sketching & Happy Friday!

June 16, 2023

This morning I parked my folding chair near this pond, which is only a stone's throw from the visitor center parking lot.

I enjoyed watching a variety of bird life: robbins, redwing blackbirds, two rooster ringneck pheasants, and some small yellow finch type birds. Hearing their songs and seeing their colors and flights inspired me. At first I just sat there, enjoying the tranquility and drinking my morning coffee. Then I pulled out my sketchpad and a #2 Ticonderoga pencil.

Next, I used colored pencils to sketch a red-winged blackbird.

My application for this residency listed my artistic interests as naturescape images and micro-poetry. So I used my Ticoderoga pencil to write some Haiku-ish verses.

Manifest Destiny

Westward Ho, into

the land of the buffalo.

Where have they all gone?

Wind Bird

The red-winged blackbird

balances on a thin branch,

bouncing in the wind.

Rooster

A ring-necked pheasant

patrols the pond's shoreline;

then crows and flies off.

Grassy Knoll

Cheatgrass in the breeze,

bobs and bounces playfully.

Invasive species?

Rear view

My mind's eye sees back,

into my forefathers' lives.

Yesterday's sweet dreams.

Shinrin-yoku

Nature is quiet.

Japanese "Forest Bathing"

hears the voice of God.

I packed up my gear and headed just a brief distance up and across highway 4 to the "Freeman School'" also known as the "Brick School." It seems like it may be named for Thomas Freeman, a bricklayer and not for Daniel Freeman the adjacent land homesteader. Regardless, the building is unique, because most one-room schools are made of white painted wood -- and this one is made of brick.

Some interesting history happenned right here -- long before the Scopes monkey trial.

The wild roses were abundant near the school.

I drove into Beatrice and had lunch at Burger King.

After lunch, I spent some time at the Heritage (visitor) Center researching the archival homesteading records of my great-grandfathers. I found some records related to John Reynolds deeded along Upper Highwood Creek in Choteau County, Montana. It wasn't exactly clear if these are lands of the current Woodmansey Ranch, or are adjacent properties now lost through generational transfers.