Just came back from a quick trip to the SF Bay Area (family, friends, food) where I checked in with my gallery and took a few hours to draw at Coyote Hills Regional Park, which is a lovely chunk of wide-open land with tule marsh, chapparel hills, live oaks, and tons of birds including numerous White-tailed kites.

An old friend sat at my side in the dry grass on a hill overlooking a patch of mirror-smooth marsh covered with ducks: American wigeon (and one stray European wigeon), pintails, mallards, Cinnamon and Green-winged teal, Shovelers, Gadwalls with coots and pied-billed grebes on the side. White pelicans hove overhead like white-sailed tall ships and skidded in to water-landings, and Clapper and Sora rails called from their hideouts. It’s been awhile since Karyn and I have seen each other. We drew and chatted and caught up, and ducks gabbled and chatted and preened. All concerned enjoyed a brilliant shirtsleeve autumn day out on the marshland.

The hills of home.