Something's Biting at South Pond

(C) 2017 Dale DiMauro

Last Sunday my mother and I took our kayaks up to South Pond. After paddling, I thought it would be a great location to try a plein air painting. It was a hot day, approaching ninety degrees, which is unusual for this time of year in Vermont.

I have discovered that plein air painting can draw inquisitive onlookers who are eager to see what I am doing yet do not want to interrupt my progress. Perhaps it is only fair that we artists, who are always observing, are also observed.

Shortly after I set up my easel, a middle-aged man came along, took his canoe off the roof of his car and promptly capsized not once but twice, barely off the shore. Later, when he stopped to see what I was painting, I realized that I knew the unlucky fellow.

Although I did not have a large human crowd on Sunday, I had other visitors. I did not get far on this watercolor before the no-see-ums started to devour me. All over my body I found small bloody areas, yet I did not recall seeing any insects bite. In hindsight, I wish I had taken a photograph so I could finish this one at home.