It is dark outside. It is 11 PM and while I would not call it pitch black, there is a night sky out there. This fabulous, light-filled, magical burst of green and insects and gardens and long blissfully warm days is winding down...fast. Tomorrow starts the last week of summer vacation. The back to school routine begins in 8 days. New school shoes and new winter coats are on my mind. The freezer is filling up with berries and I thought about making soup yesterday. My morning coffee on the deck requires a sweater now. Fall is most certainly right around the corner. With the dread and fear of loss comes excitement for the rhythm ahead. This will be a fall full of changes. My toothless daughter will start second grade, my little boy will start preschool and I will be starting my assistantship at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. I will be taking and teaching classes with the ultimate goal of a M.F.A.

I painted this painting earlier this summer when the berries in the center were new and green.

Ground Dogwood

oil on canvas

16" x 20"

The ground dogwoods now have bright red berries, as you can see in the photograph below.

These crazy spiky balls house wasps that will emerge next May. They are adhered to the leaves of many of the wild rose bushes that populate the woods. The galls have darkened to a deep red and look as if they are drying out.

Rose Leaf Galls

oil on canvas

16" x 20"

The rose hips have changed as well. The first painting was done earlier this summer while the hips were new and green, right after the pink petals fell off.

New Rose Hip

oil on canvas

16" x 20"

Then they start to turn orange...

Rose Hips

oil on canvas

16" x 20"

...Now they are plump and red and ripe. Begging to be picked (and painted) and made into syrup or jelly.