Painting, Squirrels and Bears

What do all these things have in common? Yosemite National Park.

This week I took advantage of one of the free painting classes offered at Yosemite . Three friends and I decided to go up early for the ten o’clock watercolor class. We missed the beginning lesson in the Art Center because of accumulated delays along the way and a stop to pick up sandwiches at Raley's in Oakhurst. We caught up to the class just as they were heading out to do some Plein-Aire painting.

I found my spot in front of the Merced River and then spent twenty minutes getting set up. I brought a lot of extra stuff “just in case I might need it”. (And, in fact, I did need all that extra stuff because what I thought I would use, I didn’t and the “just in case” stuff was what I really needed.) After splashing paint on the canvas for twenty minutes and not having painted for about twenty years, it was a mess. I was embarrassed when the teacher came around. He made no comment—at all—just walked to another student.

Okay, I thought, get serious; look carefully, observe with an artist eye and focus. I downsized the paper and picked a spot across the river.

A few distractions tested my concentration. Some rather aggressive squirrels and a loudly squawking Stellar’s Blue Jay demanded food. But I had safely packed my lunch away in my backpack and hung it on a tree stump, off the ground, out of any critters’ reach. One friend had not had the same foresight and left her backpack on the ground. In short order, a squirrel ate right through it, making off with half her lunch and a Payday candy bar.

Then, a woman student who was sketching came and plopped down right in front of me, between me and the river (a distance of four feet) smack dab between me and the subject of my painting. I was annoyed, but decided to ignore her into invisibility as my focus intensified. Two hours later, I came up for air, satisfied with my effort.

After some afternoon snacks in the bar/coffee shop at the Ahwahnee Hotel (with more squirrels running in and out the open doors begging for food) and a book discussion in the meadow behind the hotel, we sat speechless and bemused at the quiet beauty of the late afternoon--until the mosquitoes descended with the setting sun.

As we drove out of the hotel entrance, we saw a mule deer nibbling greens by the side of the road. Further on, we came to a sign that said, Speeding Kills Bears. No one in the car had ever even seen bear crossing the road in Yosemite Valley in the day time. A deer crossing the road, yes, but the chances of a bear showing itself to cross the road seemed funny and way too rare to warrant such a sign. We laughed and talked about that until we were just past the Wawona Hotel, when lo and behold, a bear and her cub scurried into view and started to cross in front of us. I shouted “bear” and she jumped back at the same moment, avoiding a collision. So—okay, drive slowly and avoid the crossing bears.

YOSEMITE—definitely a National Treasure not to be missed or taken for granted.

Some sites to view:

http://www.nationalparkreservations.com/yosemite_ahwahnee.htm and http://www.yosemitefun.com/ahwahnee.htm