Truman is bored by sketching

On this past Monday afternoon I met up with Tina at Twin Ponds Park for a little dog walk and a little sketching.

The first thing we noticed was this enormous upended tree from the recent windstorm, by which I made Tru pose to provide scale:

It was, of course, a cottonwood.  Most of the fallen trees I've seen since the storm have been cottonwoods -- they are notorious for being unstable and yet they grace many of the parks.  Several have fallen at the Fill over the years -- I even got to see one fall (very dramatic and LOUD).

The dogs were eager to keep walking, so we did not stop to sketch the downed tree.  We moved on around the small park, and stopped at the far end where there's a P-Patch.  (Why, I wondered, are these little community gardens called "P" patches?  Well, you know that's what the Internet is for -- and sure enough, I found the answer is about 10 seconds.  The "P" commemorates the Picardo family, who farmed the area that became the first community garden in Seattle.)

At the P-Patch, we settled down to sketch, but Truman was not happy, because he didn't have his stroller to sit in (the park paths are too uneven for strollers).  He kept trying to sit on my lap, which is not conducive to happy sketching.  But I persevered.

I put my jacket down for him, which he mostly ignored while giving me the Stink Eye.

We wound up staying only about an hour.  It is hard to sketch gardens -- so many plants, so much foliage, very complex.  For my second sketch, I opted to focus in on just one tomato plant, which was easier.

The next time I took Truman sketching, the stroller came too and he was perfectly content.  Whew!