NATIONAL RESCUE DOG DAY

Celebrating Luna

May 20, 2026

Zentangle patterns: Galubuntu, Riggle, Butria, Spindrel, Bumble Buds, Coy Manu, Fento, Diondea, Knot, Dandi, Membranart, Vline, Fenglish, PdA, Rosie

All the benefits of being adopted by an immeasurably lovable canine is celebrated annually on May 20th ….. National Rescue Dog Day!

Officially designated as a National Day on May 20, 2018, to honor the inspiring ways rescue dogs become a part of the human family, the Day also increases awareness about the number of dogs in shelters. Given a chance, rescue dogs fill their forever homes with unconditional love and unabandoned joy with every belly rub.

#NationalRescueDogDay

According to the ASPCA1, approximately 3.3 million abandoned and abused dogs enter shelters every year, each one needing a forever home. They are Rescue Dogs and their potential is limitless.

Always able to nuzzle, fetch, kiss or beg their way into your heart, rescue dogs provide comfort, security, and friendship as family pets. And with training, they can:

  • restore independence of people with disabilities as service animals;
  • provide comfort as a best friend to the elderly and infirmed; 
  • make excellent teachers by showing children about caring and kindness;
  • provide a variety of therapeutic benefits to people with autism, mental illness, PTSD, anxiety, and depression;
  • rescue us from dangerous situations, help us investigate the cause of a fire, search for missing persons.

When it comes to our four-legged friends, they improve the human condition by leaps and bounds, barks and yips. It is hard to imagine a more helpful, worthy companion. Bring out the treats!

How to Observe National Rescue Dog Day

Get involved in the lives of rescue dogs. Here’s a few ways to share your puppy love.

  • Volunteer at your local shelter by taking dogs for walks, grooming, and giving them plenty of affection.
  • Make donations, from financial to providing things like blankets, toys, food, treats, and leashes.
  • Consider fostering. Many dogs abandoned in shelters require some medical care or rehabilitation in a home setting before an adoption can take place.
  • If there’s room in your life for a rescue dog, consider adoption and giving one a forever home.

Is there a rescue dog in your life? If so, share your story. Here’s mine!

Luna – from Felon to Forever Furbaby!

Luna on her first hike – January 2018

The year was 2017… we’d moved cross-country 2,000 miles to New Mexico, bought a home, felt settled in by December, then realized things were too quiet. We had somehow lived two full years without a dog in our lives and decided to begin our search for a furry companion. By mid-January 2018, we had visited several local animal shelters, but there were no puppies or even young dogs available for adoption. But when we toured the Los Lunas shelter an hour south of us, our luck changed. In a very small cage, separated from the big dog kennels, was a small puppy hugging the back wall of her cell and looking very scared. We asked the attendant why the pup seemed to be isolated from the general kennel population, and he replied, “she’s being held for 30 days for the owner to claim her.” We asked if he knew when the puppy would be released for adoption, and then left to check on the date. Meanwhile, we had some time to get a better look at this little pup! She appeared to be a pitbull cross, all jet black except for a few white paws and a bright white blaze under her chin down to her chest. As she greeted us with kisses and butt wiggles, we decided this girl was as cute as could be! We were in love! No matter how much longer her incarceration might be, we would wait.

The attendant returned with a big smile on his face and said this was the pup’s lucky day because “today is her release day; she can be adopted!” 

Of course we wanted to take her for a test drive, so as she was being removed from the cage and leashed up, we asked, “but really, why the 30 day sentence? What’s her back story?” He smiled then chuckled a bit before saying, “it all began in Albuquerque.”

“There was a group of kids looking for a joy ride through town. Not having their own car, they stole one and began racing around neighborhoods at break-neck speeds. It wasn’t long before the driver wrapped the car around a light pole. Not wanting their fun to end, they stole a second car and resumed their fast touring of another neighborhood. By this time the cops had caught wind of the speeding car and began their pursuit.  The young driver, seeing two fast approaching cop cars, headed for the nearest I-25 on-ramp and punched it. Knowing they’d be in deep do-do if caught, and still with a sizable lead, they flew off the next exit and entered another neighborhood, coming to an abrupt stop in someone’s front yard but not before taking down their fence! Car #2 wrecked. Without blinking twice, the kids stole the closest car they saw, fired it up and raced away, getting back on the interstate and headed south, out of town. In about 5 minutes, the cops (now there were 5 cars in pursuit) were back on course, finding themselves in a high speed chase, determined to stop the kids before anyone got hurt.”

“It’s 20 miles from the south end of Albuquerque to Los Lunas, and those kids drove that stolen car almost the entire distance at speeds exceeding 110 mph. Then something happened ….. either the driver lost control or a tire blew, but just before the exit the car careened off the highway, hitting a ditch and rolled and rolled, coming to rest upside down. Car #3 totaled! Well, the cops were instantly on the scene and able to not only pull those four kids safely from the vehicle but retrieved a pretty shook-up puppy too!”

“Everyone involved, including the puppy, was charged and sent to jail … the kids for reckless endangerment and grand theft auto, and the pup for aiding and abetting.  And because the kids wouldn’t admit to the puppy being theirs or to stealing her, the cops brought her to us (the shelter) and made us lock her up for 30 days without bail. So you see, the puppy could’ve been with them from the very beginning of the escapade or just happened to be in one of the stolen cars, a victim of dognapping.”

We adopted that little girl on the spot, and forgave her if she was, in fact, a member of the gang of felons. But we prefer to think we rescued and rehabilitated her from a life of crime.  After a quick stop at the Los Lunas PetSmart to buy now-urgent supplies (like puppy food), we headed home with that adorable bundle of fur sitting on my lap looking at us with big brown eyes. I said, “what should we call her?” Verbally tossing about a few silly names, the perfect one came to us both simultaneously ….. “Let’s call her Luna!” It all made sense …. we rescued her in the city of Los Lunas on January 16, which happened to be the day/night of a new moon – the darkest phase facing earth, and our little girl is the darkest black we’ve ever seen. To close the loop of coincidences, in Latin “Luna” means “the moon.”  Besides, she perked right up when we called her by name! 

Luna today …. A most excellent trail dog! Always looking out for sneaky snakes on her her daily hikes

And the rest is history. Veterinarians have agreed she must be a pity/lab mix, and was probably about 4 months old when joined our family. Today Luna is about 9 years old, still acts like a puppy, sits on the couch, chases squirrels away from the bird feeder, hikes a trail every day with us and alerts us to snakes, loves everybody (including her two cats), always gives us the best kisses, and is the sweetest best friend we’ve ever known! 

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Please remember to spay and neuter your pets. Overpopulation is the number one reason shelters exist.

As always, thanks for stopping by!

1  American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals

Parking Lot Sycamore

December 7, 2025

My search for still-beautiful Autumn leaves, half hanging, half fallen to the ground, took me to Albuquerque where temperatures hadn’t yet dipped below zero. Striking ‘gold’ in a large vacant parking lot next to a Disc Golf course, are at least 30 full-grown Sycamore trees with what looked to be full canopies of foliage still clinging tight. But for all the leaves yet to fall, there must’ve been 50x that number covering the ground. The morning breeze was causing the recently-fallen leaves to skid across the pavement in jerky movements, coming to rest in the parking lot’s gutters. 

It was in these ankle deep gutter piles where the range of leaf sizes, colors and patterns were found. These 1” to 10” broad, palmately veined and ragged-toothed leaves appeared locked together like pieces from a newly-opened 5000 piece jigsaw puzzle. And, oh my! The lid to the box just blew away! Now I was faced with a dizzying jumble of multi-colored golden-yellows, burnt oranges, Ruddy duck rust, fading-to-spring greens and saddle browns. It was from these ankle deep gutter piles that I collected Autumn leaves for this project.

Lost in thought, I overlooked the white noise of the city ……. traffic mostly, constantly humming and impatiently honking ……. until a painful ringing in my ears invaded the relative calm of the morning.  No longer able to think, I turned around and found an invasion of leaf blowers!  Never was there a more loudly screaming, obnoxiously noxious sound. Coming closer and closer, louder and more insistent, their ear-muffled and gas-masked operators approached without hesitation, each blowing away (to where?) every bit of the “unsightly and offending” leaf-litter in their path. 

Luna approving of my Sycamore leaf selection

Dang-blasted! 

It finally dawned on me this Friday morning that the vacant parking lot only opened for use on Sunday’s. Not agreeable to working weekends, the leaf blower operators were determinedly cleaning up the “messy” lot for the regular Sunday crowd. I was in their way. 

Saving as many fallen Sycamore leaves as my collection bags could hold, and silently wishing all remaining leaves a happy landing somewhere on a nutrient-needy plot of land, I ran for the quiet of my car.

My Fallen Leaf Project

Using Sycamore leaves collected from that vacant Albuquerque parking lot, I tried my hand at a new technique; combining watercolor layers with layers of colored pencil. Using my new set of Van Gogh watercolors, I began each leaf with a layer of plain water followed by a light base layer, mixing Azo yellow medium with a touch of Yellow ochre. The bottom leaf (which was the underside of the top leaf) was duller and lighter in color, calling for a bit of Permanent lemon yellow. Allowing that layer to dry, I used various earthy colors from my set of Faber-Castell Polychromos colored pencils over the watercolor wash, mixing and matching the colors of my pencils with the actual leaf colors. This step tended to leave some areas uncolored with the pencils, so I applied another watercolor wash with Sap green, Burnt Sienna+Yellow ochre, and/or Madder lake deep+Azo yellow medium. I finished each leaf with a Dark sepia colored pencil outline, tipped the leaf margins with Dark sepia, and added shadowing first with Payne’s grey watercolor then Dark sepia colored pencil.

12 half-pan watercolor set and color swatch

The leaves were painted on 140# Canson XL Watercolor paper

Faber-Castell colored pencil set

If you have and questions or comments, please let me know. If you use this combined media technique, any tips you’d like to share would be greatly appreciated too.

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I’d like to send a shout-out and my deep gratitude to Wendy Hollender, botanical artist/illustrator/teacher extraordinaire, who announced in her newsletter free access for over a week to 19 of her bite-sized video lessons. Designed as companions to her book, The Joy of Botanical Drawing, each lesson focused on a different botanical subject and how to artistically render them using watercolor and colored pencil combined. I’ve always wanted to learn this technique and gave it a try with her leaf examples and then mine. Incorporating both media into the same painting was very challenging and way out of my comfort zone. 

Thanks so much Wendy, for such wonderful lessons and your fabulous companion book! With lots more practice, my goal is that some day my botanical art looks as natural, skilled and professional as yours.

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As always, Thanks for stopping by!

Draft final page with actual leaves lying on top

Dance of the Bagworms

May 9, 2025

On a warm Spring morning, wandering around a grove of American Sycamore, I became curious about these magnificent trees: where in the US are they native; why are some leaves larger than the palm of my hand and some half the size; what about those odd pingpong sized seedballs lying on the ground everywhere you look ….. why don’t they roll away in search of an ideal spot to pop open so the seeds can germinate …… when the seedballs are kicked, stepped on or crushed beneath a car tire, do the 1,000’s of seeds inside blow away to sprout ….. are the seeds (all or some of them) even viable ….. do the seedballs make a good ink or dye or maybe they’re edible or even medicinal……. what, if any wildlife species eat the seedballs or seeds; and ooooohhhhhhh, sycamore bark! Why does this tree’s bark flaunt a pastel palette of greens, yellows and pinks. These and many more questions came to mind that it seemed about time the American Sycamore became a subject for my nature journal, until ……………..

There! In the tree above my head, I spotted a most curious thing. Parting a few of that sycamore’s beautiful Spring green palmate-shaped leaves was a bundle of dead brown and beige leafy bits and sticks all haphazardly glued together. Wishing to get a closer look at that elongated ornament shaped “thing,” I found it was securely suspended from a branch. Trying to puzzle out this fascinating mystery while searching for my pen knife, a stiff breeze blew through the tree. It was then a I noticed hundreds of those 2-3” long bundles all over the tree; from the base to its crown!

Curiosity is the Essence of Nature Journaling

What continues to draw me to nature and nature journaling after so many years are the surprises in the familiar and in the unknown. I know well enough that new encounters in nature are infinite; you just have to open your eyes and look.  Having learned by carefully observing what appears to be familiar, often leads to new discoveries. That’s when my curiosity kicks into high gear ….. when it’s time to engage in some serious poking around to figure something out; to learn what the “thing” is. 

Curiosity, for me, is the very heart and soul of nature journaling. The ‘art’ of curiosity even precedes skill in observation. It’s what drives me out the door in the morning and fuels my exploration. Curiosity fills the mind with countless questions if for no other reason but to develop a deeper understanding of the natural world. 

But I “wax philosophical.” Needless to say, my curious discovery on that warm and breezy Spring morning prompted an abrupt change of mind for my next blog post (this post). Anxious to learn about the “thing” suspended from a tree branch, probably minding its own business, I proceeded to cut it down (along with two more) and popped them in a bag along with a few sycamore leaves and seedballs.

Later that same day …….

Upon completing my journal sketches of sycamore leaves and seedballs, and posting a few photos to iNaturalist for an initial ID, it was time to take a closer look at my discovery. Reaching into the bag for one of the “things” (wiping my hand free of spider webbing?), I placed it on my examination table surrounded by several hand lenses, a larger magnifying glass, a penknife, and 2 pairs of tweezers. Before beginning the dissection, I noticed about a dozen black pepper-sized bits moving about the “thing.” Thinking tiny spiders had come from the bag, I didn’t give them a second thought (should’ve been curious!).

This bagworm bag was the subject of my dissection. Notice the pepper-sized black dots next to the bag ….. those are wiggling 1st instar larva.

iNaturalist ID Pick :::::::::::::: BAGWORM MOTH ::::::::::::::: iNaturalist ID Pick

(awaiting genus/species ID)

A Bagworm Moth!

How cool is that!?!

The opened bag of a female Bagworm moth. She’s very dead, but her progeny are escaping as fast as they can.

Dissection resumes ……

After finding out the “thing” I’ve been pondering over is the Bag of a bagworm moth, I learned the Bag was built during last Spring, Summer and Fall by either a male or female bagworm moth. If a male, the Bag would be empty; if a female, the Bag would contain her remains …. she would’ve died last fall after a male fertilized 500-1,000+ eggs she overwintered inside her body until Spring when newly-hatched larvae would emerge from the bottom of the Bag and begin the species’ life cycle all over again.

The Bag, that took about 10 minutes and all my dissection tools to open, contained the black and mushy remains of a female and 100’s of wiggling/dancing larvae! They were on the move; escaping from the now wide open Bag, and quickly covering my examination table like a pepper grinder out of control.

And my effort to open the Bag? This made sense after reading about the high tensile strength of the silk they produce. These thin strands of silk, 10x stronger than that produced by silkworms, is used in abundance to construct their Bags.

The coolest thing ever! Notice the either late 2nd or early 3rd instar larva, no longer naked, but swaddled in very chewed up leafy bits glued together with strong silk. This dude was hiking up a sycamore branch, continually chewing, wiggling, and gluing.

After disposing of all the naked 1st instar larvae waggling and dancing across my examination table, I placed the dissected Bag, the two whole Bags, and collected leaf material into a clear plastic ziplock to observe what would happen. Over 10 days, the number of larvae multiplied and the naked 1st instar caterpillars grew in size (at least to 2nd instar) while building their individual Bags from tiny bits of leaf litter! Their wiggling dance seemed to be the way their silk strands wrapped and secured leafy bits around their bodies. It’s been fun to watch all the activity.

Have you ever encountered one or more of the 1,350+ species of bagworm moths? What materials were their Bags made from? Please share your experience with these fascinating members of the butterfly/moth family of insects.

As always, thanks for stopping by!

A Rosette by any other name …….

April 23, 2025

A selection of basal rosettes that popped out of the ground this Spring.

Have you ever noticed a dandelion? Oh sure …… you’ve seen hundreds, probably thousands of those ubiquitous sunburst yellow flowers blanketing a lawn or brightening an abandoned field. But before all that brilliance magically appears, have you ever looked below all those flower stalks? Have you ever noticed a dandelion before it blooms?

It’s early Spring in the mountainous areas of central New Mexico, and it seems like the high desert is slow to bloom this year. Anxious to spot even a hint of green during this transition time is always challenging, but if you look closely …….. Tucked beneath dry grasses and piled-high tumbleweed skeletons wedged next to swelling cholla you’ll find the green. Clusters of new leaves hugging the ground no more than an inch high, are beautifully arranged in a circular pattern like the unfolding petals of a rose.  

Rosettes!

Rosette arrangements are found throughout nature,1 but in the flowering plants they are particularly common in the following families: Asteraceae (like dandelions), Brassicaceae (like cabbage), and Bromeliaceae (like pineapple). Many other families display the rosette morphology too. The needle sharp leaves of yucca and the bayonet-shaped leaves of century plant (in the Agave family) form tall rosettes. The intricate leaves of wild spring parsley (a tiny member of the Parsley family) and the petite red-stemmed stork’s bill (Geranium family) both form ground-hugging rosettes. 

A century plant displaying a beautiful basal rosette.

Where Rosettes Form

Basal Rosettes grow close to the soil at or near the plant’s crown (the thick part of the stem where the roots attach). Their structure is an example of a modified stem in which the internode gaps between the leaves do not expand, ensuring all the leaves stay tightly bunched together and at a similar height.  A protective function of a basal rosette makes it hard to pull from the ground; the leaves come away easily while the taproot is left intact (have you ever tried to pull a dandelion without snapping off the root?). Generally speaking, basal rosettes improve a plant’s odds at survival. For example, overwintering rosettes, like the basal leafy growth produced in year #1 of the 2-year life span of giant mullein, protect the plant and its roots from extreme cold temperatures. Emerging Spring rosettes, like those found in long-stemmed poppy, also protect the plant from late winter frosts. Basal rosettes are also more protected from changes in microclimate, gravity, wind, browsing, and mechanical damage if they are closer to the ground than tall leafy stems would be. help in water balance and conservation, especially important during periods of drought. 

Lichen that has form small rosettes on rock.

But don’t only look down. Another form of rosette occurs when the internodes (those areas between leaves) along a stem are shortened, bringing leaves closer together as in lettuce and some succulents.2. And although not as common as basal rosettes, some plants form rosettes at the terminal or top end of their often naked stems, branches, or even trunks. One plant that does this is the native sedum called wild stonecrop. The top of the plant stems usually terminate in whorls or three fleshy leaves. Another example is the Hawaiian screwpine, which has a terminal rosette of sword-shaped leaves which sits atop an erect trunk, often supported by prop roots.

Know Your Local Rosettes

A number of desirable and undesirable (weedy) plant species produce rosettes, particularly basal rosettes.  Being able to identify a species that pops up in the Spring by its rosette is so helpful in preventing a removal mistake by inadvertently digging them up. Many weedy, non-native plants gaze first at their world through rosette “eyes.” But not all plants with rosettes are undesirable. Do you know your local rosettes by their other names?

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1  Rosettes are found throughout nature, not just in the flowering plants.  Here’s some examples you may have seen or heard of:  

In bryophytes and algae, a rosette results from the repeated branching of the thallusas grown by plant, resulting in a circular outline. Lichens also grow rosettes.

Tiny wasps and midges can induce the development of galls that become leafy rosettes.

Jaguars, leopards and other feline species display rose-like markings on their fur, referred to as rosettes.

Malaria parasites are known to form spontaneous rosettes in uninfected red blood cells.

Neural rosettes in the human brain are being studied to learn how new cells are born.

It is unknown why the Rosette-Nosed Pygmy chameleon, at home in the mountains of Tanzania, has evolved a distinctive, rosette-shaped, fleshy protrusion on the end of its nose.

The Rosette nebula, named for its rosette-like appearance, is a beautiful collection of gas and dust 5,200 light-years from Earth in the constellation Monoceros the Unicorn, and stretches about 130 light-years across.

A gorgeous lichen decorated rock from Colorado. Note the rosette patterns of growth (the thallus)

  The horticultural definition of a succulent describes a drought-resistant plant where the leaves, stems, or roots have become fleshy and their tissues are able to store water. Succulents include aloe, euphorbia, sedum, the garden favorite hen-and-chicks, and bromeliads. But horticulturalists do not include cacti in the succulent group. huh? Even though cacti are frequently found in books describing succulents based the definition of a succulent, succulents are not cacti. In agreement with that last statement are many botanical and other scientific experts. (Can this get any more confusing?). So basically some experts are lumpers, while other are splitters.  Which are you? 

Basal rosette of a yucca in the NM foothills.

P.S. Cacti have stems that are thickened fleshy water-storing structures, and are considered to be a stem-succulent group of plants. Are there any cacti species that develop leafy rosettes? Because the spines are the leaves, greatly modified, in all my rabbit-trailing thru the internet and perusal of my collection of botanical references I’ve yet to see any spines forming whorled/rosette-like patterns. If you have, please contact me immediately!

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Are you ready to explore the wide diversity of rosette forming plants in your neighborhood? Get on out there before those circularly-arranged leaves become disguised by an overabundance of gorgeous wildflowers! 

As always, thanks for stopping by!  And Happy Earth Day (week)!

Pick Me! Pick Me!

January 20, 2025

Winter can be challenging for nature journalers. Getting outside when it’s cold and windy, cloudy and dreary, snowy, icy or wet, are not ideal weather under any circumstances.  And when everything looks brown and crispy and pretty much the same, the challenge to nature journal in the great outdoors grows exponentially. While these conditions make it difficult for spontaneous observing, I try to remember there’s always something remarkable to be discovered in nature, even in winter.

 Who knew a little whack on the head would be just the thing to reawaken my curiosity?

Bundled in layers, leash in hand, Luna led me on her early morning walk around suburban Albuquerque. Having been along this route before, we’ve both made some interesting discoveries in the past.  And as usual, this time was no exception for Luna. For me though, everything appeared brown, crispy and familiar. But I was inspired by  and enjoying Luna’s sense of curiosity, and her encouraging tug on the leash. 

Nearing the end of our 2-1/2 mile walk, and mightily concerned I’d go home empty handed, we turned our last corner. It wasn’t 100 feet down the cement block-lined sidewalk that I abruptly stopped in my tracks. Something had lightly whacked me in the head! While the sound of rhythmic clacking rang out, I looked up, and to my surprise spotted the accidental assailant. Draped over the 6 foot wall, suspended from a hearty Trumpet Vine (Campsis radicans) growing in the hidden yard beyond was a string of pods resembling brown green beans. Long and plump and full of seeds, one of these pods had reached down low enough to make contact with to my head. (I say “reached” because that’s what my imagination said had happened.) Quickly awaking my sleepwalking brain, the effort made by the seed pod to get my attention paid off too. Silently whispering, “Pick me! Pick me!” it was as if the seed pod and its adjacent buddies either wanted to be harvested, or wanted to be featured in my nature journal (or both). 

So I did ………… both!

I loved learning about and sketching these fascinating Trumpet Vine seed pods, while my mind was filled with the muffled notes of a trumpet. Tooo-too-too-toooooom!

Hope you enjoyed reading this story and browsing around my journal pages.

As always, thanks for stopping by!

Always Remember to Explore the Cracks!

Sidewalk Crack Discoveries

October 12, 2024

Roy had a doctor’s appointment one morning in late September, at an office right off busy I-25, near the ABQ airport. Instead of hanging out in the sterile waiting room, Luna and I spent our time exploring the areas surrounding the office, just to see if there was anything worth observing.

For 2 miles, we wandered about the not quite urban/suburban/industrial/residential neighborhood ….. me looking for a sketchbook entry; Luna sniffing out messages left just for her by visiting dogs, squirrels, or bunnies. 

Interesting discoveries seemed lacking, until Luna caught whiff of something irresistible. Tugging hard on her end of the leash, she urged me to run with her as she zeroed in on the source of the smell. 

By a parking lot light, on the pavement next to a cement curb was an explosion of feathers, but Luna kept leading me on to something better.  There! Lying on the curb was a still wet and bloody bird foot barely connected to what remained of the thigh. All clues pointed to the very recent drama, where a raptor (possibly a red-tailed hawk) had swooped in and nabbed the hapless victim (a feral pigeon), killed and then ate his prey from the platform atop the parking lot light. The inedible remains fell to the ground as a group of 2 dozen “relieved-it-wasn’t-me” pigeon friends looked on.

Quickly solving most of this puzzle in the time it took to pry the pigeon foot from Luna’s mouth, gave me the idea of sketching not only the foot, but to look for other unlikely nature discoveries in this urban/suburban/industrial/residential neighborhood setting. 

Mentally armed with a keener power of observation and purpose, we retraced our earlier route with excitement!  Now it was obvious an abundance of interesting and beautiful plants were growing from every sidewalk crack and along crumbled pavement edges throughout the ‘hood.  How had I missed seeing these beauties? 

And that’s how my idea for this 2-page layout was born, along with a reminder that finding bits of nature doesn’t have to occur at a botanical garden, wildlife preserve or national park. Nature is everywhere. If you just slow down and really look, even in the most unlikely places like sidewalk cracks, there’s always something to discover. So Remember to Explore the Cracks too and let me know what you find!

As always, thanks for stopping by!