From My Sketchbook:
This is the end of the off-season, the week of Thanksgiving in St. Croix, the Virgin Islands. The weather is comfortable, there aren’t too many crowds of tourists to move your way through as you walk around, or in my case, sit and sketch an open view. The pace of the city is slow and relaxed, it is a pleasure to wander about the streets and harbor area.
This was perhaps my sixth visit to Christiansted, and I wanted to be sure to take a moment to sketch around the harbor area. I had done so the previous year, but for the life of me, I simply cannot find the sketchbook that I had used at the time. It simply is gone- lost.
And so, here I am with a new a new sketchbook, time on my hands, the crowds are small and not pressing-in on me – all seems perfect. What could be better? What could possibly ruin the moment? Rain,… of course. No sooner than I was well invested into the sketch the clouds roll in and the wind begins to buffet me slightly. Little gusts of wind would unexpectedly be pushing or pulling at the sketchbook held in my hands as if it were a small kite. I remained fixed and determined to continue, after all, I felt secure there next to the harbor waters, protected from the weather while sitting on a city bench under a small shelter, a little rain would be no problem here. I have found that most of the time this is true, but not when the wind picks up sharply and the rain starts coming in “sideways.” Well, perhaps it was time to stop and take a break anyway…