Soda Lake
Columbia National Wildlife Refuge, Othello, Washington
It is finally spring and much better weather! Yay! I don’t know about you, but winter, a crazy election, and a pandemic has taken a toll on my ability to paint. With spring now here, it is the boost I need to pick up that brush again.
Doggo and I went for a hike the other day at the Columbia National Wildlife Refuge. We found ourselves at Soda Lake. We sat down on a warm rock to enjoy the sunshine and paint (okay doggo didn’t really paint, she is more of a critic and made sure I was not disturbed by onlookers and beetles).
Soda lake is a small lake surrounded by nothing but sagebrush. Not the most interesting of sites. Since it is the beginning of warmer weather, the grass was still brown and just a hint of buds on the sagebrush. It was trying to get green but I have a feeling that when it does finally turn green, it won’t last long. Fortunately, the rattlesnakes were not out yet and it was a quiet, peaceful day.
This refuge is a stopover for sandhill cranes and if you have binoculars, you can see thousands of them nesting and more flying overhead. We tried to convince a few to pose for us but I don’t think they really cared to do so. They had other cranes to find at their annual stopover festival.
The other exciting thing about spring is that the university classes are almost done. I get to head back to the lake soon where I can spend more time in and out of the studio painting.
