Visiting Northern England: The Back Gate

The rain continues. My boots are still wet from yesterday's adventure and so I've stayed inside to read and draw. Mostly draw.

The Back Gate
3 1/2 x 5 1/2, (sketch book) Graphite
Rita Salazar Dickerson

This scene from the kitchen window has always entertained me. The curious little 21st century version of a weather vain that is perched on top of the trellis looks deceptively simple. As its little arms spin and turn in the wind and rain it is able to read the weather at all levels: temperature, wind speed, barometric pressure, future forecast, dew point and even the moon phase. Regardless of all that, I just wanted to draw it. I like the way it sits at an angle adding contrast to everything else that seems so timeless and traditional.

P.S. The little specks you see on the distant hills are sheep. And the grounds where I went to the Nidderdale Show yesterday are completely flooded today.