It was Saturday evening at my Agawa campsite in Superior East. The paint was drying on my palette. It was a case of either use it or lose it. Those oils were really expensive and I choose never to waste anything. I was too tired to go anywhere. I had been hiking and painting all day. So I just painted from Campsite 102 of Agawa looking outward across Lake Superior toward Montreal Island past the stand of red pines on the shore. That is Montreal Island way out from shore to the right. The wind had been easterly and offshore all day but just around 6 pm they shifted to the southwest. The black flies had started to be irritating but they backed off with the cool marine breezes off the lake. I did not plan to go swimming. The water had to be near 4 or 5 Celsius - way too chilly for me.
This little patch of green was a busy spot all day. Cedar waxwings, slate grey juncos and yellow warblers all found something to eat. The cedar waxwings were swallowing small reddish berries. Supposedly the juncos were after the seeds and the warbler was left to dine on bugs. Everyone got along just fine.
This scene was backlit so it was all about using up the paint and getting the tones right. Colour was secondary.
I painted what I saw and was not thinking meteorologically. I did not realize it at the time but that band of pale haze on the distant horizon was actually cirrostratus coming at us. The 6 pm wind shift should have been a clue. Rain was on the way. Two retired EMS specialists were camped in neighbouring site 101 and they came over to the sunset bench to visit after I completed the painting. They were extremely nice people from Fort Francis. By that time I had clued into the sky and mentioned the cirrostratus. She said the rain was going to start at 8 am and continue all day. She had checked her Smart Phone. Who needs a meteorologist anymore? By that time the cirrostratus stretched across the entire horizon and I was thinking that she was right. The rain did start the next day around 10 am...
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