#2164 "Dumoine La Chute Bridge"

I stayed in the shade to avoid the scorching August midday sun. I had spent many days working from this bridge but had never included it in a painting. The time for the bridge had arrived. I employed a smooth and slippery surface and lots of paint.

The deck of the bridge was badly worn. Apparently car ties had been punctured by bolts and shards of wood. Some places of the bridge deck had been replaced as a stop-gap measure. I drove across this bridge many times and avoided a few of the boards with their exposed bolts. The supports for the bridge were apparently excellent though. The flood waters in the spring of 2017 had come within inches of reaching the bottom of the deck of the bridge.

A tiny and prickly puffball was located where I stood. I was careful not to trample it. I prefer to let nature stay in place, unmolested. I did a bit of research and think that this is Spiny Puffball

(Lycoperdon echinatum). The most easily identifiable characteristic is the spines. The spines stick out of the mushroom's rounded cap. When the puffball is young and prime, they are white, and turn brown or olive colored as they age. This puffball is very young. Typically the interior of a puffball is composed of spore-bearing flesh. When the puffball matures it splits open or a perforation develops on surface of the ball. The spores escape through these fissures -when raindrops land on the puffball, via air currents, or by some other mysterious means.

This was the 141st anniversary of the birth of Tom Thomson on August 5th, 1877. What better way to spend the day but to paint Canada en plein air...

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