#3007 "Happy Winter Trails"

#3007 "Happy Winter Trails"
8 X 10 (inches).
Started 9:00 am Saturday, March 7th, 2026. 

The red-winged blackbirds returned this morning... (March 7th) along with spring thunderstorms and heavy rain. I had this composition in my back pocket along with the right oils left over from #3006 "Singleton March Morning Maple Shadows". I was waiting for inclement weather to put those ideas on a canvas. A Studio morning was the best choice for a Saturday morning. The tunes on the 1977 vintage stereo and the wood stove provided the ambiance.

This small canvas panel is attached to a larger support, which can be stacked in my canoe box. The canvas does not need to be touched by anything other than a brush until the oils are fully cured.

I was thinking of shows that my brother and I enjoyed as kids in the 1950s. Those were the wholesome early days of television. Roy Rogers, Dale Evans, Trigger, Bullet, the Jeep... a host of honest characters for kids. The bad guys always went to jail. 

The title of this painting can be found in a song. 

"Happy trails to you, until we meet again
Happy trails to you
Keep smilin' until then
Who cares about the clouds when we're together?
Just sing a song and bring the sunny weather
Happy trails to you
'Til we meet again."

Some of our Saturday morning heroes are included in the following collage. 

The bad guys were always held accountable back then ... not promoted or given money to go away.

A cowboy is a resourceful, independent thinker always ready to challenge the corruption of those in power as the saviour of the underdog... at least in the westerns on early 1950s black-and-white television. Roy, John Wayne, Gene Autry, Tom Mix, Hopalong Cassidy and the Lone Ranger all bravely came to the rescue. 

But how do you spot the bad guys? And they aren’t all guys! You will certainly know a few psychopaths! A March 2026 article in the New Scientist explains:

"psychopathy is characterised by callousness, a lack of empathy, glib social charm and impulsivity. Checklist screening tools assess for behaviours including pathological lying, sense of grandiosity, manipulative tendencies and a constant need for stimulation."

"while only around 1 percent of people in the general population have psychopathy, roughly 1 in 5 men in prison show signs of it, and research has also found a link between corporate leadership and psychopathic traits."  (my bolding of the actual text)

The research does not specifically address the percentage of political psychopaths, but I suspect it at least matches that of prisons! Probably higher.  Nothing will change until the "bad guys" are held responsible and forced to pay restitution for their crimes. 

I wanted to be a cowboy when I grew up... that didn't work out, so I became a meteorologist instead. That career turned out to be a perfect choice for me. The opportunity to educate the populace and possibly avert the looming climate crisis would have been worthy for any good, ol' cowboy!

During the 1970s and 80s, it was obvious to meteorologists what uncontrolled consumption of fossil fuels was doing to the atmosphere. The science was clear and had been fully developed in the previous century. The impacts of atmospheric carbon on nature and the environment were also equally obvious.

I was up to the challenge and did my very best. Many others did as well, but my generation of cowboy scientists has failed to defeat big oil and the politicians they have purchased. In the 2000s, my Canadian Prime Minister insisted that we stop and desist with all efforts to educate the populace and to spread the truth about the rapidly approaching impacts of the climate crisis. Environment Canada even endured several "program reviews" and "downsizing exercises" during my career, when the efforts to brace for the impacts of climate change should have necessitated quite the opposite. The Earth is currently starting the verification stage of those predictions. 

It will take Herculean efforts on the part of every nation to turn the tide at this late stage of the climate catastrophe. Listen to the wisdom of the Davids like Sir Attenborough and Suzuki. Goliath will fall again, long before every drop of oil has been burnt, even if the cause is an uninhabitable Earth and not democracy, wisdom or cowboys.  

The following summarizes the challenges facing Planet Earth that last experienced the 2025 levels of atmospheric carbon 16 million years ago. That can't be good...  If you have not yet noticed a change in the weather, you have not been paying attention. 

March 2026, daily atmospheric carbon dioxide levels measured at the Mauna Loa Observatory have exceeded 431 parts per million (ppm) - reaching 431.95 ppm on March 28th - higher than the 430.6 ppm of March 2025. 

Surrounding oneself with nature still allows the brand of naivety that we enjoyed in the 1950s. The goal while I painted was to impart those same thoughts to the viewer and maybe lead them into the light, down the snowy path that no one had yet to tread.

Rain and thunder outside... very cozy inside...

For this and much more art, click on the Collections. Here is the new Wet Paint Collection. Thank you for reading, and stay well!

Warmest regards, and keep your paddle in the water,

Phil Chadwick  

PS: Fossil fuels were given over $7 TRILLION in subsidies in 2025.  That's $19.2 billion per day. How is any of that sustainable?  See buff.ly/s6Nzgw3 ttps://

PSS: A potential "Super El Niño" is projected for later 2026 and could become the most intense El Niño on record. Weather impacts will be felt around the globe! 2026 will likely exceed all previous heat records.