There’s a little pond, up on a hillside in Troy, where my hausmates and I used to walk up to sit along its shore on pretty afternoons, sipping tall boys and watching the ducks and the geese. They like to line up along the top of a little waterfall, and we would place silly bets on which would be the next bird to leap off into space, flapping down to the rocks and water below. Chattering and laughing together, it was always such a lovely way to move from afternoon into evening. We’ve all moved away from the Castle now, but we remain good friends and sometimes I still like to go to Burden pond. That’s where I was yesterday, where I sat and painted the ever- transforming ways in which the light touches the trees, the birds, and the water.

Here are some previous iterations of Burden Pond.