Finally, some weather!

5.30 AM. The aspect of the river changes continually, deep hues of purple and emerald green, then silvery, then dimly bleuish, streaks of sulphurous yellow. Molten amber, wrinkled aluminum, mattened lead, mercury, glass...

High water. Whenever a ship passes (not often, at this hour), the rolling billows of its wake crash into the reedbeds around me with sound and fury. They never reach the surface of the jetty on which I am installed, though. (No, they did, just once, years ago. There I was grabbing all my stuff from the ground around me (you can see the wave coming), and feet up as high as possible, and the river washing under my folding chair).

Half an hour later the first drops fell, at last! Yes, I had to tuck away my paper in a flash, and had to take cover under my umbrella, but only for ten minutes or so. What the rain does to the river and to the sky, I am quite unable to put into words...

 

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In search of weather

For today, cloudy weather with some rain was forecast, so at 5.30 AM I was at my post. The sky was rather clear, with a pinkish tinge ("Red sky in the morning..."). Then from the north/northeast some very high cirrus came drifting in. No rainclouds, although I imagined I could hear warnings of the imminent rain in the birdsong around me.
An hour or so later, the sky was bloody well clear again. As always when there is little or no wind, the river seemed to simply drain away, not stream but drain: at ebb the waterlevel drops at a steady pace, as if around the bend in the river, someone had opened a gigantic drainage hole.

 

 

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....and now for today's pen-related puzzle:

This morning, while rummaging in my tin of pens, I happened across a pen that I have never used, yet for some reason, decided to add to my arsenal, some time ago. It is a five-pointed Music Ruling pen (n° 68, Brause & Co, Isenlohn, Germany), once used by composers to draw staves (on music sheets). See if you can detect in which drawings this pen was used.

Just like Tuesday, a cloudy morning (mist was forecast). Between 5 and 6 AM possibly somewhat darker than two days ago. On Tuesday, high water when I  arrived at about 5.30 AM. This morning the reverse, strangely.

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In Memoriam Speedball n°1            17/06/2014

I keep my drawing pens in an oblong  shortbread tin. I've never counted them, but there are dozens, of all types and fitted in an equal variety of penholders.

This spring, my all-time favourite pen has deceased, while working, in the studio - not in the field. One half of the nib broke off, making it quite unusable.
Research on the net revealed that my pen is officially registered as "Speedbal Flicker Pen," produced some time ago in the US. I have not the slightest clue of how it came into my possession. One day, it just ended up in a box with many other pen nibs and assorted knick-knacks. Years ago, I fitted it into
a green plastic penholder of the Blanzy brand (n° 1775, France).
A unique technical quality made this pen very special to me (and my drawings of the last decade, or more). The Flicker Pen nib is a reservoir pen, but not a common one. Most reservoir pens have one or two tiny plates fied to the nib, thus creating a reservoir or 'feeder'. The Flicker Pen has these plates hinge-jointed at the base of the nib: one hinged plate on the underside, and one on top of the nib. Hence the name: 'Flicker'. Reportedly, this makes cleaning the nib easier. I never clean nibs.

During one particularly frantic drawing session, long ago, in Bretagne, I believe, both hinges of my pen broke off so that the reservoir plates would not clip back against the nib, turning my Flicker pen into a 'Flapper' pen.
Having lost not only its reservoir, but a bit later its rounded point as well, my dear pen had acquired a mind of its own. A beautiful, unpredictable mind. It came as close to perfection as is possible, when soon after, the tail end of the pen holder broke off.
For many years, this independent-minded pen hasn't ceased to surprise me, reviving tired drawings, showing ever new possibilities.
It is a sad loss indeed.

I have since found another Speedball Flicker Nib, and have fitted into a blue plastic Blanzy pen holder. However, it lacks the experience, the years of suffering of its ancestor. But I am happy to see that its hinges have started to clip open of their own accord, at the most inconvenient moments!

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