BY LESLIE REGO
The deepest of darks and the lightest of lights is what you encounter when you visit Centennial Marsh.
It was a sunny day with a few spotted and hazy clouds in the sky. The area was alive with birds flying low over the reeds and sedges, flitting from one spot to the other.
A yellow-headed blackbird perched for a moment on top of a cattail, and then he was off again, skimming the water. The yellow head glinted, catching both the rays of the sun and the sparkle of the water.
Red-winged blackbirds, appearing all black when perched, spread their wings, showing off their red and yellow bars—little stripes of color suspended over the green of the marsh.
I spied a ruddy duck maneuvering through the greens and browns of the water plants, his chestnut-colored body fairly well camouflaged within the shadows, but then the “robin’s egg-blue” beak would poke out, destroying his deep cover. The male duck sports this bright blue bill throughout the summer. In winter, the bill turns a dull gray.
A black-necked stilt with impossibly long legs took off, the legs lifting up and behind the body, appearing like a long red tail.
I sat down on the side of the dirt road and began to sketch.
“There is mystery in those murky depths,” I thought to myself, as I became engrossed in the enigmatic waters. While I painted, a yellow-headed blackbird stayed perched on a reed, the breeze shifting the tall grass back and forth. The bird swayed gently, his head tilted, curious about what I was doing. The ruddy duck paddled lazily, coming closer and closer. Cocked heads peered at me. The surroundings were filled with the gentle and sometimes harsh calls of the birds.
These are the forever moments that stay with me long after I finish a painting. The sights as well as the sounds and the breeze are instilled within the sketch. Sometimes I feel that when I open the pages of my sketchbook, the sounds, the wind, the sun, and all of my forever moments spill forth from the paint, leaving indelible marks wherever they may fall.
Leslie Rego is an Idaho Press Club award-winning columnist, artist and Blaine County resident. To view more of Rego’s art, visit leslierego.com.