On Westlake Pond

I walked around the nearby pond on a dreary day. The resident heron paid me no mind as he displayed his technicolor gorgeousness. The coots and ducks and geese were much more skittery whenever I even thought about getting close.

The Extra is of a guy painting a sign on the side of a UCSC barn at the entrance to campus. Sounds fairly ordinary, except Jim has been the sign painter for over 40 years, designing and executing countless banners, advertisements and promotional pieces for campus events. The paint is pretty thick on those panels! It was an interesting encounter, since I worked for a production office for several years a long time ago, and was responsible for ordering many many barn signs. As we drove by, I recognized Jim from his distinctive long hair, and had to turn around and go back to say hi. He's still as laid back and pleasant as I remember, with an amazingly steady hand. Apparently he begins each piece at night, projecting the outlines on the wall and sketching them in white. The next day he comes back and fills it all in. With everything in lockdown, there hasn't been much work lately, but here he is working on an announcement for an upcoming panel on climate justice. I was happy to see him still at work.