Lazy River

Last summer I spent considerable time near the Middle Raccoon River, a slow-moving tributary of the river that runs through Des Moines, some sixty or seventy miles away. Here the river is deep, even torrential, in spring but runs shallow in late summer. Like many rivers through agricultural land, it is browned by silt and can often look dark. This view of the river gives the viewer an idea of how this land might have looked before the plow.

"Downstream, Middle Raccoon River," oil on panel, 11x14