I wanted to capture the big, interesting-looking cedar and all its siblings marching off into the distance. The sky had been ominously rumbling in the distance all afternoon, with occasional flashes of lightning at the edges of my awareness, but I was so "in the zone" as I neared completion of this piece, that when the whole sky suddenly cut loose with a hellacious rain and windstorm, it caught me totally by surprise! Frantically throwing everything into my SUV, slogging around in just shorts, t-shirt, and flip-flops, I was soaked to the skin in seconds. In no time the entire area was flooded and I was ankle deep in mud. What a way to end a painting session! I was lucky to have 4-wheel drive, to get back up on the paved highway.