Hunt and Gather: Animation Sophomore Year Week One, Part Two

It's a two-fer... This is the playground of my elementary school as drawn from memory. I found this place as a sort of refuge from the usual mantra of "get it right, okay, don't, like I care...", a gathering of kids who would all grow up to out-do each other in high school (covers mainly in Facebook friends and Twitter followers, failing at life is an option under No Child, apparently...). It seems innocent now, looking back on this angled and plastic forest, you get thirty minutes to run around, rarely supervised (theory tested, don't go over the fences...). I kind of miss it, it was where your earliest friendships were made and cemented, four-square, tether ball (actually, just a chain...) and walk around. I hope this nation gets a turn around and lets its kids go, let them explore, run, climb, hurt themselves and learn life lessons in the process (don't lose your balance on top of the monkey bars, unless you like cedar chips embedded in your gums...). The playground is important, keep it.

Hunt and Gather: Animation Sophomore Year Week One

This trail leads to the tar-paved road, can you smell the sun-burnt ankles? A.K.A. my starting point.

First post, here we go... So, I live near this nature preserve known as Burr Oaks; one of the only things in Blue Springs that is worth its weight in nickels. I've always enjoyed this quiet side of the woods (puns are for a-holes...) and for me, it has always preserved its purpose, a place to smoke in private.  Filled with all the splendor of local flora and fauna (while drawing this scene, I got spooked by a deer, Cervidae, the adorable joke...). It seems like the perfect place, granite trails (ash trays), wildlife (four-legged burden), insects (WOAH! IT GOT NEAR MY EAR THAT TIME!!!), and all those cross-country runners from the two local high schools (no, I don't have any more to bum you, sweat bands...), I can always rely on some sort of sight to entertain the soul and mind.
 Before my habit got a hold of my lungs, I walked here as a kid. It was always there and never worried itself to run out of public funding (can't say the same for the overall condition of the city's streets, electricity, public image...), it was the absolute de-rez zone for the child of a master-plan-white-majority-suburban neigborhood. I can't say I always enjoyed the tame nature (sorry spider family, I just wish you were less terrifying and legged) but it was always everyone's litter yard. It invites you too.