It was time for Sparkle’s walk.
![](https://i0.wp.com/mcdonaldart.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/sPARKLE.jpg?resize=1263%2C896)
We drove to the Lookout over the Grand River located at the dead-end of Wilson Avenue in Kitchener, some 10 minutes from our home.
![](https://i0.wp.com/mcdonaldart.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/oVERLOOK.jpg?resize=697%2C896&ssl=1)
Meandering through the Homer Watson woods, Lloyd’s curiosity was aroused by a hollow at the base of two conjoined trees. We went over and observed a hole in the bottom of the hollow.
![](https://i0.wp.com/mcdonaldart.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/CONJOINED-TREES-WITH-HOLLOW.jpg?resize=846%2C899&ssl=1)
In a moment or two, now some 15 feet further along, he cried:
“Look over there! A chipmunk just popped out of that hole!”
![](https://i0.wp.com/mcdonaldart.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/CHIPMUNK-IN-HOLLOW.jpg?resize=743%2C840&ssl=1)
She stood still for the longest while— uncharacteristic, as you know, of these tiny high-tailers.
You have probably seen the chipmunk in the middle panel of my triptych painting titled Woodland Wildflowers as well as the original portrait of a chipmunk, Picnic in the Pines. A beloved chipmunk, Mrs. Twigadoon, is the main character in my bedtime story, available on Amazon in both English and French.
It was delightful to come upon snowy-white trilliums sparkling here and there throughout the woodlands.
![](https://i0.wp.com/mcdonaldart.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/TWO-TRILLIUMS.jpg?resize=879%2C899&ssl=1)
![](https://i0.wp.com/mcdonaldart.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/TWO-TRILLIUMS-BY-LOG.jpg?resize=1315%2C899&ssl=1)
![](https://i0.wp.com/mcdonaldart.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/20220519_110632.jpg?resize=1006%2C909&ssl=1)
Yellow violets were also plentiful.
![](https://i0.wp.com/mcdonaldart.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/yELLOW-VIOLETS.jpg?resize=1008%2C899&ssl=1)
As one climbs the short knoll to Lookout, you actually walk through the chipmunk’s pantry . . . acorns dot the pathways.
![](https://i0.wp.com/mcdonaldart.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/PAT-UP-KNOLL.jpg?resize=729%2C899&ssl=1)