I have not been plein air painting that long but I have already had so many incidents outdoors that I thought I would share a few. Today I drove by a willow swamp that was surrounded by a hill on all sides. The land was not posted (something I always make sure of) so I decided I would grab my gear and trek down to set up and paint. Before I started I took a look around to choose my vantage point. I wasn't there more than 2 minutes before a voice echoed through the open "there's a guy down there". It was coming from one of the houses near by. That seemed to be the rally cry for all the neighbors, as one by one they all came a lookin. A few seconds later I heard a car start up and the block patrol was soon in detective mode. For the next hour and a half car after car crept by on the road checking me out. One of them drove by several times honking their horn the whole time. They must have noticed I was painting and not, God forbid, trying to hunt pheasants with my tripod. Another day a few weeks ago while painting roadside a landowner came out of his farmhouse, looked a while until he couldn't take it and got in his truck. He drove past me twice and then stopped. He was a very nice man and commented that my painting was much prettier than the scene I was painting. Early this winter I came across a scene I liked and parked my car in the ditch to get my stuff ready. A half hour into the painting and up drives the county sheriff patrol. He said he got a call about a "parked car". He too was a nice guy and once he realized I was painting he said "good enough for me, have fun". That was the third time (on different days) a patrol car has slowly driven by me while painting. I wondered later if every time I have legally parked my car on a dirt road ditch if someone has phoned the authorities. Just before Christmas I locked my keys, and cel phone in my truck. I waited a long time and flagged a woman down and asked if I could use her phone. She said she just got her first cel phone the day before. Lucky for me my wife was on vacation and, after giving her directions I wasn't sure of myself, she brought me my spare key. This fall a man walked up and asked "why doesn't it look like what yer paintin?". Needless to say I wasn't happy with the results of that piece. An artist friend of mine wrote about his two favorite questions he gets while painting, two that I have heard many times. What are you doing? and, Are you an artist? At this point Bill Engvall should jump in and hand them their signs. These, along with all the paintings dropped or knocked in the snow, the unexpected rainstorms, bug attacks, upset cows or horses, deranged bat bitten farm dogs, sticky frozen paints, and an endless list of other hidden variables and you get plein air painting. like I said, I haven't been doing this long, so I can only imagine the experiences lifelong plein air painters have had. It is an addiction though, and once you get out and start doing it being in the studio feels somewhat empty and even lonelier.