Sad day for Oakland

The funeral service for the four police officers killed in Oakland a few days ago is being held today. Steve, one of the local sheriff's chaplains, will be there. Everything will be televised. 

The anticipated gathering is likely to be so huge that freeways will be temporarily closed for the several processions to the memorial site. All of the Oakland police force will be present while their jobs are being taken over by volunteers from other jurisdictions for this one day.

I was up alone late and felt compelled to attempt to draw a mandala. I was looking through one of Judith Cornell's books and was influenced by her method. Here in northern California there are some really awesome mandala teachers but I've never taken their classes. 

So this was an experiment. The geometrics are way off - I learned about the need for accurate planning and measuring. I don't know why I chose the swan. After I finished the drawing I looked up the image.  There are many meanings attributed to the swan. One makes it a symbol of martyrdom which, in a way, I guess you could use that word to describe the killed officers. At any rate, we can all agree that Oakland is justifiably sad this day.