Changing and aging

Last fall the leaves were dazzling bright yellows and reds

forming a beautiful hem along the river’s edge.

Then the heavy snow came and ironed them flat

and froze them to the ground.

Spring melted the snow.

Floods and rain washed silt over them for another transformation.

See them now, are they still beautiful after changing and aging?

Yes,

Yes they are.

 

 

 

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Patterns

Yesterday I made a visit to the National Botanical Garden and was captivated by the beautiful patterns found in these ferns and other plants.  I couldn't decided on a favorite one so I just uploaded them all.

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New perspective

Some of you may be aware that the USA mid-atlantic coast received record snow this weekend. I have 31 inches of snow at my home in West Virginia. Yesterday while shoveling the fluffy white stuff I stopped and took a moment to take this photo of the chain link fence around the yard. Seeing snow on the fence like this is normal but to have a solid wall of snow in the background is what makes this photo different.

Here is a B&W photo of the steps that I took the day before. A little cropping really changes the perspective and you almost wonder what it is. You can see the uncropped version in the previous blog.

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Ridge and Valley of Snow

These peaks reminded me of the ridge and valley geology of my region.

I took this photo of my steps about mid-day. I think I finally ended up with 2 feet of snow but it felt like 6 feet when I began to dig out. It is very beautiful outside now.

"A good snapshot stops a moment from running away." Eudora Welty

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Polka Dot Farm

I think this is the place where polka dots are grown. They are harvested at this stage when they are at their largest. Next they are died various color, sliced and reduced to more usable sizes and sold to various manufactures. At least that is what I think.  What do you think?

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Natures velcro

Burrs are natures Velcro and a way for some plants species to spread or disperse their seeds to new areas. If any of you have read “The Botany of Desire” by Michael Pollen you are already aware how smart plants can be and those that use burrs are no exception. Some have hooks or teeth that seem to just grab onto you cloths like a deer tick as you walk by. Even while taking this photo I walked away with a few attached to my shirt. I think someone should do a study to see how many burr type plants are at the edges of woodland parking lots because I’m sure I’m not the only one who picks them off my cloths before getting back into my car.

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tree trunk

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Be careful where you sit.

Taken at Rancho Santa Ana Botanical Graden, Claremont, California, November 9, 2009.

Monochrome Weekly

I love the woodsy smell of mushrooms in the fall.

These mushrooms made me think of my community of birding friends,

everyone jockeying for a good position to see fall hawks migrating south.

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Ancient Story

“In every outthrust headland, in every curving beach, in every grain of sand there is a story of the earth.” –Rachel Carson

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Snails Pace

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Connections

"A human being is a part of the whole called by us universe, a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feeling as something separated from the rest, a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty." – Albert Einstein

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Last Days

Photo taken at Sleepy Creek Wildlife Management Area, West Virginia, 4 October 2009

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Happiness of each

Female Mallard

“The world, we are told, was made especially for man — a presumption not supported by all the facts,” Muir wrote. “A numerous class of men are painfully astonished whenever they find anything, living or dead, in all God’s universe, which they cannot eat or render in some way what they call useful to themselves . . . it never seems to occur to these far-seeing teachers that Nature’s object in making animals and plants might possibly be first of all the happiness of each one of them, not the creation of all for the happiness of one. Why should man value himself as more than a small part of the one great unit of creation? And what creature of all the Lord has taken the pains to make is not essential to the completeness of the unity – the cosmos? The universe would be incomplete without man; but it would also be incomplete without the smallest microscopic creature that dwells beyond our conceitful eyes and knowledge.” – John Muir, A Thousand –Mile Walk.


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Morning Mist

Like well-worn soft cotton sheets, the morning mist keeps us covered while we recover from the night’s storm. We can linger in this cool moist place and stay a little longer in our dreams. The mist says not now, holding back the daybreak and demands of the sons of mankind.

Technically mist is the suspension of fine droplets of water in the air near or touching the ground. It is common in cold air, just above warmer water. Yet, somehow it has the power to change our view and to hide our fears until we can face the day. The mist follows the water course, creating corridors for our minds to wander, wonder. Dreamily floating. Too soon the mist is burned off and the wild creatures of our dreams retreat once again to hide, softly in the underbrush of the day’s activities, until the evening when they are safe to return and sip from the streams of the mountains and our dreams yet to be fulfilled.

This is a photo of the Shenandoah River near Charles Town, WV.

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Here is the color version I have included in response to Carolyn's comment.

Click on photo for a larger view.

Bubbles up close

These are bubbles as seen through my compound microscope.

It just goes to show that even the ordinary can look beautiful when looked at closely.

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Sound of a Clear Cut Tree

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Two sides of the same story

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