Straight Lines?

17 October, 202118 October, 2021 / Pat / 20 Comments

Tahquamenon Falls, Michigan’s Upper Peninsula

I love boardwalks for two reasons. First, they allow me to get deeper into nature’s beauty without the danger of falling due to uneven ground, tree roots, rocks, etc. Second, I love how they are made of pieces of lumber that form straight lines, but still their structure has lots of dips and zags and turns with surprises.

The Audubon Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary has a 2.25-mile boardwalk that meanders through pine flatwood, wet prairie, around a marsh, and finally into the largest old-growth bald cypress forest in North America. Can you follow these straight lines? Something like walking the straight center line while being falling-down-drunk.

I love this type of boardwalk (above and below) that is a great alternative to walking on soft, shifting sands. From this perspective you can tell which alternative I actually chose.

Sleeping Bear Dunes on the shore of Lake Michigan, Michigan’s Lower Peninsula.

I love the pattern of straight lines that crisscross the “straight line” of the boardwalk path.

Along the Lower Santa Fe River at Blue Spring, central Florida

Central Florida is noted for its many springs bubbling up from the underground limestone aquafer. Many people, all of them young, were choosing to walk up the shallow river in the 72 degree (constant) water. They saw the wonders of the spring water up close but I chose the boardwalk even though it seemed a bit unstable, triggering my height anxiety occasionally. The straight boards shoring it up didn’t seem to increase my confidence in its safety, but my desire to explore the beauty of this unique landscape pushed me forward.

Thanks, Cee, for presenting this challenge of “Straight Lines” that gave me a chance to meander through my maze of files (in my brain and computer) looking for examples of boardwalks.

Sunset in Blue

26 July, 202126 July, 2021 / Pat / 5 Comments

The month of “blue” is coming to a close and soon Jude will provide us with a new color for her Life in Color Photography Challenge. I happened across this photo in my files, taken with my previous Olympus point & shoot, a bit of time ago. I find it an interesting composition of typical sunset colors and blue.

Comfortable Being in Place & Time

5 April, 201930 October, 2019 / Pat / 10 Comments

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My visit to the Naples Botanical Garden on this recent morning had a different feel to it – I was in a strange state of mind that I am struggling to define. I very seldom head for the garden with an agenda, that I’m going to photograph landscapes or succulents or textures. The morning and the garden speak to me, and I listen. I allow areas or scenes to pull me in, to pique my imagination, to challenge my creative desires.

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I was feeling a lot of body fatigue that made me want to find a bench to sit and wait for life to come to me, maybe even pass me by. Instead my mind was captivated by the unique colors and creative lighting at the lily pond.

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The light defined what was important to photograph. The flowers I have seen before appeared different, and the single water flower floating high above the water was impossible to ignore. I felt the earth stretching and yawning as the sun rose above the surrounding trees.

The color, texture and composition of these lily pads displayed an aging beauty in the soft morning light. The water surface laid still from lack of a breeze, not able to compete for textural attention.

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Maybe what I saw reflected the fatigue in my body, but the flowers seemed to be slow to reach out to the sun. There seemed to be no urgency. All the flowers and foliage appeared to be comfortable just being in time and place.

How silly of me to assign human thought and motive to plant material. We frequently see ourselves, project our own thoughts and emotions onto what we see. Maybe all that I am saying about the garden on this morning is really what I was experiencing in my mind and body.

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When I left the lily pond, I decided to walk along the path between the formal garden and the lake in the natural garden. My desired destination was the benches along this walk, I still felt the need to be still. My reward was watching an egret fishing for some morning morsels. When I moved on to another bench, I watched a tri-colored heron preening and warming in the morning sun.

I didn’t spend as much time in the garden as is usual, and I even passed by the cafe where I normally stop for a scone and ginger limeade. We were between house guests and I knew I better watch calories because our guests want to make the most of their vacations and Naples is a phenomenal place for eating out. After close to a month of visitors my waist and tummy have responded.

I have missed that special culinary treat in the garden cafe so next time I’m going to indulge. For this visit, what I treasure is being comfortable just being in time and place as I photographed the garden.