The Dawn Redwood

When Liz was here we took a drive to Bailey Arboretum, in Locust Valley which is nearby.  We wandered around the grounds and visited the collection of rescued owls and raptors at the Volunteers for Wildlife center.  After we had been there for a while, I happened to discover this tree which is just magnificent.  Turns out that it is a "Dawn redwood."  The story of this tree is amazing!  This species was thought to be extinct for 200 million years, until a small stand was discovered in China during World War II.  In 1948 Harvard University sent an expedition to bring back seedlings and gave several to Mr. Bailey, who had a reputation for being able to grow anything.  This tree is one of the more than 20 magnificent Dawn Redwoods that can be found at Bailey Arboretum.  At 90 feet, it is one of the tallest of it's kind.  I photographed this trunk for about 20 minutes and didn't feel that I had quite gotten the shot.  Then the sun went behind a cloud, and the diffuse light was perfect!  This is far more striking in black & white than it was in color.

Flooded Cornfield

So yesterday's landscape photos were a bit bleak, and maybe even creepy, so here is a more beautiful landscape.  I was headed down a back road on the way to a meeting, and saw the long shadows from the setting sun on the grass first.   I thought of stopping and then the flooded field flashed by and I jammed on the brakes!  We had rain for several days and then today we had some thunderstorms come through with heavy rain, that flooded this cornfield.  It was the reflection of the white fence that really grabbed me.  I like that this is both beautiful and unusual.

Sunken Meadow State Park

I mentioned that I was on the way to Sunken Meadow State Park on the north shore of Long Island last week.  It was raining off and on, with beautiful gray skies.  After I got my stargazing permit, I grabbed my camera and an umbrella and headed over to the wetlands.  With no leaves on the trees it felt as if the dramatic silhouettes of the tree trunks were what the picture is all about.  The picture below is interesting to me in a different way, and it is hard to explain it's attraction for me.  Perhaps it looks like a tree root, rather than a branch.  Sometimes these things just feel right.

IFR on the LIE

When it was raining cats and dogs all day last Friday, I had to drive out to Sunken Meadow State Park because it was the last day I could buy a Stargazer's permit for 2017.  I should have made the trip on a nice day, but I only remembered at the last minute.  Driving on the LIE - the Long Island Expressway - reminded me of flying IFR - by "instrument flight rules" when you can't see where you are going while flying in the clouds, and have to rely on instruments.

FaceTime From New York to California

This is Liz and Pam and Amelia in the kitchen.  They are having a FaceTime session with Sarah, who is in Los Angeles.  Pam has never met Sarah, so they got to meet on FaceTime for the first time.  They were having such a good time, and laughing as they talked.  I also shot this photo of Sarah as seen on Liz' phone.  This was really fun for us to watch!

Portrait of Amelia

I mentioned in yesterday's post that Liz' friend Pam, and her daughter Amelia came to visit for the day and for dinner.  At one point Amelia decided to go exploring and I saw her doing some climbing in the Japanese maple tree so I went out to take a photo. So here she is sitting in my favorite tree.  Time for a portrait!

The Birthday Girl!

Yesterday, March 31 was Liz' birthday!  The three of us went out to dinner to celebrate.  Today her long time friend Pam came to visit with her daughter Amelia - more on that in another post.  We had a wonderful dinner, and an amazing dessert.  The dessert is in the foreground. Kathy made a jelly roll made up of a thin vanilla cake rolled around a layer of mascarpone, and then covered with European chocolate icing.  Then a bit of white frosting was drizzled on the top!  Man oh man!  A wonderful celebration and an astounding feast!