Don't Try This at Home

This is NOT how you build a woodpile! Do not, under any circumstances try this at your house! My grandfather, at the farm in Connecticut knew how to stack wood, certainly, and I hate to think of what he would think seeing what his grandson has done. Yikes. There are some skills in life that at first glance seem simple, but in fact are quite complex and require a great deal of skill. Building a stone wall, for instance is not simple at all - it requires great skill, if the wall is to last. A woodpile is not as complex, but it does require skill. Our neighbor had an old dogwood tree that was felled by the hurricane. So I went over with my chainsaw, and cut it up into pieces, and then started stacking it - but without thinking. This is the mess that resulted. I should have planned better.

Microclimate

So this photograph was taken the day before the single leaf photo. I was grinding my way up this mile-long hill the next town over, on my bike ride, and suddenly was dazzled by this blast of color in the light of the setting sun. I couldn't believe that with hardly a leaf on my street, these trees seemed fully leafed out. I am guessing it is a "microclimate." According to Wikipedia: "A microclimate is a local atmospheric zone where the climate differs from the surrounding area. The term may refer to areas as small as a few square feet (for example a garden bed) or as large as many square miles." So I am guessing that's why this street has leaves, and mine doesn't.

The Last Leaf

This one is definitely a keeper, isn't it? I went out looking for a picture to go with the Robert Frost poem yesterday. I started with my favorite Japanese Maple tree just beyond the front porch. There were dark gray limbs wet from the rain, and little drops of water acting as lenses added bright accents to the scene. So I spent some time looking for compositions that were dark and gray. And then I came around to this limb, and nearly dropped my camera! I couldn't believe my luck - this one brilliant yellow leaf, all by itself against the dark tree limb. Wow! What a thrill! It's really magical, isn't it? Please be sure to click on it to see a larger version.

"My November Guest"

It was cold and rainy today, and when I went outdoors this morning and felt the cold and saw the gray sky, the first thing I thought of was Robert Frost's Poem, "My November Guest."

 My Sorrow, when she’s here with me,
 Thinks these dark days of autumn rain
 Are beautiful as days can be;
 She loves the bare, the withered tree;

 She walks the sodden pasture lane.
 Her pleasure will not let me stay.
 She talks and I am fain to list:
 She’s glad the birds are gone away,

 She’s glad her simple worsted gray
 Is silver now with clinging mist.
 The desolate, deserted trees,
 The faded earth, the heavy sky,

 The beauties she so truly sees,
 She thinks I have no eye for these,
 And vexes me for reason why.
 Not yesterday I learned to know

 The love of bare November days
 Before the coming of the snow,
 But it were vain to tell her so,
 And they are better for her praise.

When I Was a Kid...

When I was a kid there were always pine cones around. A number of large trees were lined up along the road behind our house, and we walked by them on the way to school. My sisters and I always picked them up, and brought them home. Funny thing is, I can't remember what we did with them. Our mom used some of them for Christmas decorations, if I remember correctly. Anyhow, when we were at Pat & Bethany's up in Massachusetts I walked under the trees in the back yard, and there were pine needles all over the ground, and these beautiful pine cones. I love the scent of them, of course, but I love how magnificently they are constructed. They are such beautiful objects.

Do Over...

So I kept thinking about the choice I made of the photo of Karen's garden bench. When I chose the first version of the scene, I was thinking about the object itself - the bench. But the more I thought about it, I realized that perhaps the more interesting photograph was the bench as seen in its surroundings. I think this photograph is more interesting because you can get a better sense of where the bench is. The boulders in the background add more interest, AND the light is more interesting as well. I should tell you that I photographed this scene first when there were patches of sunlight on the scene. I shot both close and wide. Then I waited an hour or so, and photographed the scene again, in softer light, both close and wide. So I think this is the best photo. Many times I will photograph a scene like this, over a period of time, and I am always trying different compositions. So help me out here - is this the better photograph?

Red All Over

I found this scene near the top of the hill, as I was just starting out on my bike ride, late in the afternoon. It was so amazing to see, that I screeched my bike to a halt to photograph it! I couldn't quite believe the scene - there is one Japanese Maple tree, and its leaves are covering everything. There is red everywhere! It took some experimenting to come up with the best composition - I think this is it. It was such an unusual sight that I still can't quite believe it. Please click on the image, so you can see it larger, and without the right side cropped off.