In memory of trees

This was the year of the tree for me.

When I think about 2012 I think about Yesterday Today and Tomorrow and how often I watched the branches of the trees that held those owls. 

I think about the old crabapple tree in Long Island where the songbirds lived. Those branches held the lives of woodpeckers, blue jays, cardinals, chickadees, tufted titmouse, goldfinches, wrens and sparrows.

 I think about the tree limbs overhanging the pond during the changing of the leaves and the beautiful reflections that developed.

I think about the old mossy leaning trees, living with one foot in and one foot out along the Ausable river in the Adirondack Mountains.

I think of Grandma's woods, the ivy covered floor and the screeching of the herons nesting in the limbs, flying from one to the next. 

And I hear the wind blowing through the palm fronds and see the air plants reaching out of their trunks.

With all of these memories I'm also reminded how grateful I am for what is in the now, because everyone of those memories must remain only that. Those trees are either gone altogether or have changed in some profound way. Mother Nature has had her way....

But this image is telling me a story. What is and what can be. Take special notice of the details and remember that what is off in the distance and out of focus may hold the most promise.

I am ready for 2013

Merry Christmas everyone!

a wing and a prayer

Silent night, holy night, all is calm, all is bright...

a little birdie told me so

Hark the Herald, angels sing, glory to the newborn king........

How'd you like my song?

memories

Tis the season to take extra good care of each other.

a natural palette

There were simple clear patterns that came and went on the beach as the tidal waves advanced on the sand, and in the sky there were graphically beautiful patterns that the pelicans made as they flew overhead, a hundred of them at one time. But behind me the clouds were simply amazing, I loved the way the light filtered through the clouds. 

flight delayed

I'm having a good rest, pruning my tail feathers for future flights, but for now consider me happily grounded.

disappearing blue

The sunset on Long Island Sound

in the pink

A world inside another world. This droplet just hung there on a september morning reflecting my garden back to me.

bottoms up

Dig deep, there are lots of goodies down there..

breath in

Wouldn't you love to throw your face inside this peony and take a long deep breath.

fallen times

Another tree fell in our backyard, it went quietly, just split in half and shared its trunk in two directions. One half is in the woods and the other on our lawn, just trying to share its wealth with the wildlife that has been finding refuge in these branches. The birds I feed have lost their old crabapple branches since that tree has been dragged away and cut into wood chips. Now they have a new place to investigate with this latest tree on the ground. I hope these fallen times end soon, my heart can't take it. 

a dog's life

What?! Where are you going, I just got here! Why are you leaving, can I come? Geeze these birds are no fun. What the heck, where's my ball, wait a minute, where are my people... My paws are getting a little wet and I think I'll go home and have a cookie.

turn inward

We have so much to be thankful for. Happy Thanksgiving everyone.

end of a day

Sunset, high tide, intense colors, simply awesome.

I feel like I went on vacation.

sunset

Another chasing the light situation. This was the sunset the night we had all of the snow just after Sandy. It was all orange and pink and the line up of trees was a testament to the power left in those standing trees.

dawn of a new day

This Long Island view reminds me of that early morning image I took in the Smokie mountains. There is something about the stark trees against the emerging  colors that draws me in. I love standing in the dark, waiting for the revealing light of day. 

more than the eye can see

I love this path. There is so much happening here, the border of dried grasses, the mossy tree limbs, the leaning trees heavy with fall color, and especially the footpath cushioned with crunchy and saturated leaves. The path invites me to follow and when I do it gently bends to the right and opens onto another Scottish vista filled with a stream, woods and an old bench to sit upon.

A single contemplation

And then we got 5 inches of snow! 

Above and Below

I have always been very connected to trees. I feel in some way that they have old souls. They stand so tall that we often forget to look all the way up to the top. Actually it bothers my neck and I'm afraid I'll fall over backwards, so lying down on my back helps. I love to spend time there, especially with a grandchild tucked under my wing, looking for birds and blue bits of sky through the canopy of leaves. The top of trees is a far away place where we seldom go, so its nice to carve out a bit of "lying in the grass" time.

But when I saw those trees piled on top of each other, something piled up in me too. All those old souls had given up. They were beaten down, confused and crumpled every which way. They had lost their way. Their roots were torn from the earth and exposed to the light of day. An upturned wall of hidden resources that had nourished a tree for so many long years. A view I wish I did not have to witness. Those roots were meant to be hidden, growing under my feet, not left vulnerable to the world.

The trunks of the trees were so enormous I couldn't climb over them. When I tried I was reminded of the immense weight of them. The immovable mass of tree, the core of it all.

It's one thing to see two or three fallen trees in the woods, I see them in the Adirondack Mountains on my hikes. But this is different, so other worldly, so violent, so sad. 

Around forty trees in a two acre area are down.

And they all fell around a woman who lived in her house, who is about the same age as those trees. They all weathered the storm together. She survived, the trees did not. Their shared vista has changed forever. The trees will eventually be sawed and chopped and shredded and burned and eventually forgotten. But the old woman in the house will not forget them. They were part of her world, they held her memories, sheltered her family, protected and nourished the birds she fed. They watched over the little house on the hill.

I never knew how much I loved those trees until I lost them. 

taken a turn

There has been a sharp turn on the trail, very little is familiar, the landscape has changed. My backpack doesn't have everything I need so I will have to improvise. The trees are speaking out and I can barely listen. But we are thankful for this bit of tree that is keeping us warm in a world that got cold really fast.

look who blew in...

I believe this is a juvenile coopers hawk. It landed in our little dahoon holly tree in our Florida backyard. I think all of the winds have upset everyone including this little guy. He stayed for awhile, mostly looking to the sky, kind of in shock, as if he didn't know what just happened to him. After my experience with our great horned owls last season I am particularly sensitive to young birds. He sat in the crotch of the tree. When I went to find him later he was gone. 

happy to be here

We flew at 43,000 feet and thank heavens for that as we were in the blue so to speak, or is that in the pink.... Whatever. When we descended it was bumpy of course, we could see the remains of Sandy as it left the Florida coast to find it's way to the northeast. The sky was crowded with greys and whites and bits of blue.

But we landed uneventfully and I headed for the beach with my camera. I sat in the wet sand with leaves flying all around me and shorebirds everywhere.They had probably been waiting for the break in the wind to feed. I must have changed lens 4 times in the calm of the back seat of the car. It was wild out there, I was impressed with the waves. This image was taken with a fast shutter speed. I was trying to show the power of the ocean, can you feel it?

transitions

This image was taken last year on the west coast of Florida. I just found it in my files because it tells a story for me. We were meant to fly this morning but the winds were too strong for a safe landing so we have postponed until tomorrow. So today I went looking for the light and found this little gem. 

Apparently we are all in transition.

Luminosity

I'm going to be a light follower. This is my newest endeavor, where it goes I shall go. I'm going to let go of my own direction and go where this light takes me. This of course means that I'm going to be getting up earlier and staying out later and running after bad weather. I wish this light didn't affect me so profoundly because other wise I could just stay in bed later with my coffee and Tully in the morning.....

Having a berry good time

The sky was so blue and the red berries so juicy that the robins and the chipmunks were having a feast. 

But this guy is a mystery to me, do you know who he might be? At first I thought he might be a juvenile robin because the tree was inundated with robins. Now I'm guessing a European Starling. I think he is beautiful. 

Below is an image of our typical robin. They are master berry catchers. 

Getting ready

Check out the cheeks.

beautiful

Asters

at Planting Fields

A fallen dance

This is what I brought back from my walk this morning. My friend Elizabeth and I agree that it looks like a praying mantis dancing the rhumba with feathers. Do you see it?

hybiscus

Bringing in the last of the garden.

Happy Birthday

Grace turns four! Balloons and dolls are a wonderful way to celebrate life. 

black and white

Foggy morning, void of color, all about waiting and watching and composing.

a little tree and the woods

I love this image. It was taken at Cades Cove in the Smoky Mts. Our teacher, Bill Lea, helped us see the light.

 Later that morning we walked quietly in the woods without the camera. Although we were hoping to see black bear we joined a white tailed deer buck who was busy leaving his scent on the tree limbs. His antlers were impressive. It always feels wonderful to be in the quiet of the woods.

Daytime night herons

Another rainy foggy day. I drove to the Mill Neck Causeway to see the birds feeding in the muck of low tide. I was not disappointed. Lots of herons and ducks and egrets, just beautiful. Just before leaving the monochromatic tidal area I checked on the black crowned night herons who live in this tree. The juveniles were together under the tree where mom was sitting. I love the way they are tucked into all the fall color.

past prime

I worked pretty hard today on my computer, it was rainy and kind of depressing out there. Tully kept stretching herself on my chair begging for a break. Lots of intermittent walks to keep both of us awake. I took a walk in the garden and lifted the last of the nasturtiums in my hand. They were cold and beginning to fold upon themselves. I brought them into the warmth of the kitchen and recorded their last moments....

a little later

This was taken 10 minutes after the sunrise image on my previous blog entry. I just changed my point of view and saw this soft foggy flow moving through these beautiful mountains. It's not often that we get to stand above the mountain tops while the sun is finding it's way to us.

very early morning

It's been ten days of silence from me. My last post was a sunset so it seems appropriate to begin again with this sunrise. 

I have returned from a wonderful photography trip to the Savannah area and then the Smoky Mountains. You can guess where this was taken. I have been slightly overwhelmed with my images, as there are over 900 of them and I'm having a hard time deciding where to begin. I am continuing to study the light and this trip gave me lots of opportunities to experiment with it. Now it's time for post processing in Lightroom....

choices

While giving Tully a bath in the kitchen sink in the middle of the day I witnessed a sky that was really unusual, it looked like this but in white and blue. And there tucked in the clouds was a little rainbow. It was either finish washing a very wet dog or run and get my camera.

 I chose the dog. 

So of course I was in the car at the beach waiting for the sunset that evening. It was beautiful, and worth the wait. Clean dry dog, and a beautiful image. I'll get the rainbow another day.....

Off to Savannah tomorrow and then photography trip to the Smoky Mountains. 

a soulful tune

The wind is singing outside my studio window, I mean really, it's singing. Its a sorrowful sound, the melody is simple, a triple up and then back down. Every once in a while it expands to four or five notes and then settles down again. I have no idea what is vibrating to create this soulful tune, but I don't care, I love it. 

I wonder what is happening in the dahlia garden at Planting Fields. These beauties on purple necks must be blowing in a frenzy on this windy afternoon. 

There will be no photographing them today.

POV

I was working on my point of view, no not an opinion, but where I place myself before I shoot the subject. I moved around till I got the woods behind this fist size dahlia and worked some magic with my 200 mm lens. Quite a serious looking portrait of today and tomorrow don't you think?

petals

Petals touch each other, young bright pinks and softly faded yesterdays.

a wave hello

I hope I'm not boring you with these dahlias but I haven't spotted a bobcat or an owl or some exciting bird behavior so the dahlias will have to do for now. My afternoon fix continues, more to come.....