The Way of November

The Way of November © 2010 Bo Mackison

A few days ago the burning bush near my front door was alive with deep red hues, colors leaping brightly about in the winds, an aura of reds. The bush was living up to its name.

Yesterday, only a few leaves remained, now pale in color – the color sucked from the fragile leaves.

That is the way of November.

Austere Beauty – Seedheads in the Tallgrass Prairie

Austere Beauty © 2010 Bo Mackison

Taking photographs in the tallgrass prairie, I lose my way.

No path survives for long in the thicknesses of these stalks — Big Bluestem, Little Bluestem, Indiangrass.

Stop. Listen. Look.

Take a few deep breaths and I push my way west, through the dry grasses, towards the glare of the sun.

Prairie flowers, their skeletons, some are standing erect, waving in the late autumn breezes. Some are bent in an arc. Some stems poke sharply, broken in half by the unrelenting winds.

All are in waiting.

Waiting to take cover under the flurries of an early snow. Dried flowers linger on the tallest of stems, aglow, back lit by the setting sun.

Austere beauty.

Prairie View, Macro Style

Prairie View, Macro Style © 2010 Bo Mackison

Sun low on the horizon. Just before it drops from my view, it casts its golden light on a tiny bit of this remnant prairie. Still autumn on the prairie.

Dancing on the Prairie

Dancing on the Prairie © 2010 Bo Mackison

Photographed just before sunset, the prairie’s flowery remnants were all dancing in the evening breeze.

Yellowstone, Redux – Castle Geyser Reflection

Castle Geyser Reflections © 2010 Bo Mackison

Castle Geyser is in the Old Faithful Complex of Yellowstone National Park, a half mile walk from the Old Faithful Inn. I say “walk” and not hike because the trail is paved for bikers and is wheelchair accessible. (2.4 miles worth of great scenery is accessible t0 all — I applaud the efforts of the National Park Service to make at least portions of the parks available to all who want to visit.)

Sounds busy, but on a mid-week day in October we nearly had the place to ourselves once we left Old Faithful’s crowds behind.

I thought Castle Geyser was quite lovely, but the dozen or so people I spoke with while I was gazing, enamored with this sinter cone, were quite peeved that this thermal formation wasn’t performing up to expectations. Seems Castle Geyser used to be one of the regular guys. It would erupt explosively every 13 hours, give or take a few minutes, spouting one hundred feet in the air, and then steam for 30 to 45 minutes. For its final act, it would emit what was described to me by another passerby as a “thrilling, contralto roar”.

I cannot verify any of those facts. Castle Geyser puffed prettily for me, steamy and hot, and dribbled bubbly water that overflowed the lip of the cone. But there was no massive eruption. No thrilling roar. Only evidence that something was amiss was the mysterious sign, hand-lettered by a park employee, saying, “Future eruptions–unreliable.”

As I was photographing this scene, several other shooters waved me on, telling me not to bother. Well, I quite liked this “unreliable” geyser, fashioned from geyserite parts, some that are a thousand years old. It did rather look like a medieval castle, partly under attack and in (unseen) flames, and its run-off provided a great reflection of a perfect October sky.

Maybe by now Castle Geyser has its internal plumbing fixed and it is once more spouting on schedule. Though I liked it fine the way it was.