Bare Naked Trees

November Continues

November Continues

Pheasant Branch Conservancy, in Middleton, the city just north of Madison, contains a marsh with open water, springs, prairies, meadows, lowland forest, and wooded hills. These various habitats sustain a wide variety of plants and animals, including some that are threatened or endangered. Although surrounded on three sides by urban development, the conservancy provides a quiet refuge for bird-watchers, nature enthusiasts, and wayward photographers – lost in a fog!

Lake and Pier in November Fog

Lake Mendota

Lake Mendota

Madison was fogged in today, but it wasn’t my best day for photography. Early this morning, with the fog swirling around the second story window of my studio, I removed the screen from the window. Then I preset my camera and set it up on the tripod for a skyward shot. Hundreds of Canada Geese have been flying past my window several times a day, and with the fog as a background, I thought I’d take advantage of this photo op. When I heard the honking, I sprang into action, but in my hurry to get the window cranked open, I forgot -sigh!  -to remove the lens cover. By the time I realized my error, I missed the moment of the flyover.

The day doesn’t get much better. I went to Lake Mendota and shot a few photographs of the fogged-in lake, then drove to a prairie about a half hour from my home. The fog had settled into a crevice, and hovered magically over the gap. I walked in to get some shots. I had only taken four photos when my battery, without warning, died. No problem. I always carry a second battery, but when I searched my camera bagg – no battery. By this time, my hands were cold, and I was gettting a bit cranky, so I chalked the day up to bad karma, and headed home.

Once home, I again searched for the missing battery – and found it right where it was supposed to be. IN my camera bag!

Yep, one of THOSE days!

John and Ruth Pew House, A Frank Lloyd Wright Design

On the Shore of Lake Mendota

On the Shore of Lake Mendota in Madison

The Pew House, designed by Frank Lloyd Wright and built in 1938-40, is seldom available for public tours, so it was with great enthusiasm that I explored this home, inside and outside, during the Wright and Like Tour held last June. Even dodging rain drops for most of the day didn’t dampen the spirit of the day. It was a good day for photographs – no bright mid-day sun – but the home is positioned neatly over a ravine on the shores of Lake Mendota, and taking any kind of photos requires gymnastics and compromises. To get a lake view, I hiked down the path towards the dock, but could never really take a photograph that truly captures the lines and beauty of this structure. There simply wasn’t enough space to get a photo of the entire home, even with my wide angle lens, and vegetation partly hides the part of the home I was able to shoot.

Hidden from View

Hidden from View, Lake Side

Not much of a view from the dock, or from Lake Mendota. The view from a boat would give you no clue that a Wright home was tucked into this hillside.

The home is a two-story Usonian design, unusual but delightfully compact and full of Wright’s built-ins. In one of the small bedrooms, tiny in size, the room worked well because everything was built into the room – bed, desk, storage. No photos were allowed of the interior of the house, but it is full of charm typical of Wright’s style.

I read a delightful story about an interview with Ruth Pew who voiced unhappiness with the home for the first two years she lived there. It seems she felt that Mr. Wright did not take her wants and needs into consideration when he designed the home, and she was nearly ready to put the home on the market. Instead, she decided she would “give the house a year without struggling with it.” And in that year, she discovered that the home had been built not for the woman she was, but for “the woman I could become.” Talk about self-discovery!

View from Deck into Living Room

View from Deck into Living Room

The Pew House is referred to as a “poor man’s Fallingwater,” because it was built straddling a ravine (instead of Fallingwater’s stream) and on a tight budget with salvaged materials. According to a docent on the tour, one of the windows in the living room had to be replaced because the faint logo of a local establishment became evident after the house was inhabited.

The Wright and Like Tours are held annually, in a different Midwest city, each June. 2010’s tour will be in Racine, Wisconsin. If you are a Wright fan, it’s a great opportunity to see a half dozen or so buildings designed by Wright and his contemporaries.

November Afternoon

Browns and Blue

Browns and Blue

Though I’m not quite ready for the snows to come, I’m wearying of brown in all its many variations. It’s nice enough with a dose of sunshine and blue skies, but already I am missing the bright colors that were in the gardens only a few weeks ago. And now snow is predicted for Wednesday, just in time to cause Thanksgiving travel woes.

The Last of the Asters

Final Bit of Fall Color

Final Bit of Fall Color

I was out exploring the local Arboretum, simply to see what I could see. In all the many layers of November browns, there was this bit of color – one last stand of Purple Asters  still sporting a few blossoms of bright purples and yellows.