Impressionist Autumn

Impressionist Autumn

Impression of Autumn © 2008 Bo Mackison

I spend much of my photography time working to get detail-sharp photographs. But Saturday we were driving in the country when we came upon eight sandhill cranes strutting about in a just-harvested cornfield, feeding on the leftovers. I had my camera in my lap, but wasn’t planning on taking any shots, so though I clicked away, I didn’t have enough time to change the manual settings.

When I checked the photos, sure enough, all the cranes were a bit out of focus. Even though I had focused on the birds, they weren’t exactly posing still for me. They were busy fluttering, and pecking corn from the ground, and nudging each other. But I noticed the trees in the background and was drawn to their impressionist style. So I did a rather drastic crop.

Couldn’t pass up the opportunity to share, even though my husband, now a Photo Sherpa with a year of experience behind him, informed me that the photo wasn’t in focus.

I know.

I still like it.

Beauty of the Earth

Fern © 2008 Bo Mackison

Those who contemplate the beauty of the earth find reserves of strength that will endure as long as life lasts. There is something infinitely healing in the repeated refrains of nature – the assurance that dawn comes after night, and spring after winter. 
~ Rachel Carson

 

Not Your Ordinary Travel Journal

Solitary Tree

Solitary Tree in Iowa © 2008 Bo Mackison

As we drove the roads guiding us westward earlier this fall, I scribbled thoughts into my journal as they passed fleetingly through my mind. I’m sometimes fascinated, and a little disconcerted, at what I choose to document for future consideration. Here is a sampling of the notes from the beginning of the trip, as we began in Wisconsin and headed west towards Denver.

“West of Des Moines the country grows drier, though surprising to me, it has a distinct roly-poly-ness, rather like a split-second capture of grassy waves.”

There is a Las Vegas in Nebraska. Now what would the Spanish translation be for las vegas?” (I later Google the word and find it means “the meadows” – understandable, I suppose, in Nebraska, but does the Las Vegas in Nevada really have meadows?)

“Thirty miles west of Des Moines, the land suddenly flattens, the plains appear and seem to be infinite. I-80 narrows, in anticipation of less traffic. Suddenly it feels really out west.”

“I’m hungry. What I’d really like is a toasted pimento cheese sandwich. Craving a toasted pimento cheese sandwich. Really craving!”

“There is a town in Nebraska called Republican City. I wonder how many people living there are Democrats.” (Research tells me it is the only so named city in the world, named for the Republican River, not the Republican Party, but I haven’t been able to determine the percentage of citizens who are registered Republicans versus Democrats.)

There are sandhills in western Nebraska. I didn’t know there were sandhills here. Is there sandhill country like this in other places in the United States? In the world?” (Again, later that day I Google sandhills. I rely on the source of all sources, Wikipedia, to inform me that there are sandhill regions not only in Nebraska, but also in the Carolinas. I learn the Nebraska sandhills are the largest and most intricate wetland ecosystem in the United States, and never having been farmed, it is an intact eco-system with huge diversity. Wow! Way to go, Nebraska! Apparently the less fortunate Carolinas’ sandhills have been domesticated, and seem most famous for their golf courses.

“Came upon the first of many cattle feedlots as we approach the Colorado border. Horrifying. How can this be tolerated?”

“Such noticeable changes as we pass through the states – in Wisconsin and Iowa there were prairie wildflowers growing on the roadsides. In Nebraska, lots of tall, brown dried grasses. Now that we are in Colorado, there is a mix of sagebrush interspersed with the clumps of grasses.”

Such were my musings from Wisconsin through Iowa and Nebraska and finally into Colorado.

It re-affirms my daily task of journaling. These aren’t the kinds of things I would easily recall, nothing very noteworthy, but they add a little more dimension to the trip. They give me the opportunity to research and follow up on questions I might otherwise leave unanswered. And who knows what kind of inspiration they may provide in the future. Never can tell what kind of inspiration I may draw from a toasted pimento cheese sandwich!


A Halloween Treat

Good Enough to Eat

Yummy! Taffy Apples ©2008 Bo Mackison

Anyone remember (you know – back in the good ol’ days) when homemade goodies were the norm for Halloween treating. I wasn’t allowed to wander too far in my trick-or-treating adventures – just a few neighbors and relatives – but I always came home with taffy apples, orange food-colored popcorn balls, and caramels fresh from someone’s kitchen. Yum!

The Red Maple Tree Vs. The Gusty Winds

Red Maple

Red Maple ©2008 Bo Mackison

A few days ago I spent a long part of the day watching the outside from my window. Framed, there stood my red maple, not a big tree, but not small either. We planted it a decade ago, and maybe then it was 8 feet tall. Now it’s as tall as our two story house.

It was a gloomy day and the wind was twisting the tree every which way. Hard wind, gusty. Gray skies – a taste of what’s soon to come. The darn tree just stood there, and took all nature had to blow her way. Didn’t drop a leaf. Not one. I watched as the leaves all clung tight. I watched that tree for hours – it was that kind of day.

Yesterday the sun was bright, the skies blue and there was barely a whisper of breeze. As I looked at the tree, not a leaf was even rustling. The sun glistened on the leaves, highlighting their cinnamony-red color, and it was quite the resplendent image. But not for long. The leaves began to drop like crazy, gently twirling into a big pile at the foot of the tree.

Was nature offering me a teaching moment? What to make of the fact that with it so beautiful and quiet – now it was time for the tree to start shedding her finery?

Maybe earlier I needed to see an example of strength (the tree holding tight to her leaves) versus adversity (the high winds.)

And yesterday, the time was right to watch the leaves just let go and fall.

Life’s lessons are all around us, if we only pay attention.