Library Silhouette

The Place to be on a WInters Day

The Place to be on a Winter’s Day

When it is wet and blowing snow outside, one of the best possible places to take shelter?

The neighborhood library.

Tree Walkers

Reflection in Sugar River

Reflection in Sugar River

Oh to be free of myself,
With nothing left to remember,
To have my heart as bare
As a tree in December;

Resting, as a tree rests
After its leaves are gone,
Waiting no more for a rain at night
Nor for the red at dawn…

~~Sara Teasdale, from “The Tree”

Holding Hands – A Self-Portrait

Holding Hands with Nature

Holding Hands with Nature

On the most basic of levels, this is a photograph of overlapping leaves that I took using a Lensbaby Composer. But when I saw the photograph, it seemed to be much more than a few leaves, it seemed to be another one of those self-portraits I occasionally take that aren’t an actual self-portrait, but a metaphorical portrait of self.

I look at this and see a photograph of holding hands. And I make the connection. I hold hands with nature when I am out in nature, sometimes taking photographs, sometimes hiking or camping, in lots of ways, in close relationship with the natural world.

Orchids in Pink and White

Phae

Phalaenopsis Orchid – the Moth Orchid

This Wisconsin winter hasn’t been all that bad. Really. Even though we’ve had a fair amount of snow and a week or so of frigid weather, we are halfway through January and the days are growing noticeably longer. Today the temps climbed into the 30s. Even so, I was in the mood for a place warmer than 30˚, so I visited the warmest, greenest place I easily drive to  – the Bolz Conservatory in Madison’s Olbrich Botanical Gardens.

Ahhh! Tropical mist, lots of green plants, birds chirping in the background, a tiny waterfall trickling down a stone outcropping, orange and white koi swimming in the meandering water and . . . dozens of orchids. Nearly paradise!

I sat quietly on an out-of-the-way bench for the first half hour and let the misty atmosphere seep into my body, mind, and soul. Then I got out my camera gear and took photos for an hour – the first photos I’ve taken in a week.

I shoot almost every day, so a week away from the camera is unusual for me. All that greenery and warmth got me going again. A good thing.

Blue Evening

Black Earth Wisconsin

Black Earth Wisconsin

It was a blue evening for several reasons.

Reason one. Within ten minutes of the sun’s disappearance below the horizon, the sky had turned a blue shade and the snow seemed to pick up a blue reflection. Yes, definitely a blue evening.

Second reason. It was shivery cold outside, and I had half of my shooting hand uncovered so I could turn and adjust all those camera knobs and thingamajigs. My thumb and first finger turned an ugly shade of blue and throbbed with a rather angry pulsation for a good hour after I had suitably warmed them. And I swear, the thermometer said it was only 14˚F, not nearly cold enough to begin applying extreme methods during my photo-shooting forays in and out of the car.

Third, I was blessed to have my three children home for at least a part of the holidays, and it is lovely to interact with them as young adults, and to see them enthusiastically enjoy each other’s company. But this was the night of goodbyes, and these goodbyes added a bit of the blues to end of my day.

And, reason four, even though I repeatedly tell myself it is way too early to be developing a bad case of the winter blues, I appear not to be listening to myself. Maybe I need a vacation in, say, a desert clime, or some other such place that evokes  feelings of warmth and well-being. I’m thinking loudly to myself on that idea!