Foggy Walk
It is not the clear-sighted who rule the world. Great achievements are accomplished in a blessed, warm fog. ~ Joseph Conrad
I’ve been walking in a blessed, warm fog, thanks to a persistent weather pattern. But there is beauty wherever I look, and gratefulness for the opportunity to walk in this world, foggy or not.
Beginning of a Snowstorm © 2012 Bo Mackison
Reading about nature is fine, but if a person walks in the woods and listens carefully he can learn even more. ~ George Washington Carver
The snow predictions were right on target. Yesterday morning at this time it had just begun to snow. Now there are six inches of snow covering the ground. I went out early yesterday, about an hour after the storm whipped into Madison. In the thick of this hardwood grove, there was the silence of nature. Nothing much to hear, unless I stopped and stood still. And listened. And waited.
The snow pelted the ground without sound, but vibrated the pile of oak leaves still attached to their branch. I heard what sounded like the breath of the wind blowing gently, the tremble of a leaf as the snow fell heavier. A single snowflake would not disturb a single oak leaf, but a swirl of snowflakes makes the branch of leaves dance.
The birds were silent. The wild turkeys, always a noisy crew, were strutting through another part of the park. No coyotes were out, not in mid-day. I hear them mostly at night, a siren-mimicking whine that always make me listen twice. Am I listening to the warning of a siren or the wailing of the coyotes? Even the squirrels had deserted this area.
My world is often silenced by the fall of snow, it blots out the sounds of man, and requires me to listen carefully to the sounds of the natural world around me.
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Bo Mackison is a photographer and owner of Seeded Earth Studio LLC. Bo is exploring winter – close up and quietly.
The Shadows © 2011 Bo Mackison
Sherpa and I paused on one of the stairway entrances to High Line Park in the Chelsea neighborhood in New York City. The High Line is on Manhattan’s West Side. The first section, a mile long, opened as a public park in June 2009. The second section, which added another stretch a half-mile long, opened in June 2011 and runs between West 20th and West 30th Streets.
Walking the High Line © 2011 Bo Mackison
The original High Line was built in the 1930s as part of a massive transportation project. It removed dangerous trains from one of Manhattan’s largest industrial districts by raising the tracks thirty feet in the air. The High Line was abandoned in 1980.
Friends of the High Line, a neighborhood group, and the City of New York work in a partnership to preserve and support this hugely popular public park. (Last year 2.2 million people used the park.)
Seating on the High Line © 2011 Bo Mackison
The park features an artfully designed landscape which combines a meandering concrete pathway with natural plantings – trees, wildflowers, grasses. A variety of seating, both movable chairs and built-in benches, is scattered along the walks, specially designed lighting illuminates the walking paths, and water features provide opportunities for splashing and cooling off in warmer weather.
The High Line also features both permanent and temporary art installations. Photographs will be in the next High Line post.
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Bo Mackison is a photographer and the owner of Seeded Earth Studio LLC. One of her favorite autumn destinations in New York City is the High Line Park in Chelsea. Urban renewal at its best.
Icy © 2008 Bo Mackison
Owen Conservation Park
Madison, WI
Sunrise over Pope Farms © 2007
“What breaks in daybreak? Is it the night? Is it the sun, cracked in two by the horizon like an egg, spilling out light?”
~ Margaret Atwood
Pope Farms in Madison, Wisconsin
