On a gray, cloudy, misting morning in Chattahoochee Hills, I noticed this leaf lying on Piney Woods Church Road with a circle through it, a window onto the roadbed below.
Sep 282014
Sep 272014
I have been trying for months now to take a post-worthy photograph of dog fennel (Eupatorium capillifolium), a native perennial weed that can grow up to seven feet tall and take over pastures and even yards. It has slender, feathery leaves that somehow don’t seem to lend themselves to macro photography. But in silhouette, at the brink of sunset, I can begin to appreciate its beauty.
Sep 262014
Whenever things start to feel to complicated in my life, I find solace in the simple juxtapositions of leaf and stone that I find on my daily outings as a dirt road pilgrim. There is a lot we can learn by just looking to the earth upon which we walk.
Sep 252014
On my evening walk down Piney Woods Church Road today, I passed an Arrowhead Spider (Verrucosa arenata) in the center of her web, apparently doing yoga (or else a highly unsuccessful attempt at peek-a-boo).
Sep 242014
The days race by, and now it is autumn. I snatch a few minutes away from a long slough of desk work to amble down Piney Woods Church Road. I take a few shots of some brilliant red sassafras leaves, and a mother cow licking her calf. Early on my journey, I encounter another planthopper on a roadside weed — this time, the Citrus Flatid Planthopper, Metcalfa pruinosa. In my imagination, he (or she) glances furtively and suspiciously at the photographer as he takes this picture.
Sep 232014
On this first day of Autumn, abundant green leaves are visible against a blue sky of mid-afternoon. In the background, widely scattered blurs of yellow hint at fall’s arrival.
Sep 222014
Today, for the first time this year, I nearly missed the Sun. An early morning requirement of jury duty in downtown Atlanta necessitated leaving well before sunrise, and returning within a few scant minutes of sunset. I hurried off to Piney Woods Church Road in my car — my only option for catching the remaining sunlight — only to discover that I had left my memory card at home, and had to go back once again.
I took this photograph within perhaps five minutes of sunset. I love how this dried roadside weed takes on a golden hue in the last rays of sunlight.
Sep 212014
One hundred and one days to go on my Piney Woods Church Road journey, and how far I have come! Today I dashed off for a quick morning photo op before driving to Zebulon for the second day of a two-weekend PopUp photography exhibit, “Dirt Road Pilgrimage”. II will discuss that exhibit more in a later post. For now, here is an image of a fork in the road.
Sep 202014
With only two days left until the the official end of summer, autumn’s approach is palpable along Piney Woods Church Road. From today’s walk, here are two visions of autumn: Changing Colors, and Leaf Touching Leaf.
Sep 192014
When I think of autumn colors, I usually think of maple and sassafras, not muscadine. But I am finding the muted greens, yellows, golds, and orange-browns of muscadine leaves, scattered on Piney Woods Church Road this time of year, to be enchanting, too.
