A single sweetgum leaf against the deep blue sky…play of light and shadow…texture of leaf surface, patterns of veins…..
Nov 192014
Nov 172014
I set out for Piney Woods Church Road shortly after noon today, the overnight rain having ended and the promised wind still building. It was a chilly, damp day, but nothing like the wintery conditions anticipated for tomorrow — temperatures not rising out of the mid-30s with wind chills in the mid-20s. As I strolled down the road, I noticed many more leaves that had fallen onto the roadbed; and I offer for today these three portraits: in order, A Conversation; Solitude; and Symmetry.
Nov 152014
This time of year, I find tree leaves, particularly those backlit by the late-day sunlight, absolutely entrancing. And this is particularly true of white oaks, whose leaves evoke satellite images of foreign landscapes. Veins form patterns of rivers or roads, patches of lingering green the forest cover. Like maps, the leaf patterns kindle a yearning for exploration, and awaken memories of childhood days outdoors, pretending I was in Middle Earth, or perhaps an imaginary world of my own devising, inspired by Bridge to Terabithia.
Nov 142014
I did not notice until returning home from my late-afternoon walk how wonderfully these two leaf portraits go together: still-green white oak leaf against blue sky, fallen brown hickory leaf against the dark earth.
Nov 132014
Winter is on the way. Today was cloudy and blustery; the wind was strong enough to leave my bare fingers almost numb. The sun almost broke through the clouds, enough for me to cast my shadow against a tree, before retreating again behind a wall of dark gray. At my feet, though, I passed an endless variety of tranquil still-lifes, my favorite of which was this simple image with shades of red, yellow, and green.
Nov 122014
On this last day before the weather is expected to turn sharply colder, I was surprised to encounter another Buckeye Butterfly (Junonia coenia) along Piney Woods Church Road today. I assumed it was the same one I had seen just a couple of days earlier, but close comparison of the photographs revealed that this one has slightly different, and much brighter, markings.
Less surprising, perhaps, was another dandelion in full bloom along my way, after an absence of several months. Such familiar beings as butterflies and dandelions offer me a reassurance of springtime as winter approaches.
Nov 112014
Today the weather along Piney Woods Church Road was mild and pleasant, with a high near 7o degrees and sunshine into the mid-afternoon when high clouds moved in. Tomorrow, though, marks a downward plunge in temperature culminating in our first frost and many days where highs will not rise above the mid-50s. This cold snap will likely bring an end to the autumn pollinating season. Today, though, the air was filled with tiny bees and flies, zooming between the scanty flower blossoms lingering on the goldenrod plants still in bloom along the roadway.
Nov 102014
This bedgraggled, spotted, munched, discolored persimmon leaf has weathered the elements and made it to the end of the season. As temperatures drop and winds increase later this week, I expect that this leaf will join the others somewhere along Piney Woods Church Road.
Nov 102014
A lone yellowed greenbrier leaf is framed by adjacent branches in the early afternoon light along Piney Woods Church Road.
Nov 092014
Here are two zig-zagging images from today’s saunter down Piney Woods Church Road:
