Day 44: Overlapping Circles

 Backyard Nature, Piney Woods Church Road 365 Project, Sense of Place  No Responses »
Feb 132014
 

As I walked Piney Woods Church Road this morning, in the wake of the ice storm (which continued through the night, turning to snow toward the end), I took quite a few photographs of ice festooning pines and other trees and shrubs.  The ice was already melting, covering my camera and me with water droplets.  The drops also fell into a pothole along the road, forming overlapping circles on the water’s surface.  If I had been asked two months ago if I would ever photograph a pothole as art, I would have laughed.  Of course, since then I have taken numerous photographs of Piney Woods Church Road ruts and drainage gullies….  There is beauty and wonder everywhere.

Overlapping Circles

 

After the Ice Storm

 Backyard Nature, Sense of Place  No Responses »
Feb 132014
 

Since this was my very first ice storm since moving to Georgia 7 1/2 years ago, it seems fitting to post a collection of images from the morning after.  On my walk, I found new animal tracks in the snow, telling stories I did not pause long enough to read.  I also saw ice everywhere, covering loblolly pines and the bare branches of pecan trees.  I took delight in the crystalline landscape, though I mourned for the trees that lost branches and in some cases fell altogether.

Tracks in the Snow

Fallen Pine Branch

Iced Pines #1

Iced Pines #2 Soft Focus

Iced Pines #3 Re-crop

Iced Pines #4

Ice on Pecan Trees

Day 43: Having an Ice Time

 Backyard Nature, Piney Woods Church Road 365 Project, Sense of Place  No Responses »
Feb 132014
 

For the first time since this project began, I was unable to make a post yesterday.  Light freezing rain began Tuesday night and continued throughout the day on Wednesday, changing to sleet and back to rain several times before ending as snow.  Casualties included my electricity (out for 30 hours), one pine tree in the backyard, and three cedars in the backyard.  (Ice falling on cedars is far worse than snow falling on cedars, in my experience).  One snapped two-thirds of the way to the top, and the uppermost branches are currently resting on my roof.

I ventured out early in the day.  Beginning a year-long project, I expected I might have a day or two when I would have to be out on the road closer to a thunderstorm than I would like.  But I never anticipated that I would be feeling a bit scared during a winter storm.  But the quarter-inch or so of ice covering the trees made even my Piney Woods Church Road stroll a bit of an adventure.  I heard a couple of limbs fall, and pine branches littered the ground.  But nothing fell close to me during my walk, fortunately.  It was sleeting while I took all my photographs; icy pellets kept landing on the camera lens, adding to the challenge.

In this photo  I am looking southeast, beyond Piney Woods Church Road in the foreground to Rico Road in the background.

Having an Ice Time