Day 287: Awaiting the Year’s Turning

 Backyard Nature, Native Plants, Piney Woods Church Road 365 Project, Sense of Place  No Responses »
Oct 142014
 

I set out this afternoon for Piney Woods Church Road, cool breeze blowing and air drying out ofter a long rain that lasted overnight and through much of the morning.   Leaves and pine needles blanketed the road bed and verges.  I paused at a sapling tulip poplar, admiring a new bud at the tip of a leaf.  Not now.  I suspect the bud is ready for next spring, after the year’s turning.  Seeing a new bud, I begin to think back on my own beginning, along this same stretch of road, watching leaves unfurling into spring so many months ago.

 

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Day 140: Commonplace Leaf, in the Morning Light

 Backyard Nature, Native Plants, Piney Woods Church Road 365 Project, Sense of Place  No Responses »
May 202014
 

This morning I set out down Piney Woods Church Road as usual, in search of an image for Day 140.  I knew it would be practically impossible to match yesterday’s photographs of a pair of mating silkmoths.  I settled, instead, for yet another tulip poplar leaf, illumined by the mid-morning sun.  There is so much beauty in even the most commonplace expressions of nature.

 

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Day 120: Temporary Worlds

 Backyard Nature, Native Plants, Piney Woods Church Road 365 Project, Sense of Place  No Responses »
Apr 302014
 

After overnight rain, I set out down Piney Woods Church Road, noticing how the flow of water was already changing the newly-graded road surface, forming shallow channels where the water flowed, and excavating new potholes (or exhuming old ones?).  One particular tulip poplar leaf caught my attention.  On its underside were perched several minute water droplets, like temporary worlds.  I saw a tiny black form swimming in one of the droplets; I suspect that a microscope would reveal many more.

Temporary Worlds

Day 112: Moments of Grace

 Golden Hour, Native Plants, Piney Woods Church Road 365 Project, Sense of Place  No Responses »
Apr 222014
 

I set out down Piney Woods Church Road this morning still carrying the heavy burden of the recent news of a much-loved local store’s plans to close in May.  Although clouds and storms are expected this afternoon, the morning sky was mostly clear and the sun angling its light through the trees.  Again I was drawn to explore the possibilities of the morning light, this time bathing tulip poplar leaves.  I think it would be fitting to refer to these moments of wonder that I find with my camera lens as moments of grace.  I am gratefull that a digital camera enables me to share these moments with others.

Moments of Grace

 

Further Emergence

 Backyard Nature, Geometry and Nature, Native Plants  No Responses »
Mar 272014
 

Along Piney Woods Church Road, some tulip poplar saplings are continuing to burst their buds and fill out with leaves.  I have never noticed the process before — how graceful the unfurling can be.  I could fill my camera’s memory cards with photographs of buds and tiny leaves.

Further Emergence

Day 84: A New Leaf

 Backyard Nature, Geometry and Nature, Piney Woods Church Road 365 Project  No Responses »
Mar 252014
 

I ventured out this afternoon into a brisk north wind, wearing my heavy winter jacket.  Where had spring gone?  The high wind made it considerably more difficult to photograph new growth on the shrubs and trees along Piney Woods Church Road, including this tulip poplar seedling.  When the sun emerged from behind a cloud, though, the late-day lighting was marvelous.  I fear for all these tender leaves, though, with temperatures expected to reach the mid-20s overnight.

A New Leaf