fourpointedstar

A Good Story
I always love a good story; stories are what binds friendships and culture, and stories are what draw us to interesting people. As I walk through the woods on a new trail, I wonder where the trail will take me; what story will it tell?

The streams and rivers that I hike to are similar; they wander through the landscape carving out a path that meanders and reveals the area around it, much like a good story or a good trail. As you explore their journey, you find out so much about their story – the hills and valleys, the ancient stone and rock, the detours – much like life.

I absolutely loved this scene of the small stand of birch covered in moss. The fog was low that morning, and the grass was damp from an overnight rain. As our group walked through the woods, it felt like a forest in Washington State; damp air, big trees, uneven terrain – and then we encountered this neighborhood of white bark.

In between the large trees, the path was wide and somewhat straight; the path through the birch wandered almost lazily. I’ve taken photos of paths in woods many times, but many times the photo never gets shared. But this was a wonderful photo, and it pushed me to start looking for other paths on that three day trip.

Notice the Little Scenes:

One of the most difficult parts of a nature walk for me is not focusing on the destination. Often, I get so carried away with hiking that I forget to notice the beauty surrounding me; things like tiny mushrooms, plants, small scenes escape me because I am focussed on getting “there”.

When I’m hiking with a group, a different pressure comes up – I don’t want to hold the group back; of course, this isn’t as bad if I’m with a group of photographers. Then there is laziness; I don’t want to switch lenses, put on the filter, or move my camera bag so that I can squat down.

Often for me, photography is about putting the rest of life aside – the final goal, pressure from others, and my own bad habits – to actually focus on what’s around me. The beauty of a stream, a tiny new plant or ladybug, or even a overgrown, but still maintained cemetery.

I love the little highway scenes; the ones that make you do a U-turn. This little stream is probably only visible during the spring, when the grasses are short and the stream is flowing well. If you looked at a satellite view, the curves aren’t that dramatic, but by using a longer lens the distance compression really works in my favor.

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There is something mystical about this scene; the small light green leaves remind me of spring cherry blossoms, and the path leading through the forest reminds me of forests of the north west.

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Cynthia found this little ladybug (or ladybug like beetle) in the flotsam from Lake Superior’s waves; besides being cute, I wondered how it was already so active. That morning was chilly, around 45, and he was very close to the waves rolling on the beach, perhaps he’s a surfer?

Lastly, this cemetery is unlike any other gravesite that I’ve come across. The graves were mostly from the 1920-1950’s, and since then, the birch forest has grown in around the graves. But someone has continued to maintain the graves, and that feeling of “cemetery in the forest” is both comforting and creepy.

I find the tiny details fascinating; the bristling hairs, the delicate arms and toes, the color coordinating eyes, and even the mouth parts.  I suppose it will never stop amazing my that so many tiny things – insects & plants – have even tinier bristles, hairs, or peach fuzz.  Details so small that we could never see them, but so important to their existence, their safety, or even hunting.

There is something magical about a bee that is the size of a grain of rice.  Well technically, it’s not a bee; maybe a hover fly or a sweat bee, I can never remember which is which.  Either way, the way they flit and float around is wonderful, and then they choose a spot to land; but I can’t imagine that the tiny fraction of an ounce is even noticeable.

What a perfect metaphor for a Monday!  A traffic jam of aphids sucking the life out of this plant!
I am fascinated by aphids visually; they definitely follow a “pack” mentality, and hilariously are often only hanging on by their front feet and jaws. And their bodies are so simple or small that they just glow in the sunlight.

I don’t think anything better exemplifies “if you build it, they will come” than nature.  When we purchased our home, the previous owner had already planted an extensive garden, but the previous tenant had not kept up with it.  Over the almost 10 years, we have gradually expanded the garden and focussed on planting native plants; and this means that we see all sorts of pollinators as well as other creepy crawlies that are a bit higher up the food chain.  Perhaps “if you plant it, they will come” is our interpretation.

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“Morning Cleaning”:

Over the past month, I’ve really gotten back into insect photography, so for the month of August, you’ll be treated to an insect (and spider) photo of the day. 🙂  And to start things off a day early, here’s this cute ladybug that posed for me this morning – I think they just got out of the shower; they have a tiny drop of water still on them. Enjoy. 🙂