diverted again, this time by the creek!

post #381
       Cold and snow were forecast for yesterday, despite the APRIL date.  Who would believe it! I am lucky that my photographing daughter, with T, almost 7, and the two dogs, reluctantly set out for the creek and the waterfalls. Yet, despite the cold, it turned out to be a magical adventure. I have never been down there right after a covering snow. So, thank you, family, for sharing your winter wonderland via these photos. Good job!

headed down to the first crossing of the creek

amazing to have these colors to cross over

communing with a fallen tree

Murry standing out....

Is this magic, or what!

turkey track, one of several in the area

the top of the first waterfall, framed by rhododendron limbs

checking on the fairy pile

This is my favorite of her photos, at the top of the first waterfall. There would have been no snow to see had they not gone down until the afternoon. Again, thank you, thank you. This is what a swamp is not.....

      

a visit in wonderland: rhododendrons at Carter Ford

post #237
      My daughter and granddaughter are visiting me for a week, so yesterday we went exploring! The wild rhododendrons are out, and a wonderful place to see them is at Carter Ford. This requires a drive on a narrow dirt road which luckily is currently in pretty good shape, though no one else was there in that magical place. I don't usually show any photos of my family on this blog, but today it can't be helped. I like to tell stories with my photos, and they are very much part of today's story.
     

the actual "ford"

view to the right, looking upstream

roadside, near the ford

looking for treasures

finding a millepede!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!....

       Magic has been happening at the house as well!  First, the fawn -- whom I first saw last week running around and around the house!  Later, with the doe (its mom, we assume), it came to check for apples that might have fallen in the field.  We have also seen a big box turtle, a very long snake which we think is a black snake, plus, of course, various birds, skinks, butterflies and, every evening, lightning bugs. 

     We also enjoyed meeting a brand new, freed from the shell, cicada!  We watched it hang there until fully separated from its shell and dried. It then took off. I will show more photos of it next week.  It was beautiful in its own insect fashion, and a good way to celebrate all the coming out that is happening this week as we learn about how human beings also need the same freedom to be themselves!!  Our best practice can be to support one another on this process throughout our lives.

       I will show additional photos of this event next week, but now it is time for me to get back to some more adventures with family.  I am so grateful to have this time with them.

a meditation on a photo

post #197
       When I began this weekly blog, in October 2010, I wrote that my posts would primarily be about Appalachia and about photography.  And I would keep each post simple and not too long.  I thought, correctly, that imposing a reasonable structure on the effort would keep me from burning out too quickly.  I also, over time, didn't want to overburden my readers.
       I can see that I have done the best on the Appalachia part.  I love this place where I live, for one thing, and, to me, what is here is ever fascinating and beautiful.  Where else would I have neighbors who put up hay, kill hogs, have waterfalls, barns, tobacco, sorghum, and so much else plus a genuine willingness to let me hang around with my camera?  No surprise that I show more about them than I do about myself or my family, apart from the fact that I am a privacy nut.  I am grateful to them all.
      Today, however, I plan to share some of how I might decide what to photograph, when to do it, and even a bit about how -- though I am certainly no technique guru.  I am more of a practice, try it out, practice kind of learner -- when I am not just being a "hope for the best" and "making do" kind of person.

OK, Friday, two days ago: last week I had put off long enough going down to our waterfalls area to check on the rhododendrons so I was determined to go this day.  They usually bloom by July 4!  I waited until late afternoon to walk down there so since that means a better chance for better light.  It's all about light.  But it's also about being there.
         One year, maybe 2007, there had been an abundance of blooms.  No hint that was happening again this year.  However, I carry with me the memory of how thrilled my photographer friend John and I both were that day we worked surrounded by so many blooming rhododendrons along this creek and the falls. 
         Sure enough, Friday I saw only the occasional bloom.  But at least there were some!  They are each beautiful deep in the woods like that.  Of course I don't know the best way to show both the beauty of the bloom and the location of the bush in a single photo!  It may look at first like I made the photos in someone's suburban yard weeks ago! 
         I had been skeptical enough about any blooms still being there on the 4th not to bring my tripod.  I ended up locating a fallen branch with a fork, like the victory sign.  I put the trusty wash cloth I always carry with me in that fork; I was able to rest the camera in there to help steady it once I located a bloom at about the right height.  I did have two lenses with me at least.  It was soon 6 pm, and time to head home.
         I am sharing just one image for now.  Of course for me it comes with the whole place, the being there by myself, the figuring out stuff and seeing around me as best I can. Actually I did have many moments of wishing the whole world were with me experiencing the worth of this forest area and of all the unique diversity in these Appalachian forests. All of us human beings should have a stronger resolve to value the true richness that is our shared wilderness, rich and irreplaceable. And life giving.

        Next week I'll finally get back to May in England or France with some travel photos -- I hope you enjoyed this different kind of journey in today's post.  Best wishes from me for good adventures anywhere you are.  Ann