lloydslensphotographyllc

Succession and Success

Hello friends! Tonight’s feature image is titled “Succession” and is available for purchase by the instructions at the bottom of the article.

The cold rain continues to drizzle on a late November morning as I search for a muse on the Kanawha River. The rain collects on the twigs and swells into large drops the drip rhythmically to the ground. Somewhere in the background I can hear the laughter of a wood-hen but the shy bird stays well away from anything that signals a human is near. A big red squirrel clings deftly to the side of a large oak. He occasionally pokes his head out from the back of the tree in way that makes me think he’s playing peek-a-boo. I turned my attention to the stump on the edge of the river and noticed the smaller tree that had sprouted from it. When I was a child there were no trees in this spot except for a few. The shore was kept clear so that you could admire the falls and hydroelectric dam. But the river was eroding the land to the point that there would be no park today. Large trucks came and heavy equipment was used to place large rocks and new sand on the banks in an effort to save the park but the river was relentless and the artificial shore was wasted away. Eventually it was decided to let nature take its course and the sandbar willows came. They put down roots that bound the rocks together and created pockets that trapped the sand and leaves along with the driftwood deposited by the floods. The sandy mix came to life with symbiotes and became soil. Soon there was more than just the willows. There’s honeysuckle bushes and vines. In the Spring violets are found all through the park. This is where I found the Spicebush Swallowtail feeding on Cardnial flowers over the summer.

God has created a complex world with checks and balances that heal the land. Everything has cycles and patterns of succession as described in the Book of Ecclesiastes ( and Turn! Turn! Turn! by the Byrds ). When we learn to work within the systems of nature instead of against them the land flourishes and there is a bounty. But when we think that we know better and try to force nature to our will there will be failure and loss.

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December Surprise

Color Photography

A warm front always proceeds a cold snap in these mountains. The old timers would tell me that the warmer the day is then the harsher the storm will be. And just prior to the snow that we’re enjoying as I write tonight’s post it was warm enough to wake up the blue Asters that have claimed the old flower pots next to my parking spot. The Asters are a cool weather plant and the raised bed effect of the pots combined with the thermal mass of the driveway must have given them just enough energy to wake up. The dark days of December are a little disheartening here between two mountains where night falls at 4:00 PM. So when I found the simple little cluster of wildflowers it was a special treat. On top of that there’s a second cluster of bloom beneath the exhaust of my hearing system. I count them as Godwinks. Those little encouraging signs from God to let us know that he’s close by and that the darkness won’t last much longer. In fact, it’s less than two weeks until the new light.

A dear friend recently pointed out that the coldest weather is still ahead of us in North America and that’s true. Typically, January and February are the coldest moths of the year. But they’re not s dark. We won’t really notice it at first but on December 22nd the days start to get longer again. By the middle of February we start to see the sunsets linger and become more colorful. And that when the Asters normally return here. Sometime between the middle of February and the middle of March they dot the landscape.

The December Surprise flowers probably won’t survive tonight’s freezing temperatures and they don’t have have to in order for me to be encouraged. They simply had to be seen one day to give me the inner warmth that will get me through the winter.

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December In Gad

black and white photography

20191208_134408 (1)_15759436525981940631524..jpg — Hello friends! Tonight’s feature image is titled “December In Gad” and is available for purchase by the instructions at the bottom of the article.

The Gauley River winds it’s way through the hills past the painted sandstone cliffs of Gad, West Virginia. But the river is under the lake even at winter pool. I stand on the end of the cement block which serves as a dock on the last portion of the road that once Followed McKee”s Creek. Prior to the lake this was the main road through farmland below the high cliffs. I would have loved to see it in its heyday but it was flooded two years before I was born. I’ve been told that it was like a storybook with rolling hills and green pastures. There’s pictures online of the quaint general store which also functioned as a post office. Everyone is on horseback in that picture. I do remember when the bridge in tonight’s feature image was only two lanes. That was before they rerouted the highway and in the place where cars and trucks now travel at eighty miles per hour I rode a horse myself. That was the big draw for the local in. You could ride horses all the way to the lake. There was time to actually experience life when we moved slower. I often wonder if there’s an inverse relationship between the speed of travel and the quality of life. A kayak came gliding in while I was reviewing the pictures of the lake and bridge and lady who was in it seemed so much happier than the guys in the speedboat that had left a few minutes prior. In fact she didn’t stop smiling until she loaded her craft into a truck and drove away.

When I was a kid camping on the edge of the lake we used to tell ghost stories about the people who are still buried in sunken graves under the water. Today I believe that the spirit of Gad is real but it’s a feeling of peace that comes with a slower pace. The real unsettled spirits are the ones who race about on the concrete above the water.

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Rainy Days On The Kanawha River

Color Photography

The rain falls gently into the landscape surrounding my Appalachian home. Each drop momentarily dances on the Kanawha River before merging with the waters and joining in the flow. I often wonder about the hidden landscapes beneath the rivers. The lake is drained every year and even though it’s never really completely empty we can still see much of what’s hidden. The old foundations of Gad and the broken roads become visible.

The hidden landscape of Salmon Run including an underwater bridge.

But whatever lays beneath the deep places of the river are always a mystery. I imagine deep canyons patrolled by packs walleye and dark underwater caves guarded by monstrous catfish. I wonder if they look up with same sense of simple amazement at the ripples on the surface? Do they understand their connection to the sky and know that their world falls from the heavens in tiny little drops that dance in joy before joining the great flow towards the oceans?

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Alone On The River

Color Photography

A few leaves cling to the branches and the river has taken on the cool green hue it often shows in winter. Most of the songbirds have either moved South or settled in for the winter. The cold North wind whispers a lulaby as it moves through the empty forest. My big blue truck eases off of the pavement and into gravel lot on the edge of the Kanawha River.

At the far range of my lens the single sycamore stands tall among the maples and oaks. The pure white barks also stands out giving the tree the appearance of priesthood. The sycamore reaches skyward with its limbs asking God for protection from the winter storms on behalf of its sleeping wooden flock.

It’s not hard to imagine that the sycamore is a priestly tree. In the Book of Exodus chapter 15:25 God instructs Moses to cast a tree into bitter waters to make them sweet. I’ve always imagined that it was a sycamore tree. Partly because the sycamore has the ability to filter contaminated water.

Wilderness survivalists are taught to tap into a sycamore tree to get a drink in areas where the water isn’t thought to potable. Special cells in the vessels of sycamore function like a filter to clean the water. It’s not a magic bullet but it’s said to be effective in removing waterborne diseases. Chemical contamination might be a different story though.

Yes. The sycamore has to be a special tree indeed I tell myself as the wintery scene echoes in my lens.

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