Category: Color Photography

The Flow

Color Photography, poetry

I wonder what you’ve seen on your journey from the top of the mountain.

You seem to pass through the mountains from a source unknown.

You slip along the the rocky ground playfully giggling and jumping the whole way.

You turn over every stone in your path.

You carry sticks and use them to tap out a marching tune that expresses the joy in your heart.

Not being one to turn away from a dare you leapt the edge of the earth and dove into the cavernous depths below.

You explored every inch of the underworld and exploded from the other side of the unseen to join in the course below.

Where are you going? What will see before you get there?

Soar

Color Photography, Fiction Story, wildlife

The shadow sweeps silently across the landscape and the forest freezes. The songbirds have stopped singing and the squirrels hug the trees tightly as they try their best to look like a piece of bark. Only the humans seem oblivious to the predator soaring in the sky above. He is a master of the sky. He flies higher and faster than anything living in the area. The wind speaks his name. It’s an ancestral call that he cannot resist. He dives from his perch in the tallest tree and skims the Treetops as he answers. His heart throbs with excitement as he reaches his speed and meets the wind. As he pulls upward into the flow his wings beat the air into submission with a wild thunder. Gravity fails to bind him as he achieves the apex and locks his wings. It’s time to soar. As he dances with the breeze something stirs deep within his core being. It is the quickening in his spirit. He is at one with the phoenix, aileron and the roc. He is king of the sky.

Canadian Redbud

Color Photography

Today is Arbor Day! I’ve not really spoken much about my my educational background on my blog. My formal education is mostly in Forest biology. At one point my long term goal was to get into strip mine reclamation. Redbud is one of the trees that is used to recondition the soil. Redbud is a legume which means it has nitrogen fixing bacteria in it’s roots. While it seldom gets to be timber sized it can to be about 20 feet tall (6 meters). I used to have one in my backyard that was quite thick for a shrub. It was about 18 inches (45.72 cm) at the base. The beautiful pinkish purple bloom is actually edible and the pods are too when processed properly.

The best thing about Redbud is that it’s one of the trees that blooms early in the Spring. At the time I am writing this the photo is a couple of weeks old. After the long dark winter the burst of color from the Redbud is a breath of fresh air.

The Waterfall at The Old Mill Restaurant in Pigeon Forge Tennessee

Color Photography, Uncategorized

By special request of my dear friend Sophia Ismaa I’m going to share with you the waterfall at the Old Mill in Pigeon Forge Tennessee.

I was asked to describe the atmosphere of the scene.

As the late fall sun eases it’s way West the crystal clear blue sky fades into a soft purple in the Eastern direction and a golden band on the Western skyline. The shadows of the Great Smokey Mountains began to grow long as the crowd makes it’s way from shop to shop in the little tourist village. Pigeon Forge is a showcase for Appalachian artists. Paintings, pottery and woodworking can be found in almost every shop. The breeze carries wonderful aromas wafting from the Old Mill which is now a restaurant. As we make our way down to the Pigeon River below the mill the sound of falling water overcomes the clamor of crowd in the streets above. The golden sun is now disappearing behind the mountains and the streetlights are starting to come to life. This is magic hour and I have the power to freeze time.

Cardinals in Springtime

Color Photography, wildlife

I would follow you anywhere.

You are my whole world.

It hurts when you are not in sight.

You are the other half of me.

– Lloyd A Dempsey II

Living outside of office at my day job is a pair of mated Cardinals. (Cardinalis cardinalis) . Their marriage is strongly based on commitment. Cardinals mate for life and engage in courtship on a regular basis. Every year before nesting the male (bright red) brings food to the female and feeds her beak to beak. She is completely devoted to him. As he patrols his territory she never seems to be more than fifty feet away. If he leaves her sight she chirps sharply and he answers. The males have a distinct song. The song is a combination of loud high pitched tweets followed by several low pitched ones. The males fiercely defend their territory. They are small birds but what they lack in size they make up for in tenacity and vigilance. They’re known to orchestrate Blind Side surprise attacks on cats, dogs and people. I’ve watched the male pictured here simultaneously attack and chase away two crows that ventured too close to his nesting spouse. (Hey, it’s a guy thing. We’re not fulfilled unless we’re being protectors) Even though they seem to be antisocial jerks at times I have been able to pet one. He had defended his territory against his own reflection in a window and was lying on the ground unconscious. I thought it was dead but when I knelt down to check it out he sprung up and pecked my finger. After a few minutes he decided that I wasn’t such a bad guy after all and allowed me check him for injuries. Don’t worry about his mate rejecting him. That’s an old wives tale. They were still together for years afterwards.

I recently commented on another blog that marriage was about commitment and that true love grows out of that commitment. I can think of no better example than the Northern Cardinal.