You can learn more about the Middlesex Fells Reservations here.
Posts Tagged ‘outdoors’
autumn reflections in long pond
Posted in Branches, Inspiration, Nature Notes, tagged abstract, autumn, hiking, Inspiration, landscape, light, Long Pond, Middlesex Fells Reservation, nature, outdoors, Photography, reflections, water on October 6, 2014| 7 Comments »
the eyes have it
Posted in Inspiration, Nature Notes, On the Road, tagged Bay of Fundy, butterflies, Canada, colors, eyes, fishing, Grand Manan, Inspiration, islands, nature, New Brunswick, outdoors, Photography, seagulls, seals, travel, wildlife on June 25, 2014| 6 Comments »
I do not know the name of this little fellow. All I know is that once Steve took the rod from my hands and began jiggling the line, this creature clamped on tight. Steve hauled him up long enough for me to snap a picture and then he was released back into the bay.
This lovely trio stared me down as I walked toward them. I think they quickly realized I knew very little about fishing and so they patiently waited for the lobster boats to return to dock.
Can you see the bright eyes of this seal? I was scanning the waves for a whale so I nearly missed this svelte form bobbing up and down in the waves. I heard tell of a green snake in the woods and saw deer hoof prints in the mud but few other animals did I see this past weekend, up north, except for this butterfly feeding on minerals in the soil.
You can see more images from a weekend journey to Grand Manan here, and learn more about this beautiful island here. A very short trip from where I live — a drive and then ferry ride — but somehow it was a world away.
peaceful interludes
Posted in Inspiration, Nature Notes, tagged fish, fishing, Inspiration, Middlesex Fells Reservation, nature, outdoors, Photography, Spot Pond, water, zen on August 25, 2013| 2 Comments »
I have always appreciated the “zen of fishing.” Placing a line in the water and just reflecting on life as I watch the wind make ripples upon the water. But this time, for the first time, something actually took the bait. It was a little fellow thrown back into the depths. We’ll see what happens next time. 😉
in light and shadow, a layering of trees
Posted in Branches, Inspiration, Nature Notes, tagged abstract, colors, Inspiration, landscape, Middlesex Fells Reservation, nature, nature photography, outdoors, Photography, trees on August 14, 2013| 4 Comments »
the oak tree
Posted in Branches, Inspiration, Nature Notes, tagged abstract, Inspiration, light, musings, nature, outdoors, Photography, shadows, silhouettes, trees on July 24, 2013| 4 Comments »
I suppose I would have found more calm and focus sitting quietly at the base of the tree but …
it was more fun to race around peering deep into its canopy …
and, in the shifting light, not to worry about focus at all.
the sun was shining as the rain fell
Posted in Inspiration, Nature Notes, tagged abstract, colors, Inspiration, landscape, nature, outdoors, Photography, rain, sunlight, water, weather on July 22, 2013| 8 Comments »
As soon as we returned home from the beach, the rains began but the sun was still shining so bright. It made each drop sparkle like the proverbial diamond. With no expectation of outcomes, it was fun to lean out the window and photograph the falling water.
two figures entwined
Posted in Inspiration, Nature Notes, On the Road, tagged art, arts, figures, human form, Inspiration, nature, outdoors, Photography, Revere Beach, sand sculpting on July 22, 2013| 8 Comments »
As a child I made mud pies dusted with dry sand as if it were confectionery sugar, but sculpting sand into delicate forms? Never learned that magic art.
This particular sculpture, Imprinted, was one of several featured at this weekend’s Revere Beach Sand Sculpting Festival and was created by artist Sue McGrew from Tacoma, Washington.
you should write …
Posted in Guest Contributor, Inspiration, Nature Notes, tagged family, home, Inspiration, life, listening, musings, nature, outdoors, Photography, prose, siblings, storytelling on June 23, 2013| 6 Comments »
We spoke by phone. I sat in my kitchen in Somerville, MA while my younger brother sat outside his home in Lynchburg, VA. After I had described my latest walk by the water and what I might write about, he said, “Mmmhmm. I think you should write some more about porches.”
“Porches?”
“Yes. About what it’s like to sit on the porch steps at night, in the quiet and in the cool, with fireflies in the distance. They look like stars.”
I imagined him sitting on his little back porch. I thought about the seeds I had sent him and his family. “Next year, I am sending you night blooming flowers.”
“That’s fine,” he said, and then he added, “And you should write about wearing glasses, how we wear them to see clearly, these wire frames that are not heavy but somehow you feel their weight all the time, and if you have long eyelashes you’re constantly batting them against the lenses. Yeah, there’s always contacts … but somehow when you wear glasses and then you sit and you take them off … you can’t see as clearly and yet there is a certain sense of freedom. A weight has been removed. Though your view is a bit blurry somehow you can see with greater clarity the beauty all around.”
“I gave you a blank notebook. Why don’t you write these things?” I say.
“Because you’re the writer,” he said.
walking in sunlight
Posted in Branches, Inspiration, Nature Notes, On the Road, tagged childhood, Inspiration, nature, outdoors, Photography, shadows, sunlight, urban landscape, walking on June 17, 2013| 3 Comments »
In the heart of the city, adults don’t tend to say anything. They’ll pass me by and pretend not to notice me as I lean precariously over fences into private property or kneel at the base of trees.
It is the children who ask, even as their parents are sometimes trying to shush them, “What are you doing, lady?”
When I tell them that I am photographing sunlight, they ask, “Well, how do you do that?” And I say with great drama, “Well, the way I choose to photograph sunlight is as it pours over the branches of the trees and creates shadows on the ground.”
The older kids raise eyebrows in disbelief but the younger children, they sometimes nod with great understanding.
i nearly missed the turtle
Posted in Inspiration, Nature Notes, tagged abstract, Alewife Brook Reservation, nature, outdoors, Photography, ponds, turtles, water on June 5, 2013| 6 Comments »
The fluff of the cottonwood tree filled the air like snow and coated the surface of the pond. Plus there was the pollen, pond algae and the dust stirred up by the adjacent construction project.
Maybe the little fellow was trying to cool off because it was in the waters closest to shore and so there was also the reflection of the trees in the water. But how long could he remain obscured with that beautiful bronze shell?
Words + Images 