As the sun sinks low in the sky along Piney Woods Church Road, the rays illuminate a barb on a pasture fence. Ah, how I relish such moments of grace along my way….
Jul 292014
Jul 282014
Today’s whimsical photograph features a horse and rider ornament atop a mailbox along Piney Woods Church Road — the same black mailbox covered with lichens that was featured back on Day 102.
Jul 272014
It was a frightfully hot afternoon, and I had little anticipation of encountering anything wonderful or mysterious on my walk. I felt the pressure of a frantic day, having spent hours before my walk preparing a talk for Monday, and facing the prospect of several hours afterward tutoring online. Still, I was surprised to find a new bloom — or, rather, a new bloom for July. The Chinese wisteria (Wisteria sinensis) partway down Piney Woods Church Road was flowering again. It is the third set of blossoms on that particular wisteria for this year. Like last time, though, there was only a single raceme of blossoms — the rest of the plant was merely leaves and seedpods. Still, I am impressed with the determination of this invasive flower. Like human beings, Chinese wisteria is a weed species. Like us, it seems capable of being fertile and having sex (in its case, the floral variety) many times in one year. It is a trait I might expect of a hybrid cultivar purchased from a greenhouse, but not from a vine growing in the wild along the roadside.
Still, the flower is so delicate, so pretty, with such cloyingly sweet perfume, that I am nearly seduced by its charms, and almost willing to forgive its flowering out of season….
Jul 262014
Slender horse hairs on a barbed wire fence along an empty pasture are transfigured in the evening sunlight. Oh, how I relish those golden hours at day’s end, when spotlights of of angled sunlight illumine fragments I pass along my path down Piney Woods Church Road! There is such wonder then.
Jul 252014
It was another splendidly foggy early morning as I made my way toward Piney Woods Church Road, but by glancing at he brighter patch of cloud hiding the Sun, I could tell that the fog would soon burn off. I took quite a few fogscape shots before becoming entranced, yet again, by dew-covered spiderwebs. This is my favorite of them all, one that I photographed with my zoom lens last time around. This time, I found a cattle feed bin, stood on that in the roadway, and was able to take quite a few macro images. There are two webs here: an elegant orb web, and a patternless assemblage of threads. The two are separate, yet connected. Was there only one spider involved in this dual creation? Looking at it, I cannot help but be reminded of diagrams out of cosmology or even science fiction; this particular photograph makes me think of parallel universes: one highly ordered, one highly chaotic.
Jul 242014
For the past few days, I have been roaming Piney Woods Church Road, seeing few four-legged creatures of any kind — even the flies seem to have grown scarce. Often I would hear the katydids and other musical insects calling high up in the trees, and I would wish that one would make itself visible so that I could take a few photographs. I am delighted to say that a True Katydid (Pterophylla camellifolia) appeared this very day, resting placidly on a white oak leaf near eye level. I took quite a few photographs — these are my favorite four, beginning with the one I will designate the “official” photo for Day 205. Is it my imagination, or does she (I can tell this is a female from her flat, curved ovipositor on her back end) appear a bit upset that a photographer is getting in her face? I tried to disrupt her as little as possible, though I admit that I took another collection of photos on my return walk — all of my favorite images are from that later set.
Jul 232014
I was wandering Piney Woods Church Road late this afternoon, feeling somewhat empty inside despite the sunny skies, not in search of anything in particular (or anything peculiar), when I saw these lovely clouds. What on first inspection looks like a single tall cloud resolved itself into two clusters of clouds when viewed from a slightly different angle, a little further down the road.
Jul 222014
A twirling bit of greenbrier tendril catches the light in this mid-afternoon photograph along Piney Woods Church Road. Day 203, and still I encounter new wonders….
Jul 212014
It was another cloyingly humid and overcast July afternoon, the kind of day for which the word “blah” seems to fit so well. I had just set out down Piney Woods Church Road when I noticed, beyond the far side of a water-filled rut, a flash of bright red among the roadside weeds. I was delighted (well, comparatively delighted, for the kind of day it was) to find several False Strawberries, also known as Indian Strawberries (Duchesnea indica) in fruit. (Earlier this year, I posted a photograph of one in bloom — perhaps this very specimen!) Briefly I was even tempted to try one — perhaps because of how delicious they appear, and perhaps because I wanted to test field guide descriptions of their powdery, flavorless nature. But I settled for a photograph, instead.
Jul 202014
Late Sunday morning, under a fine drizzle, I explored the wonders of Piney Woods Church Road. I was drawn, invariably, to droplets of water. I have chosen two for today, because they go so well together. Both would, I think, make stunning earrings. Two watery worlds cling to the tips of vine branches, against a background of flowing colors. My familiar gravel road becomes a path through a museum of water, color, and muted light.
