Renewal by the lake side

ISO 100, 1/20 sec, f/11, 37mm

 

We use adjectives to describe our perception of people’s personality, endowing them with metaphors of nature like “sunny disposition”.  Were I to use such language to describe myself it would probably be something like “misty, foggy, San Francisco moody.”  I just feel so comfortable wandering around in a light mist wafting on a slight breeze; not so damp as to be chilling or soggy humid, but rather like a cool sheet when you first stick your legs into bed.  Don’t spend a lot of time thinking why this is so, just look forward to weather that gives me this sort of environment.  And the opportunities to visit the city this type of weather is famously known for.

The prairie managers in the local park recently burned a part of the tallgrass on the lakeshore so I wandered over to get some raindrop macro shots.  I’d noticed this blackened ground from the other side of the lake not more than 3-4 days ago, and as you can see from the image, the grass has rushed up to overcome the charred surface with a spring carpet.  Once released from the competitive pressure of other weeds prairie grass grows almost explosively.  There are probably few other places where you can just about sit and watch the grass grow and see some advancement!

I like this composition – the log over the stream caught my attention and I wanted to include it in some how.  The faint breeze was stirring the lake just enough to give it a matte surface, and the trees are just budding out enough to provide a faint color to the grove.  Over everything was the mist – not quite fog, not quite rain.

One aspect that interested my eye was the contrast of the near lakeside to the far, where the burn hasn’t been done yet.  This side is reduced to the simplicity of spring – grass, treebuds, water and earth.  The far side looks almost chaotic with the forest springing out in all directions and tones.

So, a brief moment in time where all the right aspects come together and deliver an existential moment.