Greens among browns and greys

It wasn't quite as balmy today as it was yesterday, so I didn't get out on my bicycle, but I did go for a walk on the bike path at the far eastern end of Amherst. There is a lovely swamp along the path there, and I was hoping that I might see some interesting birds and capture them with the big zoom on my new Leica camera.

However, it seemed that while I was there it was a bird-free zone, so I ended up looking down more than up. And I'm glad I did, because otherwise I would have missed these things -- I think Jeannine calls them "princess pines". They are so darned cute in their tiny selves (about four or five inches high)…

… and not too far away, I noticed a log covered with what I thought was moss, and took a couple of close-up shots.

It wasn't until later, when I was looking at the images on my computer, that I realized this "moss" was not really like other mosses I have seen -- it looks to my eye like some sort of miniature creeping evergreen (if such a thing is possible).

Whatever it is, I like it. It adds a touch of welcome color to the drear hues of this winter. -- PL

Nature's architecture

Today, the temperature is up enough to continue the melting that started yesterday. and a light rain is helping matters along. I hope this is the long-awaited beginning of the end for this winter, though I am not foolish enough (well, in all honesty, I am ALMOST foolish enough) to bet on it.

It's encouraging enough to make me post this image I shot several days ago, when it was really cold, and we'd just had another freezing rain. Jeannine and I were out walking the dog and I saw this group of golden yellow weeds of some sort bent over by the weight of the glistening armor of ice they had accumulated in the storm.

The slender arcing and interwoven forms made me think of some kind of architectural concept I'd seen somewhere -- could it be something associated with Paolo Soleri's "Arcology"? Maybe.

This image is actually created from three separate photographs stitched together with Panorama Maker 5.

I put this image together a few days ago, but even though I found the shapes and colors of the ice-clad plants quite beautiful, didn't post it because I was so sick of winter and looking at ice and snow.

But today, with all the melting going on, somehow, it feels okay. So here it is. -- PL

Nature in Northampton

One of the things I like most about the Northampton area is how quickly you can move from the busy center of town to quiet, beautiful natural areas... such as this one:



I shot the photos which make up this panoramic view on a small road called Old Springfield Road, which runs past the Oxbow on the Connecticut River. It's part of one of my favorite short bicycle rides -- favored mostly because it is so quiet (very few cars) and lovely. And it's just a tad over a mile away from the exact center of downtown Northampton. (Lloyd Goldfine and I went this way on bicycles when he came up to visit a few days ago.) Parts of this route take you through some shady woods alternating with broad, sunny fields on a dirt road. Lately, I've been seeing quite a few little rabbits along this way. -- PL

Light and fog

The more photos I take, the more I realize that chance and timing play a large part in capturing desirable images. So it was back on an unseasonably warm day in December of 2001, when I was walking by the pond at Smith College near sunset. The air was full of moisture, and there was quite a bit of ground fog.



I thought that the light at this moment, coupled with the fog, gave this scene an ethereal quality. (This image is made from two photographs, stitched together in Panorama Maker4.) -- PL