It's Always Something

I try to always have my little camera with me. 

When it's been left at home on the counter, 

I've always regretted it. There's usually something

that crosses my line of sight I wished

I'd had it in my pocket.

Yesterday was no different.

I was on my way to the store when I saw

these cherry-like berries against

the light gray background of the 

churchyard where they live.

They seemed like drawings to me,

scraggly thick and thin lines

defining the space in which they exist.

And triangles.

Lots of triangles. 

In a way, they reminded me of drawings 

and prints by John Dowell, one of my college professors.

I remember the time he showed his portfolio

to a batch of interested students.

It was a suite of lithographs he'd produced

for his MFA thesis. Based on the theme

of the gradual opening of a triangle, his words

and work has stuck with me for nearly

fifty years. I thought of him when 

I took these little snaps.

One of his drawings, Just A Sign of Soul,

is shown below. I love it. Of course.

Hard Edge and Fuzzy

The primary colors are represented here, as well as

hard edge and fuzzy styles of painting.

I paused for a bit to enjoy the beautiful weather

during my walk to swim practice,

looking back to see the way Nature had

composed the yellow and red leaves of the trees

against the man-made (woman-designed)

contemporary stripes of the Eskenazi exterior.

One of my favorite things to see is the way sunlight

can reflect off the sides of trees, causing the light to bounce

and define the lines of the trunks and limbs.

No matter how I've tried, I don't seem to be able

to show that luminescence in my pictures.

So it has to remain a secret treasure, one enjoyed 

by my eyes alone and cherished in my mind.

Spring Embroidery

Most of my Saturday mornings find me at 

a swimming practice. However, not only was the site 

of this week's practice changed to a more distant location, 

bus service to my neighborhood was suspended 

because of the annual "Mini." 

It is a half-marathon race, 13.1 miles in length, 

that annually has over 30,000 participants, 

and winds its way from Downtown to 

the Speedway and back.

I took the opportunity to take a long walk,

an activity that I'd neglected because of the miserable

winter weather. It seemed like a chilly day for May,

and the plants looked a little wan, too.

Perhaps they were tired from the effort to germinate

and bud in these cold mornings.

At any rate, as I walked down Lynhurst Drive,

I noticed the sunlight on this flowering tree.

I do love lace and these white flowers looked

as though they'd been embroidered on a base of

black lace provided by the bare

limbs in the background.

When It Was Pretty

Indy's first major snowfall of the year 

brought chilling temperatures the region 

hadn't encountered for many years, 

effectively closing down the city 

for all but essential services.

After the storm passed, there was some 

relief for the people of the community, then, 

a couple days ago, another wave 

of cold air swept into the area,

with wind chills of about -40 degrees.

Temperatures now are rising, creating the feeling

of a heat wave. Woo hoo! It's a torrid 16 degrees F

outside as I type this. While another snowfall is forecast 

for a couple days from now, I've missed 

my swimming sessions and will return 

to the pool later this afternoon.

For me, the cold has been an inconvenience

while for many others it has been a real

danger. So many have had their furnaces fail

while others have no furnace at all.

As I dress this afternoon, I will keep this in mind.

I am merely cold, while others are

literally freezing.

Textured Tuesday: Subtle Gold

The colors of winter are subtle. 

What often appear to be flat grays 

are usually subtle turnings of gold, red, 

and purple, each leaning on the other 

to provide richness and depth

to an often bleak season. 

Here the remaining leaves on

a neighborhood tree stand poised 

against a backdrop

of greenish-yellow lichen.

Textured Tuesday: Firry Shade

I walked through the IMS RV lot on Georgetown Road 

to visit the trees. Summer has come with a vengance. 

After a winter that didn't want to leave, the heat and humidity, 

while appropriate to the season, are sort of a shock 

to one's system. I made a point of finding 

shade under a tall fir tree where I looked up to see

the hot sun filtering its way through the dark green lace

of the tree's needles, contrasting against

the thick, black lines of its branches.

July Theme: Facades: It's So Green

This past week, the weather has been dodgy ... the sun 

is dodging in and out of cloud cover

and rain showers have occurred once or twice a day.

Compared to last year, the green is abundant; 

all the trees are happy and flowers 

have been blooming amok.

The pictures above were taken this past week

at the Coke Field, showing shrubbery

overwhelmed with their good fortune.

The photo below was taken on the same day

 a year ago, showing the grass dried

into a mat of straw yellow.

And what has this to do with the CDP July 

theme of "Facades"? Nothing, I suppose, 

unless one realizes that one of my favorite spots

to look for bits of green, turtles, and pretty sunrises

 is actually a small grove of trees growing 

alongside a drainage ditch. People walk across

the property without realizing one can see

the occasional heron, coyotes stalking field mice,

and hawks raising their young in a nearby tree.

Yep, it is a ditch bisecting a large field that

is used as a parking lot during the IMS

racing season. But I prefer the facade, that is 

my little bit of wild in the city.

To see other interpretations of this month's

theme by photographers from all around

the world, click on the link above,

or the CDP badge to the right. 

Waltz with the Breezes

When I left to take a walk Saturday, 

the air was hot and muggy,

relieved by the gift of a breeze. 

As the afternoon went on, the promise 

of rain plied its way among the trees 

at the IMS RV lot on Georgetown Road. 

I could hear the trees as they danced, 

their leaves sounding like the rustle of taffeta

ball gowns moving to the sensuous twirls and dips 

of the breeze's three-quarter time.

A bit of the breeze touched my cheek, 

inviting me to join the dance.

And there, I could be seen, a middle-aged woman 

walking alone among a few acres worth of trees. 

With my baseball hat pulled low on my brow,

I looked up at the trees where, circling in place,

partnered by my unseen Muse, my laughter made 

a counter melody to the summer air.

  

Edges

I could stand beneath a tree all day, 

gazing upward at the leaves to check way the light 

is diffused as it makes its way from the sun

through the layers and shapes that overlap and

intersect each other on its way to the ground below.

Above, a tiny leaf makes a heart in the chest 

of one of its larger brethren, anthropomorphizing

a species that makes life on Earth possible

for the oxygen breathing species among us.

Winter's Curtain

It was just past eight o'clock Tuesday morning 

when I took this picture. Far beyond the lacy winter treeline 

and well past the blue gray curtain of clouds,

a patch of sunlit blue sky could be seen, marked by a jet's

contrail, tracing the plane's path above the winter's

cold and snow that swaddled us here below.

Textured Tuesday: Slashed and Gnarled

I've walked by this tree hundreds of times, 

but I never took notice of the cuts in its trunk 

until a couple days ago. After I'd taken a couple pictures of it, 

I questioned myself about why I'd just then paid any 

attention to the saw marks. Was it the way the sunlight 

fell on the tree, accentuating the grid cut into its gnarly base?

Some years back, the parks department installed 

a paved jogging path around the perimeter of our 

neighborhood park. The root of the tree must have interfered

with man's plan for the asphalt path, so the lines were cut

to inhibit its growth. Maybe. I'm just speculating.

The tree is doing just fine, though.

Man's plan -- thwarted.

Textured Tuesday: Patch

One rainy afternoon, while waiting for a bus, I happened 

to see this cross-hatched patch on the side of a tree.

Resembling the back-and-forth stitching on a pair 

of mended jeans, it was definitely purposely done, perhaps

to mend a wound on the tree's bark. The tree would

not have made this pattern on its own.

Textured Tuesday: Gnarly

Today, the weather was gray. I woke up to a steady rain, one that 

had played its tattoo all night against my windows. 

The rain turned into a snow shower, which made the rough

skin on this tree seem more appropriate, as it turned

its resources inward to survive the coming winter.

I suppose we all need to develop a rough skin as we get older,

we need it to preserve our ideals and our dignity. 

We need it to survive the small cruelties we see every day, 

committed by those who would believe the

world they live in is black and white, without variations

and nuances in rhythm and color,

Thank god we all do not march to the same drummer.

Or the world would be flat gray every day. 

Jewel-Like

After having rained all night, Saturday morning 

came up like jewels.The moisture clinging to the grass 

and leaves gave everything an added sparkle.

A Beautiful Morning

Friday evening was too dreary to take pictures of the 

ragged catalpa tree about a block from where I live.

It's used as a shade tree in the South, where it provides good

cover because of its broad leaves. It also hosts 

a worm that is peculiar to the tree, which is good for nothing

but fish bait. The leaves get eaten, but the tree

readily produces more. It certainly looks the worst

for worm wear now; the remaining leaves are

ragged and the 12-inch seed pods add

to the tree's spooky appearance.

Black and Yellow

Each fall, this tree produces leaves 

that look like little hearts of gold

 with curtains of black pods.

Some Rain

I spent Friday afternoon at the Speedway watching

a new addition to the weekend's annual NASCAR events -

sports car racing on the track's road course.

After three months with virtually no rain, the afternoon

was interspersed by heavy showers.

Luckily, these cars will race in the rain and did so,

with a number of tire changes, alternating

between drys and wets.

The above picture was taken at the same creek bed

I showed a few days ago, only today it has water in it,

enough to reflect the trees from which the

brown leaves have already fallen.

Textured Tuesday: Fringe Element

The bark on this tree had its own

texture accented by the remains of a vine

that had grown up the side, which appeared to have

been pulled off, leaving a feathery rope.

Tulip Tree

The Tulip Tree, or  yellow poplar, was designated 

as the state tree of Indiana in 1931.

Officially named Liriodendrum Tulipifera,

The tulip tree has broad, uniquely shaped leaves

and produces its yellow-green blossoms

each spring.

Textured Tuesday: Lichen

I was first attracted to the subtle coloration

of the lichen and moss against the gray bark of the tree.

Then the lichen seemed to have strewn itself

across the black area, looking like its own little galaxy.