sunrise

Just after sunrise is one of my favorite times during the spring. I love smelling the fresh, cool air on a misty morning. This is an image of Patriot Lake. It's on my way to work every morning, and some mornings it is impossible to pass by without stopping, getting out of the truck and watching the sunrise. The morning this shot was taken was a particularly nice morning... a little bit cool and ducks were out on the lake enjoying the morning. The color of the sky and water was really nice that morning too.

bayou reflection

Turtle Bayou
Wolf River Natural Area
Memphis, Tennessee

into the glen

I don't hike paved paths very often, but I discovered a new one [at least a new one for me] recently and have been totally enjoying the bottomlands glen trail. It's a short loop trail, about a mile long and mostly level. Very few elevation changes. Very quiet. Very relaxing. Nice to get away at lunchtime for a few minutes.

springtime shadows

We are enjoying 80ºF, cloudless days this week. This could be the nicest spring week in recent memory. I am enjoying some great lunchtime hikes and after-work adventures. This self-portrait was taken on The Boulevard Trail leading into the Lucius Burch Natural Area of Shelby Farms. I liked the shadows being cast by the noonday sun and the emerging springtime greenery. Pardon the shirtless portrait, but the shadows just didn't work nearly as well on fabric.

Hope you are having a great spring [or fall depending on your part of the world].

greening of the red trail

cattaraugus creek

I am back from a short, three-day trip to Erie, Pennsylvania for a press-check. I like Erie. I lived there in a tent for a few weeks in 1972 [between the time I quit my job as a supermarket stockman and the time I was inducted into the Air Force]... I lived in a tent in several parts of the country that spring and summer.

Anyway... while in Erie for this trip I had a little bit of time after the first day of business, so I visited Zoar Valley [an hour or so away from Erie] for a bit of exploring and hiking. At 36º with off and on snow showers, the weather wasn't very nice but the hike was.

Cattaraugus Creek
Zoar Valley
southeast of Gowanda, New York

we all have wings, but some us don't know why.

through the wetlands

....i get carried away when i'm on this boardwalk. i take lots and lots and lots of pictures. the shadows and the light are always different. i can't get enough of it. the preserve is only about 15 minutes from home, and i can drive over there just about any time, and spend time in the solitude of this great wetland preserve.

William B Clark Nature Preserve
Nature Conservancy
Rossville, Tennessee