Manifestations at Sunset

"The world is charged with the grandeur of God." - Gerard Manley Hopkins

I took these photos on the last evening 

of a staff retreat at Salter Path, N.C. 

Transformation was the theme. 

Maine Island: Variations on a Scene

The island in Casco Bay where my husband's family cottage sits has many moods. I have been coming here for 14 years as summer slides into fall. The slanting light becomes more beautiful each day as the equinox approaches.

Each familiar scene never looks the same twice. Always something is different - the light, the wind, the clouds, the vantage point, the tides that rise and ebb 10 feet every 13 hours. Here are a few favorite photos from the last three years of the East End point. This is the view we see when walking a couple of hundred feet to the stairs that lead to the beach. 

After a rainstorm, the late afternoon sun strikes the white birches that line the shore.

Wind from the northwest brings low dramatic clouds and rockweed is exposed as the tide goes out. 

This view of the East End was taken from halfway down the beach.

A different kind of calm from the photo above. The scene is ethereal at dawn. 

Inviting in the late afternoon.

Violent, yet exhilarating, during tropical storm Irene.

Cold and lonely when the sun goes behind a cloud.

Tonight we'll sit on the point that looks toward the East End and watch the stars. It was here that God began to find me. 

Wordless Wednesday: Red and Green

Japanese maple

Japanese plum yew and variegated ivy

Oakleaf hydrangea

Southern magnolia

Eastern prickly pear

Spiritual Lessons

Wind, rain and cold arrived, and the leaves decided it was time to let go. Here are two photos of the garden near the bench, taken one week apart. The geranium still blooms merrily, oblivious of the coming frost. 

"Let us draw a lesson from nature, which always works by short ways. When the fruit is ripe, it falls. When the fruit is despatched, the leaf falls. The circuit of the waters is mere falling. The walking of man and all animals is a falling forward.” 
                                                                                        -- Ralph Waldo Emerson

Nature Reflections

There is an irony in being a nature blogger. It is easy to spend more time using technology to blog about nature than actually enjoying nature. So today I deliberately left the good digital camera at home during my hike along New Hope Creek. 

I hadn't walked far when the leap in my heart whispered, "take a picture." So I pulled out the smart phone. The creek was low and still, the sky was achingly blue, the trees just starting to turn color, the low angle of the sun perfect for reflection. 

What is this urge to capture the moment? To hold it, to share it? I sat by the creek and meditated, trying to empty myself of words that describe, images to hold. It's hard. 

On the way back, I encountered another still life in a pool among the rocks. 

It's my new screensaver.

Or do I like it better upside down? A peek out of a cave at trees blurred by a breeze, leaves floating in the air. 

We love nature, yet we can't stop manipulating it. 

Blue Ridge Mountains

We spent a weekend in the Blue Ridge Mountains, going for hikes and enjoying the beautiful surroundings and cooler temperatures (70s!). Now I'm stunned by the 100-degree heat, having lost my heat tolerance while away. I am indulging fantasies of moving there. Here is the view from the front porch of our B&B in Valle Crucis, NC.

The first day we hiked on Grandfather Mountain, starting at Mile 302.8 of the Blue Ridge Parkway. I was enchanted with the lush forest from the start of the walk.  

Ten-to-fifteen foot high rhododendrons, in full bloom, bordered much of the path until we got to higher elevations. Unfortunately, the rhodies with their pinkish-white blooms are difficult to photograph with a point-and-shoot camera. But the effect was magical.

I later learned that the rhododendrons are Rhododendron maximum, a variety that alternates a growth year with a bloom year. I am grateful that we got to experience them in bloom - an unexpected treat.

Here is a tree with a will to live. 

The trail was narrow but well-maintained. It's part of the Tanawha Trail. The hike we did was recommended by the Appalachian Treks blog, a random Internet find with great information about (and lovely photos of) different hikes. 

We come to the first of two overlooks. Can you see why the mountains are known as the Blue Ridge? Although the view is stunning, there is nothing stark about it, as the mountains are clothed in forests. Even the high ledges, known as heath balds, are green with azaleas and blueberry bushes growing in crevices. 

The light breaking through the clouds creates lovely patchwork effects. 

A view toward the Linn Cove viaduct.

Coming down from the ridge, we soon came to the most magical meadow I have ever seen. It was an opening on a sloping mountainside filled with wild phlox, bee balm and a few yellow composites. 

Michaux's saxifrage grows in a crevice.

On our way back, clouds were blowing across the rocks high on the mountain.

A hiker sits and looks down into a valley hidden by clouds. 

Valle Crucis has a lovely community park where we walked in the evenings. It has views of mountains in every direction. Here, we look across farmland to the high hills. 

The Watauga River runs through Valle Crucis. We waded into the cool waters. The river used to be known for its pristine water. But a controversial shopping mall built at the headwaters of the river resulted in silt overflows into the river for 20 miles downstream. The water still looks clear by the standards of the rivers and creeks I frequent. 

This is the largest sycamore tree I've ever seen. 

Another view from upper Valle Crucis. 

View from the Beacon Heights overlook. We sat here for awhile to absorb it. Mountaintops make me feel small, in a good way. I get the sense of being part of something much greater. 

This is the glorious, loud, rushing falls at Crab Orchard Creek. I sat here and tried to let the sound of the water carry me away ... 

I'm already wondering when I can get back to the Blue Ridge Mountains.