| Wednesday, March 18, 2020 | | New (Not) Normal | Off and on as March approached, I thought, I need to post a February blog.
I processed some images, but none of those were, at first, from the Outer Banks. At the end of January, I took my annual buying trip north to attend the Philadelphia American Handcrafted show, and to visit grandson Michael and Carrie who live in Harrisburg. Michael’s mother Faith came with me and we had a grand time choosing work for the upcoming season, and driving by the row house – still standing – where my mom lived in the city at the time she met my father. We visited a couple artisan galleries around Lancaster, I photographed hills and barns and covered bridges, and we even toured a wolf sanctuary near where Michael works at the Pennsylvania Renaissance Faire.
Pete and I both got stomach flu shortly after I got back home and that kept me inside and well, miserable, for the beginning of February.
As I began to feel better, I went out briefly to photograph “High Tide on the Sound Side” in a very cold westerly gale. I did not stay long but the fresh air was invigorating after being cooped up inside for several days.
In the middle of February I rode over to Alligator River refuge. Since I photographed the Wolf Moon in January, and wolves at the sanctuary late in the month, I thought maybe I would spot one of our red wolves in the wild. Nope. But I got a different sort of wolf gift, which you will see below. I also saw more Red-tailed Hawks in one place than I ever have before, including a pair in a tree off Wildlife Drive, just past Sawyer Lake turnoff. What a treat!
Then it was time to prep the galleries for the upcoming season. That kept me happily busy for a while. And then, like a full-force category 5 hurricane racing at the speed of a tornado, here comes CoVid-19. Everyone’s business season screeches to a halt just as it is beginning and most of us who are not essential front-line employees go home to sit and… well, whatever it is we do when we are forced indoors and told to keep a prudent distance from other humans. Let’s face it, cabin fever is hard enough when one is sick. I think it is even harder if you feel well yourself. Yet many of us are making sacrifices huge and tiny in order to help keep all of us as well as possible. Yes, I am my brothers’ (and sisters’) keeper is the proper loving response, here.
Before all our lives so dramatically changed, Ray Matthews and I went over to the mainland hoping to photograph moonrise at Lake Mattamuskeet. While we waited for dusk, we drove around wildlife drive’s loop and saw a couple of deer with some egrets and ibis. We had seen a Bald Eagle flying around Stumpy Point on 264 and we saw another that let us get only so close before it flew out of reach. We watched gathering clouds and an odd smoke/haze layer the later it got. The forecast was more promising than conditions by day’s end and we both wondered if we had driven over in vain. But we were rewarded with a spectacular full moon that played enough peek-a-boo with cloud and smoke and haze layers to allow us both to make striking images. A couple of mine are below.
Yesterday, I stood in my driveway enchanted by more birdsong than I have heard in many weeks. Once the spring migration begins, I often see a flock of Cedar Waxwings and sure enough, there was a lone bird in a tree in my yard! Later I strolled a small stretch of the Duck boardwalk by myself and then took a long walk on an empty beach. Time outside restores me, body and soul. As my movements may be further restricted in the days or weeks to come, I plan to look for beauty wherever I can find it.
One gift of photography is that an image can take me back if only for a moment to the moment of its creation. It can take the viewer to another place, perhaps a calmer or more beautiful or more joyous moment than daily life might be offering right that second. Sometimes a change in perspective is just what we need to reset our inner resilience meter. May these images do just that for you today.
And, if you will forgive this one note of business, with our galleries closed at this time, inquiries for purchase and shipping of prints are always welcome. Just message me for details.
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click for larger image | Two sets of fencing made photography challenging, but by using a shorter lens that fit between the chain links I could make some images. |
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click for larger image | High Tide Sound Side. (If you want to sound like a native-born multi-generational 'Banker, you need to say, Hoi Toide Souund Soide.) |
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click for larger image | No red wolf...BUT...just as with my Wolf Moon photo (look back at January blog if you missed it), can you see the Wolf Face behind the blackbirds?? Formed by distance out of focus trees. |
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click for larger image | I just love spotting Bald Eagles. This one let us get only so close before taking off again. |
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click for larger image | Just when we thought we might not get a moonrise, there it was! The faint pink blush was our clue the moon was up. |
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click for larger image | This is a double exposure. Slow shutter speed to smooth the water and let in enough light for the detail in the trees; fast shutter speed to get detail in the moon's surface. |
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click for larger image | I usually see Cedar Waxwings for just one day, if at all. Some years they come through so quickly I never spot them. I stood in my driveway just yesterday for this one! |
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posted by eturek at 4:28 PM |
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