The Joy of Four Seasons – Part 2

After living twenty years in unbalanced climates, like Goldilocks, we found one that was ‘just right’. 

One thing I like about Mid-Atlantic Maryland is that it has four regular seasons.  The spring is glorious because the region has so many flowering trees in addition to bushes and all manner of ground flowers.  The summers are occasionally awful and we hit 100 degrees almost every year. However, we are far enough north to allow cool fronts to pass through so there are breaks from the stinky hot days.   Autumn is a blaze of color in many places.  Our low mountains to the west throw sheets of color across the landscape and fall auto trips can be spectacular.  Finally, the winters are reasonable.  I know that’s a subjective term…one person’s light jacket winter is another’s four-layer ordeal.  We get snow…sometimes a lot.  But it isn’t frozen in place until April.  There are enough mild days to melt the snow fairly soon…unless there’s a lot. 

We live on the edge of a nice little lowland hardwood forest…thankfully, too wet to develop.  Six years ago, I started to shoot the same locations on days that illustrated the seasons.  Turns out there are five shots since winter with and without snow are both pretty distinctive.

Once the scenes were selected and the first shots were made, I had to make note of where the camera was positioned.  I also had to be sure there were landscape features permanent enough to last all year so I could put them in the same place on the edges of the scenes.  That information was enough to be able to return to the same spot and duplicate the picture. 

Here are some Portraits of Nature…the stuff of poetry.

Where the Path Crosses the Bridge, Columbia, MD, Late Winter 2005

Winter lies too long in country towns;

hangs on until it is stale and shabby, old and sullen.

Willa Cather (1873-1947), My Antonia

Where the Path Crosses the Bridge, Columbia, MD, Spring 2005

A little Madness in the Spring

Is wholesome even for the King.

Emily Dickenson (1830-1886)

Where the Path Crosses the Bridge, Columbia, MD, Summer 2005

In summer, the song sings itself.

William Carlos Williams (1883-1963)

Where the Path Crosses the Bridge, Columbia, MD, Autumn 2005

Autumn is a second spring when every leaf is a flower

Albert Camus (1913-1960)

Where the Path Crosses the Bridge, Columbia, MD, Winter 2006

If we had no winter, the spring would not be so pleasant;

If we did not sometimes taste of adversity,
prosperity would not be so welcome.

Anne Bradstreet (1612-1672), Meditations Divine and Moral

If you live in a place where the seasons make a favorite spot look different and special, try making a series of portraits.  Your house and landscaping, a public fountain or landmark, your favorite tree can all look terrific in the right composition in the different seasons.

The Joy of Four Seasons - Part 1

I just returned from a few days in Chicago and there are photos to share.  However, the last post mentioned my appreciation of the seasons and a promise to say more.

Even though I majored in biology in New York City, growing up there did not instill the appreciation I now have for the four seasons.  Between the concrete and steel and misplaced priorities of aimless youth, the natural world didn’t start to impress me until I moved away.

Tagged Subway, Morris Park Station, Bronx, NY (December 1975)

Initially, I liked Wisconsin because it was not New York and I especially grew to love their friendly, honest, mid-west sensibilities.  However, the winters during my five years there were brutal.  As a zoology graduate student, I had difficulty warming up (so to speak) to a region where most living things moved away, hibernated or died during the long winter season.  The best thing about Wisconsin winter is the spring that follows it…and one understands why it’s easy to get a little silly with Spring Fever.  After a long, oppressive stretch when it is dangerous to go outside without protective clothing, those first days of fresh  green growth, new blossoms and shirtsleeve weather can be euphoric.

Nor’easter, Bradford Beach, Milwaukee (February 1974)

Over three days, the storm’s crashing waves froze in 
place to build 20-foot ice cliffs on the flat sand beach

A work opportunity allowed me to swing the pendulum the other way and I moved to New Orleans.  There, too much winter was replaced by too much summer.  Sure, it encouraged all manner of biological activity (especially if you like mosquitoes, roaches and mold) but the climate was still oppressive.  And apart from certain flowers like azaleas looking good in the spring, the other seasons are not all that distinctive.

City Park in the Fog, New Orleans (April 1986)

Autumn is a fun irony there.  There is no color change in the trees but you can tell the summer is ending when the first Canadian fronts brings in cool, dry air.  Just like springtime in Wisconsin, being able to breathe real air and ADD a layer of clothing is enough to make you giddy. 

After fifteen years in the Crescent City, work again prompted relocation and I have lived happily in Maryland since 1990.  The next post will be an appreciation of that.

Another Way to See a Tree

Maryland is such a grand place in the spring.  All manner of flowering trees burst forth with blossoms. 

Columbia, Maryland (6 April 2009)

It is even more special after a nasty winter.  I must say that after living 15 years in Louisiana, I appreciate Maryland for its four regular seasons and the ways nature looks from one to the next.  The beauty and contrast of four seasons will be the subject of the next post.

When I drive into Baltimore to see the spring profusion, I often stop at Cylburn Arboretum.  In the 19^th century, Jesse Tyson was the president of the Baltimore Chrome Works.  In 1863, he built a fine house on 200+ acres near the Pimlico Racecourse.  The City of Baltimore acquired the property and in 1982, the Preserve was renamed Cylburn Arboretum (http://www.cylburnassociation.org/).

The Tyson Mansion, Cylburn Arboretum (26 September 2007)

To one side of the Tyson house, you will find a number of Japanese maples.  The trees are expansive.  You can walk under their canopies to a bench and contemplate where you are…inside and beneath a spreading tree; in a park; on this planet.  I popped a few shots toward the light in the hope of catching something special.  This one hit such a note, it now graces my calling card…the Images and More logo, if you will.  I find it mysterious, exotic and evocative. 

Of course, every time I return to Cylburn, I try to improve on the shot and find I can’t even duplicate it.

P.S. – I just returned from my photo club’s annual dinner.  After nine monthly competitions, we have one more to select a ‘Picture of the Year’.  This shot earned the 2^nd place award…a neat coincidence on the same day I decide to post the story behind it.