Longing for Moisture: I Like Deserts but I Miss Spring Back Home

I write this from Reno, Nevada.  I am here for my 18^th visit to the United States Bowling Congress Open tournament.  Every year, the USBC runs the event over five months where bowlers from all over the country test their skills on a challenging lane condition.  The event used to be held in a different location each year but economics and host city priorities have found us returning to the National Bowling Stadium more often than some of us would like.

National Bowling Stadium, Reno, NV (11 May 2007)

In a rare example of (almost) real-time blogging, I’m actually riffing on what’s happening now...and it ain’t pretty.  As a (sort of) outdoor, environmental, naturalist guy, I appreciate arid places as much as the next person.  What living things do to survive in habitats with scant water is fascinating and the imagery of desert landscapes, with their palette of earth tone colors can be beautiful.

However, this is a harsh environment and I really don’t appreciate waking up with a dried out, stuffed up nose.  Beginning each day by blowing crusty, bloody debris out the schnoz is not my idea of a good time.  Also, some deserts can be visually stunning.  The Sonoran desert in Arizona comes to mind, with its majestic saguaro cactus. The high, dry country in this part of Nevada is not as aesthetic.  That and the tacky, worn, deadbeat character of downtown Reno makes me miss home and long for moisture and the green, thriving life that springs forth this time of year.  It also presents an excuse to show more springtime pictures.

The heavy, wet air of a foggy spring morning inspires a mood one rarely finds in the desert.

Misty Morning in the Woods Behind the House (22 March 2012)

If winter comes, can spring be far behind?

Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792 - 1822)

Brookside Gardens, in the suburban D.C. area of Maryland, has grand plantings that bloom in the spring and a terrific Christmas light display during the Holiday Season.

Brookside Gardens, Maryland (16 April 2012)

Flowers are the sweetest things God ever made 
and forgot to put a soul into.

Henry Ward Beecher (1813 - 1887)

Skunk cabbage is known as a ‘wetland indicator’ species.  The path behind the house runs through a lowland hardwood forest.  The ground is too wet to build on...thankfully.

Skunk Cabbage (12 April 2010)

Sherwood Gardens is a charming city block of plantings in a Baltimore neighborhood near Johns Hopkins University.  Every year, they plant wonderful patches of tulips among the flowering trees.

Sherwood Gardens, Baltimore (20 April 2010)

O, how this spring of love resembleth
the uncertain glory of an April day! 

William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616),

"The Two Gentlemen of Verona", Act 1 scene 3

For only about a week in the spring, the woods behind the house brings forth a carpet of lush, delicate, ground cover plants with bright, yellow flowers.

Green and Yellow Carpet, Columbia, MD (19 April 2013)

Stretching his hand out to catch the stars, 
he forgets the flowers at his feet.

Jeremy Bentham (1748 - 1832)

Hope you have had a fine, lush, temperate spring where you are and your summer is easy and pleasant.  This past winter owes us that.

Places - 5 – The Great Smoky Mountains

We’re continuing our month dedicated to Bill Coleman and his ‘Enough-Dead-Presidents-Already!  Give-Me-Pretty-Pictures!’ request.  Since the last post included the shot from Cades Cove, I am prompted to wax lyrical about one of the finest places in the country.

The Great Smoky Mountains National Park is a jewel in the National Park system.  I believe it is one of the few eastern parks that can rival the western gems like Yellowstone and Yosemite. 

View from Clingmans Dome (20 October 2008)

Known for its biodiversity, this southern Appalachian Mountain preserve is home to over 17,000 documented plant and animal species.  Thousands more are certain to be discovered.  Designated a World Heritage Site, there is probably no other temperate forested area on the planet with as many different types of living things.  This is because the mountains are very old and life was never interrupted by the glaciers that covered the northern part of the continent.  That plus the altitude of the mountains make the area a complex overlap of southern and northern species where all find habitats to thrive.

Smokies Stream (13 June 2005)

I prefer overcast days for pictures like this. Bright spots

and shadows would detract your eye from the depth and

lushness of the scene.  A tripod is an absolute necessity

since the light is so dim.  A longer exposure is required.

As I noted in the last post, we’d been to the park several times before, but the day most of these shots were taken was extra special.  I had shed the work-a-day life just a few months earlier and I was on my very first solo road trip.  New car.  New camera.  My Third Act was off to a great start.  I was hauling my bowling balls to Baton Rouge for a tournament and visiting friends and Dead Presidents on the way.  The euphoria of knowing I did not have to be back at the desk on Monday was palpable.

After a night in a motel just outside the park, I got up and out with the early light...because those ‘magic light’ hours right after sunrise and before sunset are when the best pictures are taken...except when it’s raining.  So what, I say.  Rain and clouds and mist and fog can make nice pictures as well.

Up in the Clouds

Great Smoky Mountains National Park (13 June 2005)

The above shot was made on the way to Clingmans Dome...the highest point in the park where one can see for miles in all directions.  On this day, you barely saw the next tree over. It’s the roll of the dice when you plan only one day at a special place.  It could be a pristine, crystal day or you could be socked in.  “You pays your money, you takes your chances”.

Wet Wall in the Smokies High Country

Great Smoky Mountains National Park (13 June 2005)

After the anticlimax of Clingmans Dome in the fog, I made my way down to lower elevations. Before I left the park, the rain stopped and the lush, late spring forest looked wonderful.  The park gets abundant rainfall so the growing conditions are ideal.

All Green

Great Smoky Mountains National Park (13 June 2005)

For as long as I have been taking pictures, I have 
tried to make the definitive forest photograph. For me, 
the hard part is capturing the depth and full grandeur 
of the scenes.   This one comes closer because the forest 
floor is so uniformly covered with fresh ground cover.

Some will hesitate to visit the Smokies because the easiest places to stay if you’re not a wilderness camper are in tacky, tourist towns with lots of t-shirts, fudge and plastic stuff.  Deal with it and go with the flow.  Avoid the summer months if you can but even if you can’t, the park is worth it.

The Right Place at the Right Time – Two Early Winter Surprises

We’re taking a break from the Dead Presidents Quest for a month.  The next anniversary is June 1, so the month of May is free for other topics.  Long-time colleague and friend Bill Coleman [also a blogger but on more serious issues like the survival of the planet] recently lamented the absence of natural scenes and landscape images in my posts.  So Bill, this one’s for you.

I apologize in advance for those of you still stinging from the worst winter in recent memory. No matter how beautiful, scenes of any snow may be too much to bear.

The first ‘right place / right time’ is Cades Cove inside the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.  It’s the less natural of the parks attractions...being a preserved 19^th century settlement.

We were there in 1977 on a Thanksgiving visit with dear friends, Jeff and Barb.  We were tight in grad school.  Jeff and I did our Master’s thesis research in the same Wisconsin marsh and  after he got his doctorate, he worked at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory.  Visiting them in Knoxville always included trips to the park.

Late November that year brought some precipitation to the higher elevations in the Smokies...or maybe the cold and low clouds just frosted everything near the top of the mountain.  We were there on a somewhat overcast day and my favorite shot is this muted scene.  I like the picture for its simplicity and narrow color palette.  Though it may be more a function of the cheap enlargement from the original slide, the framed 8 x 10 on the wall looks like a water color painting, especially with the birch tree accents in the foreground.

 

Early Frost, Cades Cove, TN (November 1977)

I believe it qualifies as a RP/RT entry because I had not seen the Smokies snow-capped like this before.  There can be lots of snow at all levels or no snow anywhere.  Frosty ice rarely lasts long.  A clear, bright sky would have changed the scene.  More overcast and we might not see the icy, accented ridge in the back.

The second ‘right place’ was in Vermont.  In 1987, Ray and Bev joined us on a great vacation to Nova Scotia.  This was during the time we lived in New Orleans.  A New Orleans summer makes you want to schedule vacation escapes to cooler parts of the world and we often bugged out after August, when the rest of the continent begins to cool.

In late September, we flew to Boston and rented a car to drive through the famous, fabulous New England fall before boarding a ferry from Portsmouth, Maine to Nova Scotia.  On the day we had to drive from Burlington, Vermont to the coast of Maine to catch the ferry, the weather gods decided that if we were trying to escape summer, why not dial up the next season.  While the leaves were still on the trees, a few inches of snow fell. 

Early Snow near Burlington, VT (September 1987)

I had to pull over and try to capture the scene below.  Again, the falling snow in the air and whitening ground mutes the colors but the trees still full of leaves add warmth to the image.  Also, snow in the air allows the picture to be less than tack sharp...that and the loss of quality that comes from scanning an old 2x2 transparency.  I think it’s okay for a photograph to resemble an impressionist painting.

Early Snow in Vermont (September 1987)

Again, I could have been anywhere on this autumn day.  I could have been warm and comfy inside, instead of hightailing it across three states in lousy driving conditions so we wouldn’t miss the ferry.  In the 27 years since, I have not seen as good a view of blended autumn and winter elements in one scene.  It was good fortune to be in the right place at the right time...with a camera.