The art of nature (20)

(Relaxing on the dock at sunset.)

Whenever I step outdoors this time of year I always feel like I’ve walked into a painting.  The colors are amazing, almost unreal at times.  Sunset yesterday was one of those times that was super-saturated with color.

(Color display at the back of the pond.)

M and I rowed out to the swim platform to celebrate what might be the last warm sunset of the season.  When we first went out we could see rain in the not-too-distant distance:

Thunder boomed frequently but we saw only one or two flashes of lightning.  The storms moved quickly, heading north and east of us.  We felt a few rain drops as the breeze picked up and the temperature dropped.

Eventually the sun came out from behind the clouds and added light to the color display.

It was a glorious evening.  We sat on the platform for about an hour or so, talking occasionally and enjoying the silences in between.  We rowed back to shore while it was still light enough to see.  I thought about staying longer but it cooled off quickly once the front moved through and the sun had set.

Today is day 20.  I wound up back in the woods, admiring the sunlight and shadows.

(Entering the woods.)

I found a patch of mushrooms that I attempted to photograph by playing around with manual settings.  I got some weird stuff but nothing worth putting on the blog until I’ve played around with it in Photoshop.  Even then it might be a waste of time and effort but I do like the sun flares and beams in some of the shots so it seems worth a try.  The mushrooms were near the creek where there is more light now than there was just a week or so ago.

One of the things I like about this time of year is that when I walk around the pond on a warm and sunny day, the kind of day in which the turtles and snakes like to sun themselves, I crunch through the leaves making enough noise to scare off the snakes and snapping turtles.  I have nothing against either of them but having read that snappers are quick and aggressive on land and, having had a snake crawl up my leg when I was the warmest thing out by the pond, well, I think it’s better all around if the snakes and snappers know when I’m approaching.

(Ripples and reflections.)

I never know how to end these posts so I’ll leave you with one of my favorite images from today and a quote…

(Life and death.)

Life is life, and death is life, and everything in between.  ~ Terri Guillemets