Stormy weather

Sunset on the deck yesterday

March has decided to come in like a lion this year.  Shortly after I posted yesterday I stepped outside to find summer-like warmth and humidity had taken over.  The birds were chattering.  Insects were buzzing.  Clouds skimmed briskly across the skyscape.  A tornado watch was issued.  It was the clash of the seasons.  Spring had bullied its way in and Winter was trying to make a comeback.

Here's looking at you

We sat outside for a while enjoying the suddenly warm day, grilling some veggie burgers for dinner before the winds really started to gust.

Overnight the wind roared and howled, rattling the house and shaking loose more shingles.  M had just replaced the shingles that were blown off over the weekend.  The wind has not been kind to our roof lately.

Today it is quiet and cold.  The birds are hunkered down.  The insects went back to wherever they’ve been hiding out.  The weather roller coaster ride isn’t over.  It will be warm again tomorrow, just ahead of another cold front which might bring us snow this weekend.  Spring and Winter, battling it out.

Back to Reeds Gap State Park

Let’s go back to Reeds Gap State Park on Sunday, when the weather was chilly but calm, and the setting sun created such wonderful light in the woods.

I sure took a lot of photos for such a short hike.  This might be a sign that it’s time for me to slow down, stop taking so many pictures, and start enjoying the outdoors without viewing it through the lens of the camera all the time.

Stones in the historic water storage dam built in the mid-1800s

I might have to start small by taking a walk around the pond without the camera and build up to bigger hikes.  I find it difficult to leave the camera behind, as if something great will come along and I’ll miss it.

Remains of the water storage dam built by the Reeds (to the left).

I won’t miss anything.  In fact, I will probably see more and enjoy more.

I have this incredible sense of deja vu at the moment, as if I’ve written this blog post many times in the past.  I bet I have.  Every now and then I overdo it with the photographs and feel as though I need to step back.

There are worse addictions than photography to have, that’s for sure.  But it is a good idea to seek balance, to not have or do too much, to be satisfied with enough.

Most of our energy goes into upholding our importance.  If we were capable of losing some of that importance, two extraordinary things would happen to us.  One, we would free our energy from trying to maintain the illusory idea of our grandeur; and two, we would provide ourselves with enough energy to catch a glimpse of the actual grandeur of the universe.

~ Carlos Castaneda

Thanks for joining me here in the Bogs today.  After a mostly cloudy day, the sun has finally come out and it’s a good time for a walk.  Let’s take a stroll around the pond without the camera, and simply and thoroughly enjoy nature.

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