Omnia Sol

Omnia sol temperat, purus et subtilis...

The sun warms all things, pure and gentle,
bids us to rejoice; it shows us paths we know well

     ~ Carl Orff, "Carmina Burana"

                               --------------------

Spring is fast approaching.  Right now the main attraction

is my old friend the sun: stirring, thawing, coaxing me
with hope and urging my brittleness to give way.

Below the surface, invisible things are moving. I'm thinking
of sap and also the tiny rivulets of water under the snow
where meltwater meanders.

How is it that those things we don't see, that we don't
hear, but which we know regardless are often the most
sublime?

~ Hal

New Morning

New Morning

I set my camera down this winter and took a little break from
the photo journal.  Then, a few weeks ago, a friend sent me a
poem which sparked my imagination and it has felt great to get
back in the swing of things.

One of the joys of spring is watching the flowering trees bloom,
and lately I’ve been paying more attention to some of the less
obvious flowers that emerge this time of year.

For example, the sugar maples in our neighborhood have their
light green flowers hanging down, with tiny leaves unfurling
from the stems.  This bunch belongs to a tree down the street
that I encountered while walking the dog.

~ Hal

When the World Comes Alive

When the World Comes Alive

Over this past weekend I was lucky enough to spend the fishing 

season opener with a few friends on a trip in the Boundary Waters.

We put in off the Gunflint Trail in the pouring rain, and after 4 

hours of paddling and portaging we arrived at camp soaked and 

hungry.  Oh well, we survived.  Another day of wet and very cold 

weather followed, but thankfully the sun did eventually reappear.

On Saturday evening we took a break from fishing to spend some 

time hiking just south of Winchell Lake.  This area was burnt in 

2006 by the Redeye Lake fire.  The terrain is terribly charred, and 

aside from my curiosity about how forests regenerate, I was not 

feeling a real connection to the place.

Then as we turned back toward the canoes, the light caught hold 

of the new-grown shrubs and the entire hillside came alive.  I 

stopped to take it in, then captured this moment as I followed my 

friend Jim down the slope.

~ Hal

Spring Ephemeral

Spring Ephemeral

One of the things I love about working in the field of natural 

resources is that my team tries to hold our quarterly meetings 

at various parks around the state.  This spring we decided to go 

down to Big Woods State Park (near Northfield, Minnesota).   

Most of us also ended up camping there and exploring the woods 

in our off-time.

All over the park, we found the forest floor peppered with bunches 

of these trout lilies in bloom.  I had hoped to spot the very rare 

dwarf trout lilly, but it turned out I was a week too late ~ they had 

already bloomed and hidden themselves again.

Nonetheless, this tender beauty brightened my eye after an evening 

run through the woods with my friends Chris, Mike, and Shelly.

~ Hal

Spring Green

Spring Green

The first leaves are beginning to unfurl, and from a distance the 

wooded hillsides seem to gently promise that spring is truly here.

Maggie and I were talking about it and she told me that as a child, 

whenever she got a new box of colored pencils she immediately 

looked for "spring green," her favorite color.

I went looking for some way to bottle a little bit of this green 

magic and found a willow tree down the block, swaying with 

the breezes.

~ Hal

Maple Blossom Special

 

Maple Blossom Special

Word from the sugarbush is that the sap has stopped running. 

Friends who have been boiling syrup for the past month or 

so are emerging from the woods with smoky clothes and 

sticky fingers.

Here in town the hard maples are blooming. From a distance 

the flowers don't look like much, nothing more than little fuzzy 

blobs at the end of a dry twig. Most of the branches are so high 

up that you don't often get a chance to see one in detail.

On Sunday I had the bright idea to drag the tall ladder out of 

the garage and get up close and personal with the maple tree in 

our front yard. I was surprised to see how beautiful and colorful 

these flowers really are.

~ Hal

 

Hallelujah

Hallelujah

This year it seems like spring has been taking forever to arrive.

Maggie and I went out with friends to hear Chris Silver and

Tommy Bentz play on Saturday, and when we came out of the

show, it was snowing (again).

Yes, the snow laden trees were beautiful the next morning, and

I did take some nice photos, but I have been dying to see some

sign of new life. Thankfully, the snow had melted by noon and

despite a stiff wind, the sun was out to cheer us up.

Later in the afternoon, after finishing up some chores, I walked

home through the alley and ran across these little daffodil tips

poking out of the leaves in our neighbor Marcia's garden.

Hallelujah!

~ Hal