It seems hard to believe.
Just last Sunday we walked in warm temperatures through Lake Katharine’s magnificent landscape, a preserve, unusual and strikingly beautiful.
Through hemlock woods, sleeping quietly beneath oak leaf blankets.
This Sunday, our weatherman is forecasting an “arctic front.”
I’m glad for the many pictures I took away with me, and the reminder they are, that even though the rural farmland surrounding me is vanishing, I live at the edge of beautiful places that will remain.
Places I can visit--for a day, and revisit--in an instant.
Sandstone cliffs surround Lake Katharine's protected habitat. Within the rock, rounded quartz pebbles remain—cemented by time, washed into the sea which covered most of Ohio 300 million years ago.
Now, fallen free as a result of weathering, they dot the trails—bright white, easily seen in the darkened preserve.
Pocks, bumps, swirls—sculpted by the elements, smoothed by the creeks have become toeholds for the smallest lichens,
the towering trees.
Could it be, it will be even more beautiful in spring?
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16 comments:
Loved that! Great pictures! Maybe you'll get some snow pictures soon.
Each season is beautiful in its own way. You see the beauty that is all around you and inspire me to also look and see.
Sherry
Very nice pictures, looks like a wonderful place to hike!
oh boy Nina, you won't believe how long I've been waiting for the page to finish loading so I could try leaving a note (I have SO much problem with the Blogger blogs :-)). Such lovely photos Nina and, as always what wonderful thoughtful words to accompany them. You often have photos of moss, which I love. I have one I've taken in October when I visited the west coast (where there was no snow). I should maybe post it sometime this week just as a reflection back type of thing ... sure, maybe.
Diane
Nina,
Thank you for dropping by. I've just scrolled through your photos. They are beautiful - exquisite. I read the story about the deer family . . .
Winter tears, winter tears . . . God I need some sunshine. Yes. Yes. I know - the circle of life, but still the tears.
Yes Nina, I'm enjoying your blog. The phots are lovely and your enjoyment is infectious! My favorite rocks are in Stone County, Arkansas and Georgian Bay!
Yes, Nina! Every season keeps it own beauty. Spring will be stunning. I love your lichen photos. I enlarged them - so detailed and full of life!
Lovely post, as usual :o)
Stacie--I visit YOU if I want to see the snow!
Q--SOMEtimes lack of anything else colorful allows the smaller beauties to be seen. If your flowers and butterflies were scattered here, I doubt I would be looking at rocks!
Chris--yes, and I can't wait to see spring in this place!
Diane--sorry, I know this page (and the last) are heavy on the photo files--I took so many pictures there, and I wanted people to be able to enlarge them and see the fine details, so left files pretty big. Thank you for being patient!
I love to scan the mossy shots--sometimes I find something buried in them!
Cathy--tears are not bad, they mean you have not hidden your gentle, sweet spirit. Tender feelings you'll appreciate come spring.
Pineyflatwoodsgirl--rocks totally change the character of an area, don't they? Give it power, mass,..
Mary--I can NOT WAIT 'til spring--I've even marked it on the calendar--but, today, zero degrees!
What a beautiful write up. I love stopping by and reading your beautiful words and the photos you have taken make me itch to go outside and explore with my new camera. I can't wait for spring either. Thanks for sharing such beautiful post. Have a nice day.
Lake Katharine looks to be a really special spot. The sandstone cliffs are beautiful.
I love how you framed those rocks and the macros are stunning! Thanks for sharing!
Love the eroded sandstone pix.
Great photos. Thanks for the tour.
The area very much resembles my "backyard" in the Ozarks. Same eroded sandstone. Same vast inland sea, I reckon. I've never noticed any embedded quarts, though. I suppose we weren't close enough to a source of igneous rock.
Michele--a new camera? It's amazing how much more I see when looking back over photos--more than I would notice walking past.
Kate--A place is truly beautiful, when you can't decide which season captures you the most!
Monarch--I could've stayed glued to the rock faces all day--so much detail, so small
Jennifer--erosion--very softening to a hard form--shows how time has worked
Marvin--I'm least versed in geology, but from what I read, there was a delta formed in our region, LONG ago, and many river-washed stones gathered there. I've never been to the Ozarks--I'm sure I'd love it! Must be beautiful.
Nina - have you ever come across the work of a Michigan artist named Gwen Frostic? Your observations put me in mind of things she wrote, and I think you would enjoy her work. She is deceased now, but her artwork is still available. But it is her books of nature thoughts that came to mind when I visited your website. Best wishes, and I hope to check back soon.
pellice--Thanks for your recommendation--though I'd never heard of her, I've just now looked into her work. She was very talented and in tune with the natural world--a compliment to be associated in the same way.
I'm glad you visited me here.
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