We hiked the trails of Germantown Reserve last weekend. And of all the areas the trails pass through, the Old Growth Forests always attract me. To be beneath the stately trees that have watched the land change.
Among them, two-hundred-year old Beeches.
Their silvery bark, weathered and worn, yet, so recognizable against the brown, leafless woods.
They rise beside the trail. Their branches still hanging on to the last papery leaves of summer.
Reaching to touch the sky.
Come along in Red Canoe as she explores the quiet backwater of Ohio's State Parks and the scenic streams and rivers of the Midwest. Discover the beauty hidden beyond the water's edge, quietly waiting, past access points, often only inches deep!
Come browse my photography site, Nature Remains: nothing but a photograph, for full-page slide shows of my favorite images and opportunities to purchase them.
In Spring of 2008, I began the study of 2 vernal pools on my property as part of the Ohio Vernal Pool Partnership monitoring program.
My 2008 journal includes the first photos and findings, as I studied this fascinating wetland area just a few steps beyond my backdoor...
2009 photos and findings,
2010,... again!
Now, 4 years later, another season is just days away!
Travel beyond the Midwest has taken me to some beautiful places. Usually off the beaten track, these places are WILD!
Acadia National Park
New River Nature Festival
Olympic National Park
Pictured Rocks and the UP
Voyageurs National Park
(click on the text above each photo for a quick get-away)
A regularly appearing feature, "Have you seen..." takes a closer, more patient look at things usually not seen in a flattering light.
Take a look!
Each spring, as winter lessens its grip and days warm with the first fragrant breezes of a new season, we collect sap from our Sugar Maples and produce just enough syrup for ourselves for the coming year.
The progress of this year's backyard endeavor is illustrated here.
Summer 2008, the tiny jewel of the avian world, a Ruby-throated Hummingbird, nested just feet from my front door. Pictures of her nest and the changing lives within are collected in this journal.
From life the size of a pea....
Cats that come to stay
(click on the text above each photo for stories in these collections)
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26 comments:
Aaaah yes. Trees talk to me. I just love the Beech. Finding those little growths at the base of a Beech is so fun. Like finding that fairies have been in the garden.
I love the change in perspectives. That's a beautiful tree.
Great swf shots, very nice perspectives. Happy Easter.
I reall like the third picture with the tree reaching into the Sky. Happy Easter.
excellent perspective, well done.
Nina....go in and edit the post and reverse the last 2 pictures and put them closer together. That will give a good view of how tall the tree is. Just a suggestion. Nice pictures.
Very nice series of shots! The blue sky in the background, the perspective, the starkness of the trees - I loved it.
nice shots!
Very nice post for sky watch.
Nice post! You have a way with words and very good pictures also.
No doubt there ... that tree is really trying to reach the sky ...
Lovely series. I really like your blog as I'm also very much resonate with Nature. Happy Easter!
Lovely photos. We don't get beeches down here but I have always loved the way they look.
A great set of Sky Watch pictures and 3 great shots of the Beech... my necks hurting now looking up at that last one. ;o)
Enjoy this coming weekend and what it brings you.
Tom
I LOVE beech trees. Here in the forest where I like to walk the beeches keep their leaves all winter. Sure they're brown...but they ARE leaves. LOL
Awesome post!
I hope you have a great weekend.
I've just spent some time catching up here. Wonderful posts! I love the little salamanders in your previous post. Nice to see the earth coming awake again. :)
Wonderful trees!
Beeches are fantastic trees. I'm looking forward to when the first new leaves appear. They have a different colour at first that has a special magic. In the woods near home we have a perfect ring of beeches (almost certainly planted like that) which is a really atmospheric spot. I almost proposed to my wife there...(but the wood ants interfered). Enjoyed your post, thanks.
Great photos of the tree, is that moss on the bottom of the tree?
Happy Easter
Nina,
Two...hundred...years. Amazing, isn't it?
Your photos are grand - as grand as the Beech trees.
Mary
I got a crink in my neck from looking waaaay up the tree all the way to the sky. Great shots. MB
Thanks for looking up for me! I'm like a couple of those comentors above: oh, my aching neck:0)
I went back and forth about which way to present these--as 3 parts top to bottom (for a more realistic tree image) or bottom to top (as I experienced it on that walk)--and decided upon the latter for this reason:
As I walked along, most of my focus was on the ground--a slick trail and the brilliant mosses catching my eye for the most part. But, when we came upon this towering ancient, the trunk drew us upward, to the reaching branches and blue sky beyond.
Were it not for the tree pointing our attention upward, we might have walked on--missing that great blue and puffy white collage.
nina,
You might check out the book "The Wild Trees"...I just finished it a couple weeks ago. I liked it a lot!
Your post made me think about what it must have been like when the settlers first came--when there were ancient beech trees. Joan
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