forest – Dutch goes the Photo!

Silent Paths

The sounds of silence

The WordPress Weekly Photo Challenge provides the theme of Silence.

One of the wonderful things about going into Nature, is that you experience a kind of silence that we can never get around the cities and towns, in which most of us live. For me, there’s nothing like the silence of being in the woods, far enough away from civilization that the only sounds that remain are produced by Nature.

Of course, these locales are not completely silent, but it appears that the sounds that are present become part of a tapestry, such that it doesn’t disturb, but, rather, envelop our own presence within the woods.

Forest-Path-Baxter-State-20060604-LW4O2297 — *Silent Path*

This moss-surrounded path allowed for very quiet walking, so that I felt part of the landscape. Also, the moss made for a wonderful resting place!

Have a wonderful day!

Beautiful Fungus

Forest floor magic

The WordPress Daily Prompt brings the focus on the lonely Mushroom. This brought me immediately to an image that I captured a number of years ago.

Mushrooms always have a bit of mystery surrounding them, as they can often be attractive, delicious and deadly… A thorough understanding of the lowly fungus is not something that many of us possess, which causes most to give the mushroom a wide berth. While I’m not a student of mycology, I do appreciate the beauty that mushrooms often posses, as they appear on forest floors, trees and many other locations that sometimes seem incongruent with growth.

Here’s one of these little beauties…

Mushrooms_MG_0090 — *The Gentle Mushroom*

A chance encounter, as I tend to keep an eye out for anything interesting to capture, causing me to get down to a lower level, so that I could get a proper view of the wonderful structure of this mushroom.

Have a wonderful day!

Wanderlust – the Path

Exploring a path!

With the inspiration from the WordPress Weekly Photo Challenge’s theme of Wanderlust, there may still be a couple of images that I’ll share.

In this 4th episode, I’d like to share another tale of wandering about. This occurred during a weekend of moose photography in Baxter State Park in Northern Maine. The group that I was with was rather loud, so, after clearing it with the tour leader, I went for a bit of exploration on the other side of the pond where we were shooting.

Which led me down this wonderful path surrounded by mossy ground…

Baxter-State-20060604-LW4O2297-wm — *The Path*

This was one of those paths that you just want to follow, as you know that there’s something magical up ahead. And sometimes there isn’t… I enjoyed this path as it led me to more small ponds, none of which provided really wonderful photo opportunities. I even tested out the moss to find that it was indeed really soft!

Sometimes, it is just the joy of following a path, even when you don’t know where it leads. And in this case it was also the joy of finding some solitude.

Oh, and by the way, when you’re in the woods, it is wonderful to be quiet and listen to all those little sounds of Nature; loud conversations carry for at least half a mile!

Wanderlust – Harvard Forest

Random acts of beauty

As I feel a bit inspired by the WordPress Weekly Photo Challenge’s theme of Wanderlust, I figure that I’ll share some of my travel images over the next couple of days.

In this 2nd episode, I feel compelled to talk about one of the activities that I allow to occur from time to time: wandering! When I talk about wandering, I refer to that random turn in a direction that I have never explored before or the urge to ignore the sign that states that the pavement ends!

This is what gets me off the beaten path and has resulted in some serendipitous discoveries, such as this one…

Harvard-Forest-Pond-Petersham_14E0575_6_4_7_8_tonemapped — *Harvard Research Forest*

Ignoring posted signs about the pavement is exactly what got me here, as at the end of the pavement there was a dirt track that I followed taking somewhat random turns in directions that looked interesting.

The Harvard Research Forest is a 3000 acre site near the town of Petersham in Massachusetts, and is used by the university for ecological research. As you can tell from this image, there are some pristine ponds that are a delight to behold.

So, the next time you go wandering, take that turn you have not explored before and ignore that occasional sign; you never know where it might lead…