While I loved the largest of the trees and never tired of seeing them, I suppose some of my favorite redwood scenes were of the mixed-age forests. Old veterans scarred black with fire, hollowed out even but still standing, damaged by winter storms through the centuries. Beside them healthy young trees or spindly saplings, some from the logs of fallen trees, a variety of shapes and colors and textures between them.
Yet marked I where the bolt of Cupid fell.
It fell upon a little western flower,
Before milk-white, now purple with love’s wound,
And maidens call it love-in-idleness.
Oberon in Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream
An unexpected delight from my visit to the redwoods was finding trillium all across the park, little jewels blooming beneath the giants. Our western trillium blooms white early in the spring and turns purple as it ages, like the flower in the bard’s tale.
Everywhere I go, animals are overjoyed to see me. I can’t believe it’s been a year since I was in the redwoods, can’t wait to get down there again.
Of all the soft pictures on this trip to Mississippi, this portrait of a chipping sparrow perched in the center of a tree hurts the most, as it is my favorite bird picture from the trip. I missed the focus on the little bird, leaving little detail in its feathers. We have chipping sparrows here in Oregon, but I don’t recall seeing one, so I took as many pictures as I could while I had the chance. Some of the others came out sharper, but I still like this abstract one the best.
While photographing birds on my last day in Mississippi, I didn’t have a lot of clear backgrounds to isolate the birds. But when this brown thrasher popped up into the tree, I took a picture I wouldn’t have normally just because I so rarely get to see this bird. Reviewing my pictures that night, I actually liked the different look of the background and wanted to try for some similar pictures the next morning before our flight home.
Unfortunately, a heavy downpour arrived at midnight and didn’t depart until we did. Ah well, something to try on the next visit!