Thursday, January 26, 2012

This winter's changing light

Yesterday we walked along the edge of this field. It's currently planted in winter wheat, and the twigs you see sticking up are from the flax that was a miserable crop last year. The heat came at the wrong time or didn't come and the seed didn't develop, - so my neighbour told me.

Nevertheless, I am always entranced with the long views, with the light in the big sky that I seem to require to make my existence complete. This day leaden skies were lit with heavy white clouds along the edge of the hills in the distance. It was a pleasant walk. The dogs checked out the bales of hay - those log like structures put in swales to keep the water from heavy rains and run-off from carrying away the topsoil - a valuable commodity in this countryside full of heavy red and blue clay. The bales required extensive sniffing and marking. Then we walked further.
Water from the tile drain, which keeps the field from being a pond in spring, pours out of metal pipe. It's frozen patterns covering grasses along the edge of the little gully it's created. But here again the light attracts me. The bright white of untouched snow, blown in the previous night contrasts starkly with the black of the hemlock branches and the muddy water from the small creek in the top of the frame.

Muddy from melting ice and snow from two days ago when it was mild and rainy. The weather has been peculiar.

Normally this piece of tiny ravine would be four feet deep in snow with snowshoe tracks competing with rabbit, deer and coyote tracks. This day, it's pristine.

And then there is this - an early morning sunrise that I call a glory sky. Winter's changing light.

4 comments:

  1. Winter light is amazing! The earlier the better, but even the long shadows of noon are fascinating! Wonderful walk you had!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Winter light is amazing! The earlier the better, but even the long shadows of noon are fascinating! Wonderful walk you had!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Good morning Bill - it was indeed a great walk. The animal tracks are quite amazing, and the dogs found half a bunny which they were loathe to leave, but finally were persuaded to look for a live one elsewhere. Lots of foxes, raccoons and coyotes around as well as deer this year. And at least two feral cats... and so it goes. Hope you're enjoying your own neck of the woods in Maine.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Beautiful - glory sky is just right, Barbara.

    ReplyDelete