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It wasn’t always like this.
The places of our youth are subject to the same forces of change as everything and everywhere else; nothing truly remains the same. I had the opportunity today to visit the dot on the map that held the first school I attended: Winameg, Ohio and its Pike Township School. The school, I’d heard, was to have been rehabbed into apartments. That never happened. So the place where Mrs. Miller taught First Grade and Mrs. Secrest (my favorite) taught second; the school that hosted the bookmobile and a regular visit from the Scholastic Books salesman; that place is derelict. The windows are sad and dark, paint on the doors is faded and streaking, and the once well-manicured landscape is running wild. The playground is gone. Winameg itself was never much more than the school, a church, a few houses, and a cozy general store. Years ago the store burned down. You can’t go home again, and you can’t go back to school as places and people change. Winameg, however, will remain fixed in my memory as a happy place of my childhood.
A church, a school, and a store: Winameg, Ohio.
The lake at Wellington Reservation on a beautiful autumn day.
We spent a lovely late-morning on a photo-walk around the lake at the Wellington Reservation of Lorain County (Ohio) Metro Parks. Fast-moving clouds at times obscured the sun but between those clouds, bright blue sky showed. The air was brisk, fresh, and carried the light scent of fallen leaves. Yesterday was dark and wet. Today was bright and dry; a day of a different sort.
Some are dressed for fall while others are not.
The Great Blue Heron stood on a sand bar for a long time.
I carried the big camera and the bigger (400mm) lens with me today. I was hoping to catch sight of the Great Egret that has been hanging out at a pond not far from here. I couldn’t stop this morning but I thought that maybe, just maybe if the bird was at the pond this afternoon I could get some nice lighting effects: the early evening sun backlighting that big, white bird might be spectacular! It seems the egret likes to fish that area in the morning. I was treated, however, to a different local… a Great Blue Heron. Fortunately, I happen to love photographing the “Great Blues” so, while I missed my imagined shot, I got something really pretty nice! The big wader stood, for a long time, on a sandbar near my observing blind. Later, at a leisurely pace, the heron waded away from me and along the far shore of the pond, actively fishing. I caught the pause at late day.
Male (left) and female Yellow-legged Meadowhawks (Sympetrum vicinum) coupled in flight.
I thought dragonfly season was over. I’ve seen few of the beautiful beasties buzzing about in recent weeks and believed they were gone with the summer. I was wrong. Today we visited the Silver Creek Metro Park, Norton, Ohio, and did a little two-mile photo-walk. Around Piny Lake we spotted tiny dragonflies darting about, several coupled. I got my first images of coupled dragonflies in flight and my first shots of egg-laying activity! The (I believe) Yellow-legged Meadowhawks mate in the same fashion as other dragonflies: the male grasps the female using special pincers at the end of his tail, mating proceeds, and then the couple fly over water and she dips the end of her abdomen into the water repeatedly, depositing her fertilized eggs. It’s an amazing and very quick dance, difficult to follow and more difficult to image in the field; I’m glad for whatever measure of success displayed here!
Male (upper) and female Yellow-legged Meadowhawks as she deposits her eggs in pond water.
A Great Egret floats over still water and amid fall foliage illuminated by early light.
This morning I had a little extra time so I paid an early visit to the Strongsville (Ohio) Wildlife Area of Cleveland Metroparks. The air was unmoving and chilly but the morning light was warm. On the lake floated ducks and wading along the far shore was the resident Great Egret. I’d seen the big white bird there before and was hoping to spy it once again. I shot a good many images of the bird as it waded along the shallows, striking into the water now and again, feeding on small aquatic creatures. A hawk landed high in a neighboring tree and, after sitting there for a bit, took off. I don’t know if it was the raptor’s activity or if the egret spotted me but it sprang into flight. I squeezed off a few shots as the bird slowly flew farther along the shoreline; shown here is the best of the bunch. A little farther down the road I encountered a young buck Whitetail Deer who was apparently waiting to cross. I stopped to allow it to make up its mind. On the seat beside me was my trusty camera so, as the deer started moving, I fired off a few shots; unlike the other kind of shots, the youngster has been preserved by mine. It was a happy morning.
UPDATE: One week after I made the photo of the deer, I noted Cleveland Metroparks had closed the section of parkway where the encounter took place. The road block signs didn’t say it but it looked like the area was closed for wildlife “management.” Too bad the only way they seem to be able to manage wildlife involves rifles.
A young buck Whitetail Deer trots along at the edge of the woods.
I was to have led a local event celebrating International Observe the Moon Night tonight but the weather has been unfriendly to such endeavors! There was one giant “sucker hole” that let me see the Moon briefly; it was quickly replaced by something pretty spectacular but much closer to home…
No Moon – Stormy Sunset
On the forest floor, green leaves begin to change color as summer ends.
Autumn is nearly here. Mornings are chilly and dew-dripping. Breezes freshen and the air feels drier, seems more transparent. The earliest touches of fall color are showing in the trees and even on the forest floor. Nights are noticeably longer. Autumn is nearly here and there are signs all around.
A portion of a full-spectrum rainbow and traces of concentric rings grace the eastern sky.
The skies began clearing this evening after a day of dull, gray clouds and occasional light rain. As I was driving this evening the sun began shining brightly from behind me and ahead, against a backdrop of dark cloud, a rainbow began to appear. As the sun grew brighter, so did the long, colorful arc — a full bow across the eastern sky. Of course there was little opportunity for a clear view of the spectacle so, at my first opportunity, I pulled into a parking lot, whipped out my Canon PowerShot G11, and made a few exposures of the brightest part of the rainbow. The colors were unbelievably intense and the full spectrum of visible color could be seen — most unusual! Traces of concentric bows could also be spotted but the bright bands completely dominated the scene. As I watched the colors began fading from the northern section of the rainbow, intensifying in the southern part — behind wires, trees, and buildings; the show was over for me. I’m glad I stopped as soon as I could. I’m a sucker for ordinary miracles.
PhotonStopper 