I spotted this scene in the last half of my commute to work this morning. I hadn't much time but actually turned the car around, parked, and took a few moments to enjoy and photograph the view from a roadway bridge. A river respite.
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I was running a bit ahead of schedule on my way to work this morning. I stopped by the David Fortier River Park, in Olmsted Falls, to take in some quiet beauty. It was a good morning.
Although it's a Sunday, we consider this the last day of our vacation week. (Somehow it seems wrong to consider Sunday a vacation day but never mind.) We set off on an expected short visit to our own Cleveland Metroparks Zoo. We arrived just before official opening for the day today and hope to plan our visits that way often in future: early arrivals get prime parking spots, no lines at the gate, and the animals are active. The flamingos were more interesting today than at any time we have seen them before, close to their enclosure wall as well. The cheetas were also busy: chasing, pacing, and one even jumped up into a tree — also something we'd not seen before. We were shooting photographs a good part of the time, taking it easy and trying not to overheat in the mid-July sun and humidity. It was in the Primate, Cat & Aquatics building that I got my two "shots of the day." A newly-arrived clouded leopard was exploring its indoor enclosure giving me many opportunities to capture its image. I consider the clouded leopard to be the most beautiful of the great cats. At any rate, I shot many exposures of the animal using my little Canon PowerShot G11 and was rewarded with two pictures that I love: a lovely still portrait and a more dynamic image of the cat. Then we went home to hide from the heat. Tomorrow it's back to the daily grind. It won't take long for the stress to build back up but at least we'll have pictures to remind us of happier times!
I'm finally recovering (I hope) from a particularly nasty summer "cold." It started out a week ago with a sudden painful "tightness" in my lower neck and throat. Then, as the pain lessened, the malady progressed to a painless laryngitis which lasted for two or three days. There was a night of feverish discomfort followed by a day or two of relatively minor sniffles — no big deal. Then Sunday night things really went pear-shaped. A tickle in the throat became frequent coughing and I delivered myself to the couch for a night of restless sleep in an effort to avoid waking She Who Must Be Obeyed. By Monday morning I was weak, feverish, head aching, with no appetite. I called off work, returned to bed where I spent the entire day in uncomfortable, fitful sleep. After an evening watching TV (still not eating) I went to bed and had another six hours of pretty good sleep. Arising today I felt much better. There was a headache, a bit more energy, but the definite knowledge that I belonged at home and not at work. My appetite began to return mid-morning today, the headache departed, coughs are infrequent, though I'm still a bit weak in the knees and my nose remains drippy. I expect I'll be back at work tomorrow. What a week, ugh!
Before Thursday morning, I had never seen a Great Blue Heron fishing in rushing waters. Herons usually frequent the shallows of quiet lakes and streams. They wade slowly along and watch for fish to scatter from around their feet then stab at them with their sharp beaks. This bird stood still, one eye on the photographer, one apparently watching for fish, as river water cascaded over smooth rocks. I'd a little extra time on the way to work and, seeking calm, stopped at one of my favorite natural spots. The heron was a total surprise.
Thursday was a really, really lousy day at work! Started out in the wee hours with a power failure in the server rack, then a yahoo co-worker moved a couple of networked printers before their time putting them out of use, then the HR manager's PC died, and on and on and on. By the end of the day I was stressed out, my body hurt from head to toe, I was angry, frustrated, and I was physically exhausted having stayed up late with observatory programming the night before and scrambling to work an hour early when I discovered there was a crisis in progress. This morning was a time to unwind a bit on my way to the place of Thursday's torments.
One of my favorite local places is a city park in Olmsted Falls. There, amongst hand-carved rocky walls, grow mosses, flowers, and trees. Nearby a river slowly wears down its rocky bed creating the falls for which the town is named. The light and the atmosphere are peaceful there. It's on my way to work.
Several varieties of iris grow there, surely planted by forgotten hands. They glow softly in the early morning light amongst the rock walls.
An unkempt and smelly lily pond is adjacent to the park's tiny parking lot. I was looking for frogs or turtles, and even heard but did not see a bullfrog. Then I noticed the tiny black dots floating amidst the tangles of pond weed… tadpoles! Hundreds, maybe thousands of tadpoles were swimming everywhere. Most were of a very small, deep brown or black variety dotted with yellow. What I thought were bubbles of gas burbling occasionally to the surface turned out to be much larger bullfrog tadpoles! They darted to the surface, gulped air, then dove back to the relative safety of the pond floor!
Before leaving, I strolled to the bridge carrying a street over the river valley and crossed to the north side. There, perched just on the river bank, is a house of enviable location. Still, I got my respite and a bit of stress relief through a much less permanent visit to a tiny city park. One of my favorite places for, now, several decades, David Fortier River Park.
The day dawned clear and bright. We were blessed yesterday and again this morning with achingly beautiful cloudless expanses. I had the morning off –I must work tonight– so after seeing off She Who Must Be Obeyed, I headed to Hinckley Lake.
How could I stay indoors?
The woods were full of bird songs. Leaf litter is broken now with signs of new life, and old life reasserting itself with fresh green. Tiny trees make their bid for a spot of sunlight.
Great Blue Herons have returned to again fish the lake while ducks and geese, seemingly having never left, thrash about on the smooth waters. Meanwhile, at the lake's margins, wet-footed plants lap up sunlight preparing to bloom.
It was a good morning.
It was another of those mornings when it just seemed more important to slow down and look around than it was to get to work on time. I was 15 minutes late. It's alright, though; I wound up needing to stay 75 minutes late due to a computer process that ran long.
On the way to the office today –yes, I worked yesterday and today– I spotted a great blue heron flying high overhead; the first heron I've seen this year. I also saw several male robins chasing each other around as they define their territories. One pair of robins nearly met their end as they eyed each other and hopped bit by bit, ever farther out into the road ahead of me! They seemed completely oblivious to the oncoming metal Bringer of Doom descending upon them. Or they may have been robins playing "chicken." This time of year many robins die on the roads as they get involved in their aerial territorial disputes that take them across roads and highways. I'm happy I didn't thin out their gene pool this morning!
I made a bit of a diversion in my route to work this morning. It made me about 10 minutes late; worth every second on such a good morning.
PhotonStopper 