“Sunrise Filtering Through the Fog”
Heatherwood View
As the sun breaks the horizon,
Its light filters through the fog.
A pink wonder appears.
Every sunrise presents a different view of the day ahead. Each one is an open slate, ready for us to make it the best it can be!
“As the Mist Lifted”
Heatherwood View
For the last several days, the valley below our home has been filled with fog, obscuring the bucolic snow covered hills to the south. Yesterday as the fog mist lifted, it left an etherial view of the hillside. It was a calm, peaceful way to start the day.
“Birches and Clouds”
Heatherwood Winter
Dark billowy clouds and fresh snow,
Filtered through stately trees,
Open a new perspective.
I don’t often view these birches from this perspective taken from the road looking southeast into our garden. It is the least cluttered view of the set of trees. Taking this image reminds me to take my time and try to view my subject (and aspects of life) from many perspectives instead of just taking a “snap shot” from a convenient spot.
This set of birches frame in our woodland garden from the north. Heatherwood has three sets of three birches. Two sets were here when I moved to Selah in 2016. They were planted 12-15 years ago. The third set of birches are babies, just planted last year. Each set establishes an anchor spot in our garden.
“Winter Morning Glow”
Heatherwood Winter
We have many wonderfully beautiful sunrises during the winter months at Heatherwood. We typically have low hanging clouds on the horizon. The pink skies radiate off the crisp winter snow. The color was spectacular. I looked up from my office desk and saw the sun just breaking over the cloud and fog covered horizon. I quickly grabbed my camera and went out to the patio in my slippers and tried to catch the sunrise on the distant hills. A few minutes later I looked down to our garden and saw this brilliant pink color reflecting off the snow. The fog was rolling in but had not reached the upper part of our garden yet. I was extremely lucky to have this little vignette right in front of me. Thank YOU!
This image was created about 1 hour prior to the image on my previous post. I could see the fog rolling up the hill until it totally encased our garden. As quickly as it rolled in it receded leaving a tell-tale trail of hoar frost.
“Winter Garden in Fog”
Heatherwood Winter
The fog rolled in and left Heatherwood engulfed in a hazy mist. Hoar frost ice crystals formed on the tips of the plants. It was like a winter wonderland. I grabbed my camera and off I went!
Even on a dreary dark winter day, our garden is a place full of nature’s little gifts. Every time I go out, I see a different perspective of something I have passed a hundred times before. It catches my attention and interest and begs me to try to create an appropriate image. Last year I took over 36,000 images of our Heatherwood garden (not including photos on my iPhone)! I have just completed my 2021 garden highlights selections of about 360 images (1percent). My resolution for this year is to be a little bit more selective. I don’t know if that will work because another resolution is to experiment more and be more creative. It will be a balance.
“Selah Ridge and 1890’s Flume”
Heatherwood Winter
Our historic irrigation flume is no more. It saddens my heart. This week a construction crew started tearing down the flume to convert our irrigation source to a buried pipeline. One of the first things that attracted me to this location was the surrounding ridge and the historic irrigation flume background. Over the six years that I have lived here, there is hardly a day that goes by that I do not gaze upon the hill and flume. I start each day in my office, writing in my journal. I always turn to look out my window over the Heatherwood landscape and up to the flume and ridge. From our living room we look out over the patio again to the ridge and the flume above.
As we designed and developed our Heatherwood landscape, we created multiple view windows that framed the flume and ridge. Several of our garden “sitting rooms” faced the hills and flume. It was a wonderful “borrowed” background for Heatherwood.
Now the above portion of the flume is gone. We were lucky enough to talk the contractor into salvaging a small portion of the flume and bringing it down to our property. We will carefully place it and build a special garden around it. It will be a little remembrance of the area’s history and the special image of the wonderful background that use to be.
“Two Towers With a Squiggle”
New York City
I just do not get it. Why the squiggle in these two towers in Manhattan? Was it just to make the symmetric buildings look different? I wonder just how much it cost to add such a non-value architectural element. The squiggle catches my eye, but that is all it does for me.
Maybe I am just not sophisticated enough to appreciate it.
“Bryant Park Skyscraper”
New York City
This image is an “eye-teaser.” Does the center portion of the image extend outward or recede inward? Whichever you choose, close your eyes, squint, and choose again. This is another skyscraper around Bryant Park that intrigues me. I spent several minutes staring upward to determine the correct answer. But does the real answer matter, or is it just a matter of perspective?
“Bryant Park Skyscrapers”
New York City
These two adjacent buildings with their lines, curves, and reflections have always made me stop and look up. I make it a point on almost every trip to New York to take a walk in Bryant Park. Skyscrapers tower around the park. I look up and get dizzy as I try to make out the lines of the buildings and the relationships of the reflections.
“Nature Meets Architecture”
The Highline, New York City
This is another interesting building next to the Highline. I get excited when I see beautiful gardens and cool architecture. The Highline is a great place to visit where gardens and architecture meet.
One of the reasons I visited the Highline was to get ideas for our garden. At Heatherwood, we are trying to create a naturalistic combination of perennials and tree groves. The Highline planting designs by Piet Oudolf exemplify the look and feelings that we are targeting.