Pictures for Pam, Day 26: Cascading Gingko Leaves

(The best impact is full screen against black!) :)

It was a good thing I went crazy with my camera yesterday--I took hundreds of frost pictures! I looked out today and though I could tell that it was frosty and cold, it was merely a dusting. Of course that's still beautiful to see but it's not the same as the spiky formations that showed up yesterday. (I'll be posting a picture for HFF, if not sooner! :D)

Once I got outside and began my walk, I soon discovered my special present for the day. Tromping along I became aware that my feet were having a conversation with the ground! "CRUNCH - CRUNCHO - CRUNCH?" "CRUNCH! CRUNCHITY - CRUNCH-CRUNCH!" I stopped. So did the conversation. OH MY! I took a step. "CRUNCH!" Eyes wide and grinning, I tried for two. "CRUNCHITY-CRUNCH!" My inner child giggled with joy, "THE GROUND IS TALKING!!"

The temperature has been low enough for long enough now that the ground has finally frozen. Have you ever walked on frozen soil or gravel? Did you notice how different it feels and sounds than when it is dry or wet? "CRUNCH - CRUNCH - CRUNCH!" My feet carried on a very animated conversation as we walked along, the ground replying with wise quips of its own. "CRUNCHY - CRUNCHO-CRUNCH!" I passed the time happily listening in and enjoying the crisp, foggy morning. No way would I miss any of the riveting conversation so I left my phone and ear buds sitting unused next to my pile of lap-counting rocks. Little birds in the trees looked down at us and twittered in with their own remarks; far off I heard a pair of Canada Geese honk a retort of their own. To end my walk Steve met me on my last lap for a long, warm hug and "Good morning my love!" It was a wonderful day.

Every day I make my rounds to visit, appreciate and comment on newly posted pictures from contacts, I am filled with emotion and I just love that. It's so nice to be able to express these feelings to each person, and what a nice way to say thank you for sharing these image with me! When I returned to ipernity a few weeks back, I was shocked to realize that I had forgotten what this experience was like--that's how far I had sunk into my hole. It's so nice to be back.

One of the feelings I love most is inspiration. The other day I visited Christiane and found myself staring at a magical picture of Gingko leaves in shades of autumn gold. "Ohhhh, soooo pretty!!" As I stared dreamily at the leaves, I imagined how they would look as they turned and caught the light, rustling softly in the breeze. A thought suddenly occurred to me. "Why, I took some pictures of Gingko leaves once, didn't i?" Thinking back I remembered. A couple of years ago Steve and I went to a very pretty park about 30 miles/48km away for some fall photography. I wondered if I did anything with the pictures. I immediately dove into my bottomless Photo Drive and located the folder. My jaw hung open. Wow...hundreds and hundreds of pictures and I'd only processed one image. What a bummer!

I began scanning through the pictures and ... THERE THEY WERE! GINGKO LEAVES! YAY!!! I could barely contain my excitement at the glowing thumbnails. However, as took a closer look, I discovered to my dismay that one after the next had problems. If it wasn't blurry, the area of focus was wrong, or the dof was too shallow or deep, or the image was too busy, etc. One by one I deleted pictures. As the pile of several dozen soon shrunk to a handful, I worried, "Please let there be just one that came out, oh please, please, please!" And then I landed on this one. This cropped composition was found hiding in an overall busy image, but I was able to find what I saw that day! HOORAY! (99% of my pictures are cropped, as I like to have space available to rotate and choose a composition that isn't set in stone by my original capture)

Pam, this picture fills me with joyful imagination. I think of you standing underneath with your shining, smiling face beaming upwards as a stream of beautiful leaves dances down around you. Behold, my Autumn Queen of the Gingko Leaves! *hugs*

Explored on 12/5/18, highest placement, #5.