Good medicine

As seen this morning after dropping off my daughter at school.  I took a quick shot from my car window after slowing down for a healthy dose of these Live Oaks.

The collection of photos below were taken during a walk through the Ford property before arriving home.  So fortunate.  :))

To the tree

 I almost didn't return today, but thanks to my husband, I got to run out, literally, for another quick visit.  I was Sparkle free, so I was able to set my visions on the Spanish Moss covered tree that sits deeper and further back in the property.  Once again, I stepped into a magical world of mist and shadowy hay bundles as I quickly head back towards the tree.  It was just me out there navigating my now well known path and stopping to take a few photographs on my way.

Upon arrival to the tree, I stepped back to take in the scene of the mist covered field in the background just beginning to reveal the hay bundles.  More than a few frames were spent on that scene, but I wasn't satisfied because I couldn't capture what I wanted without a wide angle lens.  I did my best at 35mm then moved into and under the tree's canopy to take a look from within its limbs.  I loved the scene and feel with the Spanish Moss surrounding me and framing the view.  

 

As I started to leave, I stopped once again to take in the moment and the experience.  A final shot before running out of this back field.  Who knows how much longer we'll get to appreciate this scene?  I'll be weepy without my morning escape into something other, and it'll be hard to see this field disappear to development.

In the midst

See a few more photos in my online album

What an entertaining scene this morning.  I knew that I had to get out to the property before sunrise to get the shot I wanted, and I had to be completely organized to get the girls and myself ready for school and work.  According to my wiring, this usually would be impossible, but I did it.  It had to be my obsession with the hay bundles that drove me with the added plus of the recent mist that surrounds them early mornings.  A woman on a mission, I got myself up and ready, did a bit of my motherly duties, and scooted out of the house with Sparkle and my camera in hand.  It was still pre-dawn, and I knew that time was critical.  I literally jogged down the street holding my camera and talking out loud to my dog to keep her moving.  We ran across the street and into the area being developed on the outskirts of the field.  I didn't have to get much closer to see that we had made it before the sun.  The mists engulfed the field and hay bundles, and I was beyond excited to be stepping into the magic.  There's an actual moment of entry when I feel like I've left behind my dailies and move into a timelessness of sorts.  And on this day, the muted colors and dream-like grain made that transport even more so. 

I shot thoughtfully as I kept moving deeper into the field, but had to turn around after I surprised a local man whose home sits alongside the property.  He was in there for an early morning training session with his dog, and my dog, being the untrained hound she is, completely interrupted.  So we ran back to the outskirts, to our nestling of entry trees, to view it all.  I took more photos of a tree and companion hay bundle in the foreground, and continued to be in awe of the mix of hues and mist.  As I inched out backward of the field and back towards home, the sun broke through and stopped me.  I remembered to breathe and take it in, with a few more shots of course, before I started my running dash back to reality with Sparkle.  Camera in hand, running down the street, and happy.