On Finding a Violet

I was melancholy on Sunday and thought maybe I'd head out to Edinboro to hear some music at the bluegrass festival they had going on. But as I was heading into town, I pulled off the road at the old cemetery instead.

Old graves here, with the symbols of the 1800s...willow trees, draped urns...

and holding of hands.

Simplicity...

and grandeur...

And always the children's graves. Here's Little Bayard Swift.

And most touching to me, Our Little Nelson T.Died in 1871...only 5 years old...
and I can still visit his grave and take photographs of the violet that blooms from his headstone.
I never made it to the festival.

This Girl

This girl is fifteen years old.

Next year at this time, she'll be driving my car.

She is generally a willing participant when I want to take photos.
She loves music and drawing. She still eats Spaghetti-O's with hot dogs.

She's always up for a road trip or a walk through a cemetery with me.
She is the heart of my heart.

This is the Forest Primeval

On Saturday, Em and I took a ride to Allegany State Park and circled back via Kinzua and Warren. Across from the Kinzua Dam, there's an access area where you can hike among boulders and a long waterfall.

We didn't climb very high; we didn't have to.

The forest smelled like spring and new growth. Everywhere you turned, you could find more pockets where the waterfall was streaming out around the rocks.It was so beautiful and peaceful, I found myself wishing for a moment that I could be a leaf or something, and just let myself get carried away.

A Cardinal Sin

Couldn't sleep last night...I dozed in fits and starts and finally got up for good at 3.

5:30 am found me at the corner of 2nd and State, thinking I'd take some shots of downtown as the light started to come...maybe the workers filtering into Hamot...maybe that courtyard behind Modern Tool Square with all its secret spots.

And then the camera beeped at me to tell me that I was an ass for not bringing an extra battery or checking to see how much battery life I had left before I left the house. So I hung my head in shame and drove back home in defeat.

Abstract Art

So last weekend I stopped by Asbury Woods and made my way around the boardwalk to the swamp. As per usual, there were frogs, ducks, turtles, etc. But what I found more interesting this time was the intricate array of patterns in the algae and duckweed on the water's surface.
I love the reflection of the light in this one, and the dead brown leaf in the center.This one looks like a painting to me.

And this one is maybe some kind of weird Rorschach test.
And okay...I was at the swamp. So maybe one frog.