As a photographer I pay attention to the changing light. It can change in a matter of moments. And I find that it is often the light that makes a photograph something special. Early this morning I noticed a shaft of light that lit up a patch of dried grasses at the edge of the pond and also extended in a bright angled line across the pond. I’ve never seen a shaft of light like this on the pond before. The dried grass almost looked as if it was a flame rising out of the water. And it felt a bit like
Magic Light
or a sign of some sort. I felt as if nature was telling me to pay attention and notice how the light changes everything so quickly. It was a beautiful way to start my day. The morning sun was writing with light across the pond I love so well.
The shaft of light lasted only 2-3 minutes, not very long at all, and then it was gone, as if it had never happened. Then I noticed a swirl of pond crud (sorry, I don’t know what else to call it) that I found very interesting.
Within 15 minutes the swirl had disappeared and the surface of the water had lost the swirling design that I found so beautiful. This evening the pond is covered with a pattern of concentric circles of lighter and darker “pond crud.” But it’s not nearly so pretty as this morning’s swirl.
Everything Changes
These fleeting events reminded me of how nothing stays the same. And as a photographer, they were a prompt that when I see beauty not to hesitate to photograph it or at least to notice it and be grateful for it. They are also reminders about how quickly everything changes in life. Though I’ve photographed the pond behind our house thousands of times, it’s never the same pond. The light changes, wind appears or disappears, seasons turn, animals come and go, and the water of the pond continuously moves and changes.
Last evening I saw an immature green heron on the log at the edge of the pond. That log, which is a remnant of the wise old willow tree that used to grace our backyard is a popular resting place for all kinds of wild creatures. Over the years I’ve seen owls, hawks, great blue herons, egrets, all kinds of ducks, Canada geese, painted turtles and more perched on the log. I’m so glad that we thought to place it there at the edge of the pond when the big old willow tree fell.
This world we live in is full of magic light and other kinds of magic too. There is no need to travel to far off places to experience this magic. All we need to do is to be patient, pay attention and notice the beauty that surrounds us every day in ordinary life.
When I am among the trees,
especially the willows and the honey locust,
equally the beech, the oaks and the pines,
they give off such hints of gladness.
I would almost say that they save me, and daily.I am so distant from the hope of myself,
in which I have goodness, and discernment,
and never hurry through the world
but walk slowly, and bow often.Around me the trees stir in their leaves
and call out, “Stay awhile.”
The light flows from their branches.And they call again, “It’s simple,” they say,
“and you too have come
into the world to do this, to go easy, to be filled
with light, and to shine.”— Mary Oliver
May you walk in beauty.
Marsh area at French Regional Park near sunset
Sunset light at French Regional park
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