Turning a Corner...

Lamy Depot - New Mexico

   November is a time for turnings.  We turn the clock back and watch the shortening days drift slowly into darkness.  We, here in the Northeast, can watch the glorious spectacle of October turn into the raw umbers and burnt siennas of November and we turn our closets into a sanctuary of woolen coats and sweaters as we prepare for the coming winter. I prefer the ancient Celtic designations for the seasons.  For them, autumn begins on August 1 when the first crops are harvested and winter begins on November 1st when livestock were slaughtered because the grass that they foraged on was gone.

     I take my cue from the little creatures who have turned the stone wall behind my house into a "chipmunk condominium complex".  They are frantically storing seeds and stuffing their dens with dry leaves and grass for winter warmth.  We are both preparing to hunker down for the lovely, and long, Maine winter.  Nature too is hard at work planting its seeds for next years wildflowers beneath the fallen leaves.  There is a subtle sense of urgency in the cooling temperatures.

   I was so pleased and deeply gratified by the response I have gotten from those who attended my talk at the Thoreau Farm this past Sunday.  Corrine Smith, my host and the author of the book, "Westward I Go Free" which accounts Thoreau's final journey to Minnesota in 1860, told me she thought my ideas on contemplative photography had "fallen on fertile ground".  That certainly was my reaction as well.  I've thought a great deal about my talk this week of Thanksgiving, and I am truly thankful for the opportunity to connect with like-minded folks.  I hope I will see many of them in April when we return to walk in Thoreau's footsteps to Two Boulder Hill and try our hand on making some personally meaningful images of the experience.

   I am also very thankful for my ever increasing blog audience.  I hope that the small seeds I sow each week will likewise fall on fertile ground and you can begin your own journey of discovery and creative expression.  When we turn a corner in our lives, as I've felt I did this year, it offers so much opportunity to see things with a new and refreshed perspective.  Here in New England we feel the seasonal turnings so profoundly and I'm ever thankful for that gift.  So, to all my friends here in the United States and around the world I wish you all.....

Happy Thanksgiving and Happy Turnings!