Back to Where A Passion Began: Seeking Waterfalls

So many times I've been to Turner Falls in Davis, Oklahoma and never visited the Chickasaw National Recreation Area in Sulphur,  just a few miles north and east on highway 7. I went, I saw, I was very impressed.

The first thing I noticed is the sound as you approach Little Niagara Falls. I remembered what I loved so much about waterfalls. There is a rhythm to water falling and rushing and that rhythm connects us to nature in a very necessary but intangible way.

I had to stop shooting and just sit on an exposed root to listen to the sound and take in all the richness of color and light. Unfortunately, the light wasn't quite right for most of my trip. 

After I had taken the tour of several waterfalls and was already overheated, the light changed. It is amazing to me how much light changes everything. The problem is we are forced to shoot on natures' timeline not ours. 

I remember driving with family on highway to the sun in Glacier National Park. Everyone assured me we'd get the shot on the way back but you know that never happened. Light changes, conditions change not within hours but within seconds, the image that shows itself so beautifully is gone.

This is why so many wonderful vacation snapshots turn out just okay-light is everything  and it creates a pathway for the viewer to experience just a glimpse of what you saw. Light leads the eye of the viewer, explains dimension and form on a 2 dimensional frame and contrasts light to explain temperature, place and distance.

I visited the waterfalls to reinvigorate my love and water. I wanted to get back to the passion of painting the many facets of water. Chickasaw is a beautiful maize of waterfalls, ice cold, spring fed water and great places to hike. I will definitely return. I will also do another post with more detail, this was more for my  passion and enjoyment and the reason I went in the first place. 

I forgot how much I missed the sound

No it’s the color

And the sound

Rushing fingers of blue and silver, like mercury

Beautiful and pure

I smell sulphur and earth

From somewhere deep 

I compare the dimensions of water

Like the many facets of people

So many faces, moods and colors to describe

I’ve come back seeking

The beauty of what captured me before

Those steps to the tops

Of the cascades

But I was young and full of wonder

I was intoxicated by the sound

And the green rushing waters

Seeping from the ground

She was there

And that meant everything…

Now I barely listen

Had to pause the shutter to keep my place

a rich green story

where I always lose my page

distracted

the heat

the sweat

and the beauty and peace

I barely remember

And I forgot what I missed

It was the sound

No the color

And the sound…

My Secret Garden: A Place to Escape

North of Farmersville Texas the old quaint neighborhoods fade into long farm roads. Miles of empty space, small farms and cattle; it's a wonderful place to disappear.

I heard about Parkhill Prairie when I took a prairie tour at the Lavon Raptor Center on their first Saturday open house. The first few times I visited, it was cool and windy and beautifully quiet.

Hawks soared in a deep blue sky and crows called from distant perches against a backdrop of golden grasses that swayed adding to a symphony of natural sounds. I would sit on the stone wall and watch silently the distant hills and golden prairies, I had found my peaceful oasis.

Today was the first time I had walked through the green grasses and gardens of wildflowers, a perfect hot day, late spring. No cars, no people, just an explorer in my secret garden.

The crows have been replaced with the buzz of red-winged blackbirds and rich melodic notes of Dickcissel. The wind rushed through the willows and dragonflies buzzed about taunting me to catch a glimpse of their various colors, shapes and sizes.

It stirred so many memories as I walked along the edge of the several small ponds where cricket frogs and bullfrogs dashed into the shallows. My brother and I would always walk along streams looking for snakes, frogs and turtles, we were young explorers, naturalists.

Now I don't only notice the animals, it's the plants that demand my attention. Milkweed of several different species sway along with small mimosa like plants with pink fuzzy flowers, most I recognize, some are new and intriguing.

Since I've been collecting plants and wildlife gardening, my knowledge of different species has grown. I remember a trip to Tuscon where suddenly a whole new world of interest I became aware of.

I walked around several ponds, taking notes of the water for future painting, collecting notes on wildflowers and wild birds, it is my secret place and with every turn the willows blend into a green rich pasture.

The shade of the willows remind me of New Jersey, we had several giant willows where the orioles would nest in summer. The cool breeze across the prairie made the heat more comfortable and I enjoyed an afternoon of peace lost in Nature.

I will go back soon, by than perhaps summer guests will have picnics or barbecues but for now, it was all mine, an oasis to escape everything. Mission accomplished.