Late Day, Leelanau, August - Which Shot Do You Like Better?

 

Without a Camera

Sometimes I "take" pictures without a camera, not having it in hand, even not wanting the burden of carrying it. “Look at this,” I tell myself. “Remember this.” And so --

Along Eagle highway: brightly painted hay wagons at one of my favorite farms, neatly lined up in the sun after freshly cut and baled hay was put away in the barn.

Same road: broad alternating strips of shade and light where rising sun casts first light through a cherry orchard onto the grassy roadside. 

A quiet back road, walking: among stands of late summer goldenrod, a single stalk of June primrose, with its lighter, clearer yellow, blooms out of season.

This morning, early: a glowing full moon, luminous in the southwest, setting over the orchard, lighting the sky (clear after a night of rain) brighter than false dawn in the east.

Last Year's Tree

We drove the same long, diagonal two-lane road this year that we traveled last year, and, once again, the prairie's dominant daytime colors were dun, brown, and black. Not a cloud in the sky. And this year no sparkling frost. But once again, after the sun went down below the horizon, the prairie played its ace in the hole, silhouettes, and I recognized several individual trees along the way from last year -- and so, searched out this old photo, as I was at the wheel yesterday and could not be driver and photographer simultaneously. Imagine the tree drawn in blackest ink, every branch faithfully reproduced and presented against a surreal watercolor sky whose rainbow hues fade imperceptibly and seamlessly into one another. I called last year's Books in Northport post "Its Own Kind of Beauty." Other than trees, the prairie offers stark groupings of farm buildings, clean geometrical shapes connected by elaborate systems of chutes and pipes. Farmhouses themselves are often surrounded by sheltering evergreens planted long ago. But it is the lone trees along the highway that speak to me most clearly of beauty, and "I think that I have never seen" a tree until I see it against the evening prairie sky.

My Favorite Farm, Beautiful in Every Mood and Season

I never drive by without pausing to admire this farm in its neat, productive setting, and this morning the natural lighting was extraordinary.

Summer on the Wing

Some Up North summer mornings are magical. Moment by moment, they offer unexpected beauty, whether in the village or out on the back roads of the township. How many days are we fortunate enough to glimpse a great blue heron in flight along the creek? And why should someone have left a colorful bouquet on a country road signpost?

The truth is, though, that on a beautiful morning everything is beautiful -- the most "ordinary," quotidian scenes heartbreaking in their perfection. Ah, life! You shameless seducer, you!

Nominating the Prettiest Place in the County

Many years ago I worked in a university office that subscribed to a number of farming magazines, some research-oriented, others more for family entertainment, and one of those magazines — I don’t remember which one — had a monthly feature called “The Prettiest Place in the Country.” Subscribers were encouraged to send in photographs and descriptions, nominating their own farms for recognition. I always turned to that feature first, and I still think of today, whenever I drive Eagle Highway past the farm in the photograph above, a farm I never fail to admire and appreciate. 

I often call it (pointing it out to my husband, the Artist, as if for the first time) “the prettiest place” not for its scenic location or any fairy tale aspects of the house and grounds but because it is, overall, such a clearly prosperous and well-run place. Note the neatly painted buildings, wagons lined up in a row, and lush beautiful fields of hay and grain. I have always appreciated the diversity and attention to home economics represented by the tidy woodpile, small home orchard, and livestock that used to be pastured out behind the barns. 

In every season of the year, you know you are looking at a place operated and maintained by a farmer who cares. To me, that’s beautiful.

One Harvest Down, Another To Go

A Beautiful Farm

I love driving by this farm on Eagle Highway. In every season, every aspect looks tidy and productive, as well as scenic.