sumac | Romancing Reality

November Tour of My Neighborhood, December Tour of My Archives

December 12, 2021

Claimed by other projects, I haven’t been out with the camera for some time. Here are some photos from my last foray into the neighborhood. At the end of the post—because I couldn’t wait—I’ve included six photos from my archives and explained why.

1 One of the first things to draw my eyes was the silvery bark of the cottonwood trees on Wildflower Hill.

2 I wonder why cottonwoods always have a few leaves at the very top after the leaves lower down have left for the winter.

3 Sumacs were vying for attention, but for me the cottonwoods won out.

4 A friend told me that these purple coneflower seed heads reminded him of New Yorkers rushing around in the city.

5 Sumacs are beautiful in the fall, but they are a little too prolific on Wildflower Hill.

6 I don’t know the identity of this shrub along Island Pond, and my resident botanist isn’t here to ask.

7 But I know this is a birch.

8 The willows were taking their last gasp.

9 Cottonwoods grow on the other side of Island Pond, too.

10 I rarely take views as wide as this one of Island Pond.

11 The low-mow grass along the path that follows our ring road shows a different face almost every time I walk by.

12 Several friends have said that this grass resembles animal fur.

13 Usually the wind disperses the marsh mallow seeds before I can photograph them.

14 The inclusion of this photograph of Island Pond and the ones below need explaining. A few days ago Mark Graf posted information and examples of Pantone’s Color of the Year for 2022. The color is called Very Peri, and Mark posted some of his gorgeous photographs that display the color or something close to it. He invited others to post our own collections, but since I don’t keyword my photos by their colors, it’s hard for me to find them. This one barely makes the cut, but I ventured to post it when I read something Mark wrote in his post. “If I were King,” he said, “I think the ‘periwinkle twilight’ phase deserves a place in our nomenclature because of the soft, comforting color it blankets across the landscape. (perhaps only familiar to those willing to get out early enough to witness it)” His comment triggered my memory of this photograph, taken with my iPhone on an early morning walk. In a quick search I found a few other photos in my archives that almost make the mark. Alex Kunst comes much closer in his outstanding photographs of relevant flowers.

Update: After shutting down my computer—and way past my bedtime—I saw that Lynn Wohlers (bluebrightly) also mined her archives for Very Peri. Take a look at her beautiful examples.