A Beautiful Day in the Scotia Barrens

I have talked about my Freedom Fridays, and how much fun we sometimes have. Well, this one was a real peach of a day, one of the prettiest days of the year so far. And boy, did I feel lucky to have the day off! It was sunny and breezy, with dramatic clouds, and the high temperature for the day hit 60 degrees F. It was grand to be alive!

My husband and I had talked about other options, but the quickest way for us to get outdoors, to the woods, was simply to walk up the hill to the local gamelands, the Scotia Barrens, state gameland (or SGL, as I say) number 176. It's about a 20-minute walk from our house to get to the access road, and then there we were, amid the forest and the beaver ponds.

The first thing you need to know is that the pathways and parking lots are still an awful mess. There is little that is slicker than melting ice with wet mud hiding beneath it. You probably can't get your car into that parking lot; you may as well just walk. Also, don't forget your Gore-Tex boots with good traction, as conditions are wet and slippery everywhere.

We took our daysacks and our fold-up chairs, and a couple of snacks and drinks, and we spent most of our afternoon hanging out by the tree in the photo above. It was absolutely delightful in every way, and we were very happy there. "I don't think they said it would be as nice as THIS!" my husband exclaimed. What a gift: a perfect Friday!

I walked around with my camera at different times in the afternoon, as the light changed. I discovered a little evergreen tree trying to make it, in the shadow of a larger tree; I caught a bit of its reflection in the melt water below it - see the extras.

There is still snow and ice a-plenty on the beaver ponds - it is both winter AND spring there - and I became fascinated with the edges of the ice. I am including one of my ice shots in the extras, as I spent lots of time working on it. I think of this photo as Three Worlds - one is the ice, two is the ice reflection on the water surface, and three is the world beneath the water.

Since I'm including several photos, I'm giving myself permission to use more than one soundtrack song. The U2 song Beautiful Day has to be the main one, as it surely was a gorgeous day. And I'm including a second just for that little tree in the extras - Peter Gabriel and Tracy Chapman, with Don't Give Up. I'd have included a third song for the three worlds image, but I just couldn't find anything that seemed appropriate; suggestions are welcome!