Widewater

Two weeks ago Wayne tried to get me to accompany him on a local hike; I only had two hours free, so I declined. Here's what I missed. He took these photos along the C&O Canal in the area locally called Widewater. Widewater is just upstream of Washington, D.C., along the Potomac River.  The scenery here is so unlike that of most of Montgomery County, and at this time of year it can be exhilarating. It makes me think alpine lake country.  Wayne caught it on a great day for leaf color, don't you think? And I like his sense of composition.

These images, and some to follow in another post, were done with a ten year old Kodak point and shoot digital camera. I really like the color quality of the images produced by this camera - they make the ones I get from my Digital Rebel seem dry and a bit faded. 

I wonder where I got it...

Late this afternoon I wandered into the kitchen to look for something. There on the kitchen table was the paper napkin and rows of leaves you see above. Mom had been out in the garden and picked up some crepe myrtle leaves which were showing early color. She has an eye for leaves showing unusual color patterns or particularly vivid color. In a few weeks she'll be bringing in leaves of the Franklin tree (glorious, waxy scarlet) and any others which catch her eye.

I have memories from early childhood of short neighborhood trips mom, my sister and I took to collect leaves, acorns, grasses, feathers - whatever chance and the season offered. My sister would have been in the Taylor Tot at that age, I would have been four or five.

Mom got us pointed in the right direction at an early age.