Friends

The best friends 
you can 
have 
are Honest
Friends.

The internet can be a funny place. A few years ago I was able to reconnect with a childhood pal via the dreaded FB. We hadn't really been in touch since Middle School and a bit of High School, but suddenly there we were, meeting up and enjoying each other's company.

I met another person through a horse group many years ago. I met up with her when I traveled to Virginia. We have remained distant friends and have kept in touch.

There are more stories like that in my life. One recent friendship though comes to the forefront.
I met this spring with another photographer/blogger. Neither one of us were an axe murder posing as something else, thank goodness. And we had a common ground.

The love of the forest and everything in it.

We decided to hook up for a fall hike. We waited until the temperatures had cooled a bit and the bugs were not so bad.

Let me say that getting around where I live is probably one of the most difficult things to do. GPS is not accurate, it doesn't show where I live. The GPS will show my vehicle going off into Never Never Land. Road signs can be non-existent. I know our road sign took nearly 20 yrs to be put up. They forgot to add: Dead End.

Phone reception in our hills and valleys are even worse. Depending  which valley I am in, my phone tells me that there is NO availability for voice. In fact if it is in my bedroom, in our creek bottom, in the back valley, or in places at KVR it goes DING and let's me know there is nothing...Nothing Out there! 

In the end, we did find each other and begin our Fall trek together. 

As we climbed the first part of the steep trail, The Grand Old Oak welcomed us with morning light filtering through its branches.

I mean. I want to hug this tree. It seems to hug me every single time I walk by it.

I don't know how to explain it... I like the forest and I think it likes me back.

Aurora and I found our way with Charlie leading us. We arrived at the top of the bluff. 

Charlie trotted out to the edge and surveyed the forest below. Just like the Lion King would have done.

We sat down on one of the ledges and proceeded to just talk. After all meeting face to face is so much more than just writing to each other or talking on the phone.

And this happened:

Aurora found a bunch of milkweed seeds and held them up to blow them into the slight breeze. They floated over the edge and continued on their journey. Charlie was hilarious he turned towards the camera I'd set up. 
I suppose he could hear the almost inaudible clicks.

I have to admit, I love the deep forest trails so much.

We walked and chatted. I chatted in circular fashion. I started something and got sidetracked and then picked up sort of where I left off later on.

No sane mind can follow me so I will leave it at that.

The colors were beautiful and when the trail threw me for a loop I was happily surprised.

This photo edited to bring out the glorious colors of the meadow/prairie grasses we walked through while looking back at the forest we came out of.

The planted grass around us was beyond pretty. Aurora showed me that. Normally I wouldn't have given the grasses much of a glance.

But that is the fun of having another photographer along. One that can see what I'd normally overlook.

I liked the asters....I did like the grass but just took grassy looking shots. Nothing spectacular. I just soaked it all in.

We ran into other folks walking the trail which is unusual in the middle of the week. However, I suppose the incredible weather and colors brought out all sorts of folks.

Below. 

Sumac on the trail that I wanted to 'shoot' backlit using spot metering.

I like it.

We probably spent as much time chilling out with Charlie where we had parked our vehicles.

Aurora told me about a photographer who did a project called Wonderland. We talked about it at length.

I'd had an idea of something along these lines but not fantasy quite like this artist had done.

A story?

A tribute?

Something of a project?

Oh the mind whirls!

Friends are awesome. They continuously give me fantastic ideas.

In 2008, a Flickr friend Nikki told me to do a 'book' about the Forest. It was her wish. I took one year to do it. Nikki passed away and I did that book in her honor.

The Enchanted Forest.

I followed that up with another called The Sleeping Forest.

I like projects and have been mulling over a project of Bear and I.

Or something else.

Time will tell.

As well as encouragement from friends.

Never waste a good friend.

They are an extremely precious resource.

Morning?

"Hey I want to go with you on one of your morning hikes." Says my friend Bill.

I get up very early.

"How early?"

Old people early.

"Hah, I'm elderly, I get up to pee at 3:30. But I go back to bed and get up at 5 and 6 but go back to bed until CrossFit."

So what is Bill Early?

"What do you mean?"

I mean what time could you go realistically?

"I'll pick you up at 5?"

Text me when you start your pickup.

Truthfully, I would have gone earlier to 'catch' the predawn sky in my plans. But I thought I'd best not push it at all. Bill was an afternoon hiker but had recently discovered that mornings were best to beat the heat for doing outdoor stuff.

In the summer, I can't sleep past the first breath of predawn. I can't help it. I use that time to go check the fences, or walk on the ridge to watch the deer grazing in the cropland.

There is something pretty special about feeling like you have the world to yourself at that time of day.

It is almost an intrusion to have the rest of the world wake up too.

Bill is a neighbor and friend through CrossFit. He likes to complain that he is very old. He isn't. He is only 4 years older than I am. He is in his second year of retirement and true to form, he is busier now than pre retirement. He likes hiking as a form of relaxing exercise, but also has decided that he needs to get to know the area he has lived in for so many years but never had the time for.

I wanted to show him the beauty of early morning. The slanted light, the magic between dawn and day.

And... my husband feels more comfortable if I have someone going with me on my crazy excursions.

Of course I was awake at 3:30. I pondered which place I should take my friend.

So I decided to 'shoot' the Milkway since it was presenting itself right outside my porch.

That way I could be useful and ponder at the same time.

The lights in the lower half of the photo above mark my neighbor's solar lights on the dog fence and the streaks belong to the fireflies. 

The whole purpose of the morning hike was to get Bill excited enough to go with me to shoot the Milkyway or the stars above the ponds at KVR. Or to just watch a full moon set/sunrise down by the water.

That thought was two fold. While at the ponds, we could hopefully catch a glimpse of the Trumpeter Swans or other cool birds in the early morning.

Text: 4 minutes.

Text: Okay, I'll be here.

At 5, Bill picked me up. [First time in a vehicle with anyone outside my family.]

We parked as the sun was just coming over the horizon. It filtered through the wooded trail as we hiked up towards the rock outcropping. This short trail is all uphill and I can usually march up it quickly. No way was I going to make this uncomfortable for him. I matched his pace and listened to him breath.

"This is beautiful!" He kept exclaiming. The morning light was indeed enchanting as we walked right the light filtered through the heavy canopied woods.

I led him through the narrow trail up to the rock. To my horror I saw that the poison ivy had really done very well in the drought.

I asked Bill if he knew what poison ivy looked like. He didn't. So I helped negotiate the trail the rest of the way to keep his bare legs from rubbing the leaves of Three.

We'd missed the brilliant colors of dawn over the valley ....but....

The first view was enough for Bill to softly exclaim.

Wow.

wow...wow....

We spent about 20 minutes on top looking at the light, the forest, the mist, and the view.

And as promised, I had us back on the road in time for him to get home, take a short snooze and make his 9 am CrossFit class.

He was animated on the drive and asked if we could do this again. 

I let my idea of a full moon set and sunrise combo percolate with him a bit.

Next time I get smarter and bring coffee with me. I missed having coffee on the rock.