Saturday, December 15, 2007

Lake-Island Arbor Before the Squall


Here in the northeast USA tonight, we're having light snow, the beginning of the Nor'easter that's supposed to pack a wallop for tomorrow. The air is damp and raw and the cloud cover is thick and low in the night sky. I guess I was missing the warmth and light of summer, and decided to post this photo.


Summer has its own dynamic, as you know, so different from what's going on here tonight. Not cycles of ice and snow, but of sunny days interspersed with rainy ones. And usually, the heat and humidity are present and at least a little oppressive.


The life of a lake has its own moods and nuances. On this lake in the Sebago region of Maine, you can see and feel a squall coming well before a stiff wind out of the White Mountains blows in across the lake, creating whitecaps and a chaos of water textures. Loons often set up a raucous ceremony of plaintive calls across the water, as if warning their wayward partners to head back to the nest. If it's a thunderstorm that's looming, giant thunderheads pile like fortresses in the sky over the lake, well before the deafening booms shake the forest. When the sky opens, the rain sizzles as it hits the churning lake surface. The far shore is hidden by a heaving curtain of heavy, pelting droplets, and it's easy to lose perspective and orientation if you're stuck out in it.


In this photo the storm hasn't quite materialized yet, over this Maine lake. The ridge of trees glows in the afternoon sunlight as the sky turns dark behind it. I love the contrast between the darkening sky and the illumined tree trunks, and how the texture and color stand out on both the trunks and foliage. Ah, how I would enjoy the drama of a passing thunderstorm tonight, instead of the ice and snow. Guess I'm getting old!


"Lake-Island Arbor Before the Squall" is available for purchase at www.lyndalehmann.com. Image and text c 2007 Lynda Lehmann.


Add to Technorati Favorites

AddThis Social Bookmark Button

14 comments:

  1. :) There is nothing wrong with holding on to pleasant memories - althought your description of the night's sky seemed pretty cozy to me. :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. hey Lynda!
    saluti italiani!
    Dear,where are your Italian picts?!
    I really like black & white photos of roots..
    have you a great Christmas,Lynda!
    Auguri
    ciao
    hanna

    ReplyDelete
  3. I can see it in your photo....a stillness and clarity too....having lived on a lake for most of my life....your beautiful description is so apt....
    sounds like it has come straight out of a novel Lynda....

    ReplyDelete
  4. You have a wonderful way of connecting words with a picture. After reding this post, I swear I felt a gust of wind blow across my face from the lake.

    Eric "Speedcat Hollydale"

    ReplyDelete
  5. Hi Lynda- I'm with you - I would much rather have the thunderstorm than all this snow and ice. Not looking forward to the clean-up!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Isadora,

    Really, I embrace all the weather changes and find mystery in it. If I stay active, the winter doesn't bother me too much, especially if I get out in the sunshine to walk.

    I think a snow sky is peaceful when flakes are softly falling, but sometimes the dampness makes it feel less than cozy to me!

    Thanks for commenting!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Hello Hanna! I'll post some of my shots from Italy soon, along with a post that I have half written. If you want to see some of them before I get them posted--and with the holidays and all it could be awhile--you can go to lyndalehmann.com and around page 15or so, my Italy shots start. I have a lot from the Ligurian region, especially Bussana Vechhia, which I loved!!!! That place gave me shivers of amazement. ANd I have a funny story to tell you sometime, that happened there.

    I also have a few photos from Venice. But I HAVE to come back to your country to see Calgata, the Four Towns, Florence and Rome. What a spectacular country, for beauty and history!

    Hanna, have a wonderful, warm and happy Christmas. Blessings to you!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Kim, the stillness has a great appeal for me, though many people do not like it. They would rather be entertained.

    I feel so deeply that sense of mystery when it's silent and I hear only the wind or the loons. I feel as if I can hear God's voice at those times, as if Creation is reaching out to embrace me. I feel PART of the universe.

    ReplyDelete
  9. KML, our yard is right now littered witih twigs and branches, and a new layer of late-falling leaves. Will it never end? lol....

    And then there's the INSIDE of my house to attend to!

    ReplyDelete
  10. Very cool, Eric! I hope you can smell the pines too, pungent in the warmth of the late-day sun!
    They put off such a perfume when the temp goes above 80.

    Thank you for your kind comment!

    ReplyDelete
  11. While you are lying in bed in the cold and wishing for a thunderstorm, we in Australia are lying in bed in the hot, wishing that we would get some snow. I suppose we always wish for times past, wherever we are!

    Cheers,

    David

    ReplyDelete
  12. wonderful shot, great colors

    ReplyDelete
  13. hi evlahos! thanks for stopping by and commenting! is it as windy in Greece as it is here in New York? i feel my house will blow away, lol...

    ReplyDelete
  14. Lynda it is always nice to see green during winter season. Anna :)

    ReplyDelete

I try to respond to comments whenever I can. I ALWAYS appreciate your visits and friendship, and I will reciprocate with visits to your site. Thanks for sharing parts of your blogging journey with me. I value each and every one of you.

NOTE: Please, no more memes, schemes, or awards. They're fun and they may help us to know each other better, but I'd rather spend the time reading your posts and having you READ mine!

Happy blogging!

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.

Buy My Art!

My most popular images for sale at Shutterstock:

Comical and Endearing Bird Ritual....