Join me on a journey through the realms of science and imagination, where Earth-like planets orbit gas giants under sun-like stars. From science fiction to scientific possibility, we explore the intriguing potential for life in such unique solar systems, blending the lines between fantasy and reality. Let’s unravel these cosmic mysteries together.
Step into the heart of the Sonoran Desert with me, where the saguaro cactus stands as a timeless giant, a symbol of resilience and beauty. This majestic sentinel of the Southwest is not just a plant; it’s a vibrant ecosystem and a cultural icon, embodying the spirit of endurance. Let’s explore its centuries-long journey, its role as a haven for desert wildlife, and its deep significance to the indigenous peoples. Join me in celebrating the saguaro’s enduring legacy, a narrative of survival and the profound beauty of life in the harshest conditions.
Join me in exploring the depths of “Hamlet,” where the phrase “revisits thus the glimpses of the moon” unveils a world where the supernatural meets the mysterious moonlight. Let’s unravel this imagery together, reflecting on life’s transient beauty, seeking understanding, and contemplating the cycles of change under the moon’s spell.
Fillmore Glen State Park in Moravia, New York, offers a changing landscape that serves as a living canvas, with the ironically named Dry Creek feeding its lush greenery. The ebb and flow of water from the creek creates a dynamic setting. Seasons dramatically alter the scenery, from tranquil springs to vibrantly colored autumns, beautifully captured through fine art photography.
An evening at Cayuga Lake Inlet, home to the Cornell University Crew, is depicted as a serene haven for reflection. The Collyer Boathouse, vital to the local lore, sits across the inlet holding a rich history of crew camaraderie and competition.
Autumn leaves whisper,
By the calm inlet they dance,
Maple’s red embrace,
History in every branch,
Nature’s heart in silent chant.
Michael Stephen Wills’ photos depict the vibrant nature of the Finger Lakes.
Fillmore Glen Autumn
The first week of November 2023 I posted a series of photographs from Fillmore Glen from the Canon 5D Mark IV. Today, I present a series of photographs from the same day using the Sony Alpha 700 dslr using a variable 18-200 mm lens.
In the Thayer Preserve during a dry autumn, Lick Creek forms still pools that act like nature’s mirrors, capturing the autumnal scenery in a breathtaking display of reflection. Scattered maple leaves add depth, disrupting yet enhancing the scene’s tranquility. These pools offer a unique perspective of nature’s beauty, sketching a vivid picture of changing seasons. As the dry season progresses, the mirror-like pools shrink, encapsulating the fleeting beauty of autumn.
In Thayer Preserve, where Lick Creek meanders, a unique spectacle unfolds during a dry autumn. Here, still pools form along the creek, transforming into natural mirrors. These pools capture a moment in time, reflecting an autumnal world above.
The scene is breathtaking. A bright sky, painted in shades of blue, stretches endlessly above. Trees, adorned in brilliant yellow, stand tall, their leaves like nature’s own gold. In these pools, their reflections are so clear, so vivid, it’s as if another world lies just beneath the surface. This is nature’s artistry at its finest, a canvas where the sky meets the earth in a tranquil embrace.
But there’s a twist in this serene tableau. Maple leaves, scattered across the water’s surface, disrupt the mirror-like stillness. They are like brushstrokes on a masterpiece, adding texture and depth. These leaves, once part of the lofty canopy, now rest on the water, each one a reminder of the fleeting nature of beauty. They break the illusion, yet somehow enhance it, adding a touch of reality to this dreamlike scene.
This is a place of contrasts. The still pools contrasts with the dynamic life of the forest. The unbroken reflections contrast with the scattered leaves. It’s as if nature is playing a game of hide and seek with reality, teasing the observer with glimpses of both the real and the reflected world.
In Thayer Preserve, the story of autumn is told not just in the changing leaves but in the waters of Lick Creek. These pools are like nature’s mirrors, reflecting the season’s palette. They offer a different perspective, a view from below, where the sky and trees trade places with their watery twins.
As one walks along Lick Creek, the beauty of Thayer Preserve unfolds in these reflective pools. Each step brings a new image, a new blend of sky, tree, and water. It’s like walking through a gallery where nature is the artist, and each pool is a frame capturing a moment of autumnal splendor.
These pools are more than just a feature of the landscape. They are storytellers. They tell of a season of change, of a time when the world dresses in its most vibrant colors before the quiet of winter. They speak of the cycle of life, of leaves that fall to rise again in the reflections.
As autumn progresses and the dry season deepens, these pools will shrink, their reflections fading away. But for now, they are here, holding within them a world of brilliant yellows and blues, a world where the sky lies beneath your feet, and the trees grow upside-down.
This is the magic of Thayer Preserve in autumn. It’s a place where nature plays with perceptions, where reflections create a world as real as it is illusory. Here, on the banks of Lick Creek, the still pools are not just bodies of water. They are windows into another world, a world where nature’s beauty is doubled, and the ordinary becomes extraordinary.
Happy Thanksgiving
The Catskill Mountains are not mountains. The Catskills started as a high plateau. Over eons, before the first humans, water, the sun, and wind carved high steep peaks: rounded, forested and teeming with life.
October 2008, on a return trip from family on Long Island, we traveled the winding road called “Route 17”, through the high autumn hillsides.
As the sun passed over the western hills we stopped to explore a place called “Fishs Eddy”, a town on the banks of the Delaware River.
On the east side, facing sunset is a formation that would be a cliff if it was not for the hardwood trees growing from every available nook, crevice. Everywhere a root could be sunk, roots fed trees that, one late October afternoon, made a hill bright with autumn.
Turkeys live in this type of habitat. We took a trail, barely a road that climbed past failed farms and hunting shacks.
Click me for more Autumn Magic from my Online Gallery
On a level place, in front of a ruined home, we came upon a Tom (male) turkey and his four hens. The hens fled at the sight of us.
With barely time to raise the camera I caught Tom and the last hen as she fled into the bushes.
I say she, because Tom stayed behind. He stood erect, all three feet of him, defiant and strutting in a direction opposite from the hens.
This is the bird Benjamin Franklin proposed as the national emblem of the new United State of America (the bald eagle won that competition).
Hunted into almost oblivion, across the United States the wild turkey is making a dramatic comeback in many places, including the forests and farmland of rural New York State
This fellow made no noise. His strutting posture and head bobbing said it all.
We left Tom Turkey in peace to his domain and hens.
Michael Stephen Wills Photography 