The earth, plants, and fallen foliage dampened by a recent rain give up a heady rich natural aroma familiar to those who walk with nature. Large trees and climbing vines tower overhead provided deep shade on sunny days and a slight feeling of gloom when overcast. The large ornate gardens are rich and full, to the point where disorder overcomes order, constrained only by stone and brick paths and the occasional resting bench. At the end of one brick pathway lies an iron gate, nature on one side and human suburbia on the other. Choose.
I would like to say that I am a fence-sitter in this scenario but I am not sure that this particular fence would be a particularly comfortable one to sit on ;)
Please don’t sit upon this fence, Cedric! 😉 As far as a choice, perhaps the gate itself indicates both sides are available.
I’m having some fun with taking my thoughts and feeling of an image during processing, combined with memories from making the photo and then weaving a very, very short tale out of it all. An exercise of both image and imagination. Probably more to follow.
Actually I can appreciate this contemplative approach to photography. It is similar to my own way of peeking inside my obfuscated mind, my intuition. I’m trying to put some of these thoughts together for a post but you are doing a far better job of it than I am. And, yes, I will stay off the fence :)
Hmmm, I wonder if it seems hypocritical to say I choose the nature side, even though I am doing that choosing from within my comfortable temperature house, roof over my head, and few bugs lurking at my feet.
I don’t think it’s hypocritical, Mark. We ( I ) certainly enjoy our creature comforts and technology dawdlings. And I don’t believe it’s one or the other. What strikes me is how ‘nature’ is so often fenced off from urban neighborhoods, as in fenced urban parks or reserves, almost as we do animals in a zoo (but for them with good reason,) instead of striving to merge natural habitat and urban needs in a more natural manner. Then we create major pollution weeding, mowing and controlling our neighborhoods and wonder why in our concrete jungles heavy rains result in water run-off issues.
Edited: 4 Oct 2018 ebm
Yes, we are separate from nature more than many of us realize. I say that as I sit in a warm coffeehouse, coffee in hand, read my favorite blogs and journal. However, I also sit in nature with coffee in hand and journal. Thank you for sharing your contemplative life through images and words with us. I consider them as gifts!