From “The Journal of Henry David Thoreau” in The Complete Works of Henry David Thoreau by Henry David Thoreau:
“[Dec. 26, 1855] After snow, rain, and hail yesterday and last night, we have this morning quite a glaze, there being at last an inch or two of crusted snow on the ground, the most we have had. The sun comes out at 9 A. M. and lights up the ice-incrusted trees, but it is pretty warm and the ice rapidly melts. I go to Walden via the almshouse and up the railroad….
“Trees seen in the west against the dark cloud, the sun shining on them, are perfectly white as frostwork, and their outlines very perfectly and distinctly revealed, great wisps that they are and ghosts of trees, with recurved twigs….”
From The Selected Writings of Ralph Waldo Emerson by Ralph Waldo Emerson:
“[The] Will-of-the-wisp vanishes if you go too near, vanishes if you go too far, and only blazes at one angle.”
Continuing with some additional studies of winter shapes (see also Winter Shapes: Hydrangeas and Japanese Maple Leaves and Winter Shapes: Hydrangeas and Japanese Maple Leaves in Black and White), here is a random collection of tiny leaves, stems, and vines — followed by a set of five images of goldenrod rendered on black, followed at the end by lucky shots of resting bird that spread its wings and took off just as I pressed the camera’s shutter.
Thanks for taking a look!
