Sunday, April 1, 2012

Rainy Day, Lakeside Beauty


Some might say it wasn't the nicest day for a walk around Moreau Lake.  Chilly and dark, it even rained a little.  But those gray skies and gentle rains only seemed to add to the lakeside beauty, the shadowless light offering no competition to the subtle coloration of silvery water and swelling buds.

The Shadblows will soon float their clouds of white blossoms over the water, but for now, the pinkish budscales lend the boughs a rosy tint.




Highbush Blueberry shrubs bear ruddy buds all winter long, but those tight red buds have now expanded into pretty pink clusters.





I think the pink-tinted velvety leaf buds of Striped Maple are as elegant as can be, held aloft from their branches as if they were royal scepters.




Even through the rain, these Red Maple flowers glow as if lit from within.





Despite the freezing cold we have had this week, the Trailing Arbutus has exploded into fragrant bloom.




Most of the arbutus I saw today was the typical waxy white, but here and there I found the pretty pink variety as well.




Even the hated Phragmites appeared quite beautiful today, especially when its vertical stalks were echoed by the reflected trunks of White Pines across the bay.




3 comments:

catharus said...

The trailing arbutus is wonderful -- such full blossoms and pink hues!
'One of the signs of spring that John Burroughs' particularly mentions.

Jacqueline Donnelly said...

Thanks, catharus. For years, I couldn't find arbutus and thought it must be very rare. But then I discovered I wasn't looking for it early enough. Now I find it in many different places, and always delight in it.

Raining Iguanas said...

What a wonderful photograph, goes great with a cup of coffee.