Testing My New Lens

A brilliantly clear, blue-sky day today, of the kind of clarity that only comes in late fall through the winter. I guess it was that clear yesterday, too, but I spent the morning having cataract surgery and the afternoon sleeping it off. So today I was eager to get outside and see what my new lens could focus on. Not much, as yet, it appears. My eye is still swollen and may take several weeks to settle down, says the doctor. But he also said I was free to take a hike if I liked, so of course, that's what I did. Well, more of a walk than a hike, but at least I got outside and could see well enough through the prescribed dark glasses to see what a beautiful day it was, especially along the river.

I decided to walk along Spier Falls Road, from the dam to the boat launch site, with side jaunts through the woods to the banks of the river. The water was as radiantly blue as the sky, and I found little jolts of bright color here and there among the greys and browns and tans of the late-autumn forest.

A baby Red Oak nestles among Wood Fern.

Asiatic Bittersweet may be an alien aggressor, but it sure is pretty.

Not so colorful from a distance, but Turkey Tail fungus has

multi-colored stripes. Click on the photo to see them.

I found this bush that promises spring, even before the long winter begins. How do these Spicebush buds, arrayed on the branches like clusters of little green beads, manage to last through all the ravages winter will surely throw at them? They look so dainty, but boy, they must be tough!

I hope these photos are in focus. My new lens is supposed to correct my extreme nearsightedness, but the consequence is that I now cannot see close objects. Like the display screen on the back of my camera. So I'll have to start carrying magnifiers. Darn! I had hoped to be done with glasses. We shall see. We hope.