The Zen of Snowflakes

It has been very beautifully changing seasons here in the Pacific Northwest. I have been trying to capture...so many variations...the crisp fall leaves....which change colors daily for about 3 weeks...and then before you know it... gone! Each day the sky has so many colors....we are right next to the mountains...One day we will have fog.....drifting in mysterious shapes.....The next rain.....The next day breathtaking cloud formations....hiding all but one peak. And, then, without warning Snow....the first snow.

Last Sunday I dragged my husband out to drive me up toward the timberline to see if I could shoot any last bits of fall...in the forest....It was raining...it was a little before lunch...and I could tell he was bored..or annoyed? So often I go out..and don't come home with anything......It takes so much perseverance and patience...to create....

We headed back home...I was hoping for a nice mysterious fog to engulf us..and it just didn't happen....the fog was always just a little higher...the rain came down harder and we decided to head back for lunch...

An hour later...I looked out to see the first snow of the season....I grabbed my Japanese flute CD and my big old muck boots and my hideous gold ski coat....and camera and headed to the lake in a hurry...Because the flakes were big and soft and moist..and I knew they could disappear in a moment.

I thought I would leave my husband at home ....and that way I could make my way slowly up to the lake..stopping every other minute if need be..and see if I could find some deer or some magical occurrence. No pressure...and beautiful shakahuchi flute....accompanying me...

If you have read my blog before..and if you have bless you....for taking the time!! You will probably know I love haiku and have always wanted to go to Japan...so you can imagine my joy when I pulled over at the lake to see this amazing....zen like landscape....

I jumped out of the truck..and stood in the middle of the snow in absolute wonder...
It was one of those magical moments...outside of time ...when inner landscape and outer reality become fused. It did not look real...it was so still, peaceful, quiet....mystical.

When, I drove away, I passed by the boat launch..and there was the town's only Buddhist Monk in brown robes alone in the snow at the edge of the lake...We were the only two people there...

I remembered running with my dog in a torrential downpour in LA's Runyan Canyon.....there was only me and one other English man and his dog.. . As he passed me he said in greeting...."Couple of nutters we are..."

And, there you have it...the reason...I create...for that one mystical moment when time stands still And, the fact, that deep down...I really am a nutter :)