Reconnecting with nature through hiking, camping, and paddling
Of course tulips are at their peak while the flowers are still slightly closed. This purple tulip, at Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden, looked pasted its prime but I thought the vibrant colors had a beauty all their own. While it no longer had that new tulip shape, the open flower revealed a lovely contrast between the yellow pollen and the deep purple and blue flower pedals.
The old brick and concrete bridge piers stand across the James River as a testimony to the ravages of time. They once provided safe and easy passage across the river and now serve merely as roosts for water fowl and baron outcroppings for pioneering vegetation.
Snow fell on Richmond Thursday night. A few inches accumulated but it was nearly all gone within 24 hours. I took the day off Friday and hiked through Pocahontas State Park. This photo was taken as the sun rose over the forest. The park was beautifully covered in snow and I had the place to myself. I hiked for 5 hours and never saw another person the entire time.
These old pilings in the James River must have served as the foundation for a small bridge. Now they are simply part of the river.
The heavy, steel support beams seem to go on forever underneath this railroad bridge in Richmond, VA.
This photo was taken about 30 minutes after sunrise on an early December day. Our neighborhood was shrouded in fog and I hoped to capture it hanging over the river. Normally fog clings heavily to the river but this day was different. I was a little disappointed but enjoyed this view from one of Richmond’s many bridges over the James River.
The slow moving, low, autumn waters of the James River provided a wonderful reflection of a Canada Goose and the nearby river rocks.
There’s a railroad bridge that runs along part of the canal walk in Richmond, VA. Seeing the bridge reflected in the James River Canal, I thought it deserved some photographic attention.
Searching for good photographic subjects on Big Walker Mountain, I happened upon a group of these large, blue and black butterflies. My friend James Shelton, who is quite the amateur entomologist, tells me this butterfly is a Pipe Vine Swallowtail.
The Ruby Throated Hummingbird is the only hummingbird that breeds in the Eastern United States. This female stopped by the feeder on my deck long enough for me to get this photo.