... at the agreed upon five o'clock in the morning john pulled up to my front door just as it was closing behind me ... "where we going" ... a few minutes serious discussion and we came to an agreement, "that way" ... after a ride in the dark up route 201, "the canada road," we crossed the kennebec in bingham and headed north on the pleasant ridge road ... we stopped above the great wyman dam and tried to capture the morning light ...
... we explored the little park a half-mile above the dam ...
... the reservoir's fluctuating level makes for a somewhat muddy beach, but that doesn't detract in the least from the beauty of the place ... the tiny dot under the leaning tree at the edge of the point is john ... he'd put his camera on a tripod and was running in front of it trying to capture a picture of himself ... what i saw i thought he'd backed into a beehive ...
... "remembering" ...
... from the mist echoed the crows chatting amongst themselves, as is their way, as has always been their way ...
... "look, john, a bear's been this way" ... even as i was taking the picture, however, i could hear pa's voice, "find a second track to be sure" ... okay, so that fifth toe's actually a crack in the mud ... not a bear ... hmmmm, perhaps a really big dog ... ??? ...
... a thousand feet up the pleasant ridge we saw a great boiling ocean had filled the kennebec river valley ... glaring sun, extremely high contrast, and high voltage power lines as a dominant foreground element, it was a most difficult vantage for photography, but, as it turned out, both john and i made the effort for the same reason ...
... me at clear pond ... okay, me, i'm sure, but i could be mistaken about the pond ...
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| COURTESY JOHN MEADER |
... the sun began to break through the mist ...
... and, as it always happens, in a moment too brief to be understood my eyes began dancing with the light ...
... "hold still and try to look like you're taking a picture" ...
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| COURTESY JOHN MEADER |
... even without a canoe, perfect ...
... i'll ask you, "what did i do" ...
... symmetry, sublime ...
... less noticed leaves, i see ...
... we came around a turn and this fellow was standing dead center the middle of the road ... he started runnning ... i tried to snap a picture, but, alas, from the result through my manual focus lens it's rather obvious that this was a moment i'd have greatly enjoyed owning one of fuji's rather expensive automatic telephotos ... still, what great fun to encounter such a fascinating beast ...
... slowly, ever so slowly, the height of the land began to accept the day ...
... alongside the road, a very weird tree ...
"there's as much color in a single leaf as there is in the entire forest"
P.GROLEAU
... it was the end of the road (for anything less than a jeep, that is) and it was time for us to turn around and head back down into the mist, but there was still a moment for a final touch of soft color ...
... the abenaki's "kinipek," the great kennebec river ... in the distance, our breakfast ...
... of all i shot during the day, while i waited for my eggs i found my two favorite images ...
... thompson's restaurant is not just the best place to eat in bingham, maine, it's the best place to eat ... they don't charge for the great faces, either ...
between the sugar maples,
atop the ridge above,
afire in the morning sun,
and the swirling thick, cool mist
enveloping the valley i'd just left behind
for a moment i paused,
found my warmth,
then continued on my way
L.ALLEN