JErry SMith

Jerry Smith Park- about a week+half ago. I stepped outside of my house and saw the clouds. The radar had not shown much, but the oddly-dimmed light in the window caught my attention and called me from the computer. a cloud broke the sun's rays and laid a strip of dark across the sky.
I decided to take advantage of the beautiful sky and departed for the one wildland that is open enough to accommodate.

The park host met me at the gate and demanded I turn around and leave. I did not bring up the fact that the park did not close until sunset (it was only about 5:30); I simply requested his permission to park on the road and walk through the park. he shook his head in disapproval, but his support was not anything I wanted. He granted me permission and I split up the dry gravel road with my camera. I immediately became distracted by some milkweeds and echinachias on the entrance road.
The large host locked the gate and drove past me in retreat to his house near the pond. He was on his phone- gave me a wave and a confusing look that could be perceived as anything but friendly. I dont mean to speak badly about the man- he is usually a very nice person; I simply did not like the fact that he would not let me enter the park a good 3.5 hours before it should have closed.

I caught the corridor of the power lines over to the prairies. It rained hard.. I hid my camera with my hat and had to empty my shoes every few minutes. the rain hit hard and for not only a few minutes like I had come to expect from similar storms. No lightning and no thunder. It hailed for a second- and nothing to be concerned about.

I got to the top of the hill and the sun emerged. It continued to pour. The phenomenon presented a photo opp. and I took a few shots in between drying the camera off and changing settings. I did not get anything worth showing off. I traversed the prairie- which has not yet become too thick with bluestem or rose. The clouds cut low enough to put me in a thin, dramatic layer of space between the ground the the opaque ceiling. At this point the rain had stopped-though everything was still swimming in the water that'd fallen from the sky- and the sun peeked just below the dark clouds.
THIS ONE WAS ODD- LOOKED LIKE A MILKWEED TO ME, BUT WAS COMPLETELY WHITE... ALBINO? ANY IDEAS???? There was no wind- the sound of distant traffic was equal to that of the park. The birds and bugs and the grasses and flowers that I brushed through. Found some cool bugs and spiders and lots of them!


Cant wait to get back with my macro!