Atomic Skies
I had been chiding myself for most of the late afternoon for not holding to my earlier plans to shoot at some locations far away from where I shot this one. Of course, after this shot, I began to see myself as a smaller cog in a larger gear set. Just before this image presented itself, I doubled back from the west-bound side of I-40 to the east-bound side just north of Russellville, Arkansas, to grab some flower shots on the shoulders. I stopped for a bit on the overpass while returning to the west-bound side and was able to grab this shot during the stop. Had my earlier plans worked out, I would probably not have doubled back to grab flower shots. That being so, my self-chiding was a waste of limited cranial capacity and perhaps a failure to understand that one’s plans may not be the best solution despite instructions from the evil governing ego. BTW, the tower smoke is rising from Arkansas Nuclear One.
Sunday, May 3, 2015
Pine Buff, Arkansas
I made plans to make a swing through the central Ozarks on the way to a church reunion group in Fort Smith, Arkansas, where I lived from birth through the waning months of age 16. The first thing I did wrong was dilly-dally around and leave later than I should have to bring my traveling plan to fruition.
My first stop was Haw Creek Falls, easily accessible off Arkansas Highway 123 north of Clarksville, Arkansas. By the time I grabbed a few falls shots, shot the breeze with some other folks visiting the falls, and made some pix of the nearby steel bridge over Big Piney Creek, I realized that were I to resume the trip by the closest route available, I would be slightly late. Plans tanked!@ Pfft!
Low Flow at the Falls
Haw Creek Falls was at its low-flow stage, which is not good for photographers in search of dramatic falls shots. It is good for the many campers and visitors to the falls. They can walk out on the giant rock formations that form the falls. This woman is a “motorcycle-momma.” She and her husband were part of a group of bikers visiting the site. I first shot the falls on film in the late eighties. At the time, there was a respectable flow. Click here to see the late eighties picture. The picture was later used on the cover of corporate annual report.
A Lazy Stream, but only for the Moment
Not far from Haw Creek Falls on Arkansas Highway 123 you’ll find this steel bridge over Big Piney Creek. The creek looks like a lazy mountain stream. Don’t let that fool you. After a couple of good gully-washers and toad-strangler rains, it can become a raging torrent. I have see the water level just a few feet below the bridge roadway.
Under the Bridge We Go.
Here’s the underside of the bridge. The hint of a waterline a few feet below the roadway is lower than the highest I have seen the water.
Butterfly Conclave
As I was turning the truck around to leave the creek bed, I noticed some butterflies have a fly-in meeting. It appears that one is in the landing pattern and one has just taken off.
(Don't Tell Joe, but They Are Primroses. --Ed.)
I can no more tell you the name of these flowers than I can leap tall buildings with a single bound, but I do recognize their delicate beauty. There are a lot of these on I-40. Most motorists will perhaps acknowledge a pink blur they noticed a few miles back. Some will not even see the pink blur. Presuming that most readers fall into one of those two categories, take a look and see what you’ve been missing.
Wild Daisies along the Interstate
There is a large population of daisies growing along I-40. This gaggle of the flowers is lookin’ good in the last few minutes of direct sun, May 2, 2015. I could feel my well-used knees complaining as I squatted to grab the shot.
Turns out, despite broken plans, it was a good day after all. This gives one pause to admit that occasionally tanked plans create opportunities heretofore not considered, anticipated, or understood. The trick is to let the aforementioned conditions germinate and mature into good times.
But wait, there’s more.
See more of the butterflies,
falls, bridge, flowers and a nice vista
of Arkansas’ Mt. Nebo
with Lake Dardenelle in the foreground
at Weekly Grist for the Eyes and Mind
While this may not jerk the chain on non-Arkies, believe me, this particular scene grabs the gawks.
