Power Outages Can Be A Gift

Wednesday at 11:30 in the morning I was down in the laundry room busily working on laundry when the lights go down and come back up, this wasn't a flicker it was a slow down and slow back up. This happened twice more and then there was no coming back up.

My original intentions for the day were to go out and do some picture taking before all the colors of Autumn disappeared. Then as the day got started and I was so comfy in my stay at home clothes, and with plenty of things to do around the house, I thought I would just stay home. The weather wasn't so nice, cloudy/rainy, windy and chilly, not weather that makes you want to go out and take pictures.

I waited out the power outage through lunch, and when it still wasn't back on, I figured I could sit in the house with my coat on or I could go out and shoot. Shooting suddenly sounded much more fun. Plus an on-line friend of mine said "maybe you will capture an amazing photo that you would never have caught if the power was on". She told me to see what gift might be waiting for me to recognize and unwrap.

I loaded up the car with my tripod and camera, hat and mittens and set off. I have had in my head lately to go to Hofma Nature Preserve in Grand Haven. We haven't been there in quite a few years, but I remember the lovely boardwalk, well marked trails, and figured the colors would be lovely.

Landscape Photography is not my favorite, but I said to myself that I was just going to go with the flow and use this time to practice. I might not like much of what I shot but it would give me some more pictures to edit in Lightroom and just help in training my eye in what I want to shoot.

The colors were lovely and the trails well maintained delights. I had no real plan for my hike, I just turned this way and then decided to go that way. After turning down a heavily wooded trail with lots of big pine trees, I saw something big and brown take off from the forest floor. As my eyes trailed it, I had a hope that it might be an owl, as the big brown thing landed on a branch not too far away, lo and behold it was an owl. My friend was right, there was a gift waiting me for unwrap.

In all the hiking that we do, I have only seen an owl a couple of times, so this was a rare treat. I got a few shots of him before he flew away, they aren't that great, but the memory is priceless.

The peace and serenity that I felt for the rest of the hike was wonderful. Just wandering in the woods, looking for gifts to unwrap.

Linking up with Lissa at laf custom designs just in the nick of time...