The weather was excellent today. I had a bright sunny sky, and the air was not too cold and not too warm. I made my plan to get into Princeton with my camera. The Princeton University campus is closed so I thought "why not spend some time exploring the outside of Prospect House". The likelihood of being close to any people is minimal. I have visited Prospect House many time,s but it was always while walking through from one end of the campus to the other. I had never spent any time studying the building.
Around 11 AM, I grabbed my camera, my wallet and of course, the latest fashion accessory, a cloth mask, and I headed downtown. I parked on Nassau Street along the south side near the Firestone Library. I hopped out of the car and walked toward East Pyne Hall. I loved the way the magnolia tree looked with its fresh green leaves. I pulled my Fuji X-T2 to my face, turn on the camera and saw the dreaded "dead battery" symbol. 19+ years of digital photography and I still make this rookie mistake.
Fortunately, I had my iPhone 11 Pro. I made the best of it. I spend the next 45 minutes photographing East Pyne Hall. While walking around, I noticed a woman doing yoga atop one of the art pieces in the yard. She noticed that I had snapped a photo and politely asked for a copy. I spent fifteen trying to airdrop the photos to Loraine's, that's her name, iPhone but I think eight feet is too far for the feature to work. I emailed it to her. Lorraine is a personal trainer and yoga instructor.
Today is our wedding anniversary. 24 years. Our daughter offered to make us a cake. But Bhavna is fasting because the right number of days have passed since her father died last month. Under normal circumstances, we would have gone out somewhere nice for dinner. But not today. Today felt like just another day.
I don't have many words today. I woke up late. The sun was shining, and I knew I wanted to have beer and bratwurst for lunch. After lunch, Bhavna wanted to enjoy the outdoors given how much rain we had this week but we also knew that the state had relaxed some of the restrictions on public parks and expected that every idiot would be out and we didn't trust that people would remember to physical distance and wear a mask. We choose to walk around the loop of the Skyview Preserve in Hopewell. I had been here by myself a few weeks ago and I knew that most people don't use these trails.
Locally something beautiful happened. Hopewell Valley mayors reached out to nonprofit organizations like FoHVOS, D&R Greenway, NJCF, and the Lawrence Hopewell Trail and together they collaborated to keep trails open where feasible. Speaking in a single voice, they figuratively said, “We are here for you. Our public lands are for the public to enjoy if you can do so responsibly.” They provided a thoughtful approach to put community welfare first. Not surprisingly Princeton and Lawrence municipal leaders announced they would stay open as well.MercerMe Community Contributor Lisa Wolff
The trail was soggy, but Bhavna must have enjoyed being out because she chuffed through it. We found a frog sunning on the side of the pool of water where I had observed tadpoles week earlier. We spooked the frog and it jumped into the large pool of water but not before I was able to get very close with my iPhone 11 Pro.
I observed more variety of flowers this time, including what I think is wood anemone and jack in the pulpit. Bhavna wants to return when the trail is drier.
I captured fewer images on this hike. I used the Fotodiox M42-FX adapter and my with my Fujifilm X-T2 and used the Velvia Film Simulation. To keep things simpler, I captured all the photos at f/8 and with the camera in aperture priority mode. With this lens on my Fujifilm X-T2, I have to focus manually, which is easier with focus peaking, but focusing is slower than autofocus.
Hepatica. The smallest things matter. To distract an anxious mind. Focus on the normal. I found it challenging to focus on work today, but once again, nature provided a reprieve from the doldrums.
The last time I was at Aunt Molly Trail, the water, the dirt and the dry grass were frozen. I went by myself and then again a few days later with Bhavna, but the cold cut the adventure short both times.
This time we came with Kiran and most of the rainwater had dried up. Wildflowers were in bloom everywhere, covering the space under the high leafless trees with a carpet of yellow.
Along the path, I found spring beauty, and at first, I thought that would be all I saw. But near the end of the loop, I found clumps of Hepatica and the leaves of what I hope will be clumps of trout lily leaves. I found only one flowering specimen.
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