- Early Autumn on Hartley Pond
Heavy frost accumulated on the landscape overnight as the winds calmed and temperatures dropped into the 20's. I headed out in the early morning twilight to capture steam rising off the water as it touched the cold air.
- Maple Ridge Reflecting in Hartley Pond
As the sun rose out of the east, the maple ridges began to glow and steam from the pond lifted off the water in layers of white mist. As the increasing light flowed through the pure air of autumn, it highlighted the frost covered ground which was decorated with the last remnants of summer growth. Flowers were frozen in place and ferns were outlined with white crystals that clung to the plants like frosting.
The ice crystals not only added beauty, but dealt the plants a fatal blow as the frost cut into their tissue like a thousand tiny needles. The cycle of life continued and within hours these flowers would be wilted and bent, and would soon provide fertilizer and seeds for next years crop.
God made the cycle of the seasons as a reminder to us of the brevity of life and how quickly time passes. Any day, that first frost will come to each of us.... people are like the grass. Their beauty fades as quickly as the flowers in a field.
The grass withers and the flowers fade beneath the breath of the LORD. And so it is with people. Isa 40:6
