An Ode to the Benches
On today’s adventure, I get lost in the woods. Now, its not like it was a tricky trail or something, I just got absent minded and forgot which way I came in. There is a reason why I was so distracted, and you will see why.
The fall foliage is taking its sweet time getting here. I was walking around in the Black Hill State park, and I weirdly enough, I kept looking at these benches on the trail. I actually never paid any attention to them, but today, that’s all I could spot. These benches are installed as memorabilia for loved ones, probably people who used to walk through this trail a lot. Even though I barely noticed them before, imagine how much they do for everyone, regardless of the weather. I am grateful for them and people who installed them. Hence, the name.
I usually step aside and not take any pictures when people are in the frame. But, when a runner went past me, the frame was so good to miss. I clearly didn’t get a clear shot, but the composition worked out great in such moody vibes, when the sun was barely up.
I felt like I need a different perspective for the same bench, and went off trail for a bit. The sun happened to brighten up a bit here. That’s when I got this.
Okay, so here’s the getting lost part. After crossing this bench in picture above, there was split in trail. One was the continuation of the gravel trail, the other went into the wood. I am not even sure if that was supposed to be trail, but I went anyways. Silently walking through the woods, squirrels everywhere running around. That’s when I suddenly came across a spider web. I have to say, this was the most beautiful spider web I ever saw. Perfectly built and well lit by the rising sun behind it, and the actual spider in the middle.
This was it. I was happy to just get this image, and move on. But my curiosity peaked when I saw a black squirrel. I was hell bent on trying to atleast get a picture of it. I wasn’t sure if black squirrels were a thing, and if people didn’t believe me, I wanted to have proof. Chasing after it didn’t help, and I could barely spot it in those dark woods. After a while, I lost it, and when I turned back I have no idea how far deep I actually ventured. This might seem like exaggerated, but I was not that lost. It took a little while, but I found my back. Before I packed up, the sun was fully up, and I could see the trees were starting to change colors.
Either way, hopefully, next week I will get to shoot some fall foliage.