Perspective and History

On the way to Cape Henlopen State Park this weekend, we were diverted off of this bridge onto a secondary road. The only good thing about the horrendous traffic was the opportunity to grab a photo or two. This was shot straight out of the car window :)

During WWII, most of Cape Henlopen State Park was Fort Miles. The U.S. government fortified strategic positions along the east coast, preparing for potential German attack. Fort Miles guarded the entrance to Delaware Bay. The chimney in the picture above rises from a casemate, a large underground storage locker for ammunition. Casemates were covered with sand and native vegetation in order to deceive enemy subs offshore. Today, remnants of Fort Miles are littered across the sand dunes.

Patterns, Part II

I like the contrast of a "desert" plant poking through light snowfall. Although yuccas are succulents, they grow in a variety of climates. Seeing one in snow is not uncommon, but it is visually interesting. To me, it looks like the yucca has stabbed through the snow.

Layer Cake

This is in Great Sand Dunes NP, in Colorado. I like this picture because of the layering of different textures: tree silhouettes, sand, foothills, and mountains. One of the reasons I like camping is because views like these greet you in the morning while blaring neon signs and tourist traps are conspicuous only in their absence. But after several days of camping, I'll wade through tourists hip deep to get a hot shower!

Thanks, Chad, for getting me back to my blog ;)

Finding Patterns

One of my favorite things to do is to find patterns in my environment by focusing in on an object or set of objects - not showing the entire scene. Here is one example, using stone pavers and a pedestrian barrier at Valley Forge National Historic Park:


A large area around a monument was paved in this overlapping shell pattern. I was fascinated by how the arrangement almost created an "optical illusion" effect. It looked like the ground itself was curving.