MONO MONDAY - SUMMER

How do you show the season of summer in mono?  And when you have decided to take a photograph how can you possibly show the beauty of a tree in mono?

Well, I went over to “my field” just after 10.00 a.m. this morning and after I had sung my way round, stopped under the oak tree and looked up to the sky through the branches and then looked at the grass and saw the wonderful shadows.  However, having taken several shots, I then moved on to the willow tree.  This is my favourite tree, because the swaying branches just seem to wrap themselves around me and I feel protected and lost in the wonder of their beauty and underneath those branches, I can almost forget about all that's going on in the world.

Of course, when I looked at the shots, they were in colour, so I then had to think of how to show them to their best advantage in mono - and hope that my fartnarkling with the Snapseed app has managed to do this.  

Whilst wandering around in the field and enjoying the beauty of all the trees there, I thought about this poem that I remember from many years ago, and which speaks about trees so eloquently:

TREES

I think that I shall never see
     A poem lovely as a tree.

A tree whose hungry mouth is prest
     Against the earth’s sweet flowing breast;

A tree that looks at God all day,
     And lifts her leafy arms to pray;

A tree that may in Summer wear
     A nest of robins in her hair;

Upon whose bosom snow has lain;
     Who intimately lives with rain.

Poems are made by fools like me,
     But only God can make a tree.

Joyce Kilmer 1886-1918

I honestly thought that this was written by a woman, with a name like “Joyce”,  but found out the following information from Mr. Google:

Alfred Joyce Kilmer, born in New Brunswick, New Jersey, is best known for his poem, "Trees,"  but he actually produced quite a large volume of work.  Joyce married young and fathered five children even as he was establishing himself as a teacher, writer, and lecturer.  While coping with the illness of one of their children, Joyce and his wife converted from the Episcopal faith to Catholicism and he ultimately became the leading Catholic poet of his time.  

When World War I broke out, Joyce enlisted and had contracted to write a book about his war experiences.  Unfortunately, he was killed by a sniper’s bullet on a French battlefield before he ever even began the book; he was only 31 when he died.  His strong religious faith and dedication to the  natural beauty of the world influences much of Kilmer’s work.

P.S.  After yesterday's encouraging words for Kathryn and Aaron, I text him today to be told that Kathryn was out digging and he was on gravel duties!