Red Berries in the Snow

It took my husband and myself about two hours apiece to get shoveled out from Saturday's big snowstorm. We both spent an hour on the 100-foot driveway, I spent another 45 minutes plus on the deck, and my husband spent several more 15-minute increments clearing off the car and the mailbox and the edges of things and the bunny runs.

The snow when it came down was fluffy, but then it rained on top of it and made it heavy. So snow removal was quite an effort. But before all of that, I went for a walk around the neighborhood with my camera, documenting our first major snowstorm of winter.

There is a bad corner just past our house, and there are red berries that grow there, with golden grasses behind them. I often stop to take pictures of those berries, hoping someday for the perfect shot. I just like the way it all looks. So above is my latest attempt. Maybe I can move on to some other subject now, LOL!

Now, I know that in posting this photo, I'm opening myself up to some criticism. For I believe these berries to be Japanese barberry, which is an exotic invasive, and is also quite a tick magnet. (Yes, you heard me right: TICK, not CHICK.) And ticks can and do carry Lyme disease.

I have ripped out any and all Japanese barberry that I find in our own yard. But these do not belong to me, and I'm not responsible for telling my neighbors what to do with their shrubberies. It begs the question: is it an act of moral turpitude to photograph a beautiful but invasive plant?

I'm aware that those things we find pleasing to the eye may or may not be beneficial to the landscape. But I'm just the photographer, not the entire neighborhood's master gardener. As I'm so fond of saying since I retired three years ago, I'm not in charge of that!!!!

Now, I searched my music library for songs about red, and some of the usual suspects came up. But Redemption Day came up too, and so I've decided to go with the flow and use it. Here are two versions I like: first, with Johnny Cash, and Joe Strummer of The Clash; and Eddie Vedder and Beyonce.