Shadowlands

The month of January continues to highlight our best pictures from the 2018 season with words that share our thoughts as we view these photos.  While we make no claim to be a professional photographer, nor do we claim to be a professional writer, we still believe there is something worth sharing here.

The beauty of mornings and evenings often relies on the presence of shadows and the angle the light takes as it hits objects that are familiar to us, making them, perhaps, a bit less familiar.  If not less familiar, things that are so often ignored become interesting given the contrast the shadows and light provide.  For example, the two Sea Green Junipers in front and slightly to the left of the high tunnel grabbed my attention this particular morning.

We walk by, drive by and ignore these junipers nearly every single day of the year that we are outside (which is most of the days of the year).  They actually traveled with us from Minnesota when we moved to the farm and we stuck these two bushes (then only a foot tall each) into these very spots in the ground.  The intention was to make them a highlight entry into our perennial flower garden that featured iris.  Then, we started this farming gig and the junipers entered the shadowlands of our mind.

What was once thought to be the primary entry into a garden space became a location that was out of the way and often out of control.  Occasionally, one of us would revisit the area and these two bushes with an idea that we could restore the area to some level of prominence on our farm.  Tulip bulbs were once added in front of the bushes.  They bloomed.  In fact, they bloomed for a few years and were eaten by rabbits several other years.  The bushes grew over them and we haven't seen those tulips quite some time now.

The junipers keep growing.  They collect the snow and wait for days like this when the sun hits them just right and the farmer sees them again.