Still Learning To See

Magic in the dunes

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The sand dunes are a great big canvas on which the sun, rain and wind, shadows, weeds and roots, and animals large and small work together to create the most stunning art.

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The deceptively simple forms are beyond imagining. A delicate white root curled against the rain-beaten sand, for instance, or the tiny, subterranean meanderings of an unknown creature, etched by early morning shadows.

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Twigs, roots and grass stems spun by the wind make circles in the sand. One can imagine “primitives” marvelling at these; certainly I do!

 

jrs-04051When the sand is sufficiently dry, it cascades down steep slopes, the same ones that, as their tracks attest, make climbing difficult for small mammals and insects but which also create bold forms for more art.

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Throughout the day the sun creates shadows to outline and complement the sand.

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And the soundtrack to all of this is the wind, the distant lake, and occasional bird calling. I can describe the experience of being in the dunes in many ways but all are inadequate except to say it is magical.

This entry was published on August 24, 2017 at 8:44 pm. It’s filed under John Snell, John Snell Photographer, Photograph, Summer and tagged , , , , . Bookmark the permalink. Follow any comments here with the RSS feed for this post.

One thought on “Magic in the dunes

  1. John, These are magically thought provoking and almost spiritual in nature. The two of the avalanche patterns, one combined with a bit of weed and the other, tiny animal tracks are truly special.
    I’m awfully glad you included the photo showing how the dry sand cascades down the steep slopes of a dune. Without that it would have been hard to.understood the other pictures.

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