An alluring temptress named Wanderlust began visiting me in my dreams last week, whispering in my ear (she has a very sexy voice) that she and I should go on a road trip together, maybe to Eastern Washington, where Wanderlust said there would be amazing things to see and photographs I might make. Even when I woke, Wanderlust's beckonings remained in my brain, but so far I have resisted the urge to pack my camera and sleeping bag and hit the road with a babe I know could be Trouble.
Trees ablaze in the colors of autumn -- that’s what Wanderlust promised I’d find if only I’d go away with her. You see, where I live here in Western Washington, the trees are primarily conifers, everlastingly green. The trees are beautiful, though the green-green-green gets a bit boring after a while. But east of the Cascades there are aspens and maples and larch, and mid-to-late October is their time to shine.
Wanderlust whispers that I need a change of scenery, and experience tells me that she might be right. The truth is that Wanderlust has popped into my dreams about this time in past years, and I admit that I have followed her (the images above are of aspens that I saw one October in the mountains near Leavenworth, WA.) This year, however, gas is expensive and I am resisting Wanderlust's siren call for a road trip, hoping to stand my ground and find images closer to home.
Two evenings ago the photographs below presented themselves, just outside my front door. There was a fern -- green of course -- but there were also deciduous leaves in fall color, and the scene was bathed in the most amazing end-of-day light. “See?” I said to Wanderlust, “there are fall pictures to be found right here at home. We don’t need to go someplace else.”
The temptress pouted, and last night she did not visit my dreams...but I know that one night she will be back. Wanderlust always comes back.
