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Lake

Have you ever heard a swan take off?

They are surprisingly large when they spread their wings. Wings flapping, you can hear pure power as they lift like an airplane on a runway.

It was very early in the morning when we were here last September. “Here” being the place in these photos, somewhere we had never been before nor would we go back. It was just a moment in time, now memorised in photos, giving it disproportionate weight in the photo stories of our lives. It was just a place we happened to drive by. 

The children’s slide in the shallows whispered of fun times and happy laughter, but in September it was silent and cold. There was a veil of fog on the lake just before the swans took off, near the other shore. My kids threw pebbles into the smooth, still water.

And then we rode on.

40 replies on “Lake”

Stop overs are also our thing! With kids on the road its not quite a luxury rather than a necessity.Too much sitting and then they become grumpy.We had the same thing numerous times and I never regretted it.Beautiful sceneries, a moment of rest , little playtime and some big reflections pays off.

And what´s the thing with always throwing stones in the water! (Universal instinct right?)

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Your moment in time is strangely reminiscent of one (or more) from my past. We have lots of photos of lakes ringed by evergreens, but like you, we may never return to those specific places or even know exactly where they are (in my case). Still, they capture a time and a mood, and I love the idea that you can set out from Helsinki and I from various spots in the U.S. and both come across scenes like this that become a part of collective memory.

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Oh, I love that idea too, parallel experiences in different parts of the globe. But then again, borders are arbitrary and we are all just one planet, aren’t we? Hmm, got a bit philosophical again! But yes, a nice thought. And I never record places I visit either (and don’t use geo tags on my phone) so it’s very unlikely I’d find them again. And I don’t mind. I like the exploring and the element of surprise

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A moment in time. Some stay with you and some don’t. One of the functions of photography perhaps, to help remember moments that would otherwise slip away.
Thinking about it, I don’t recall ever seeing a swan take off, but I have seen big birds like geese and turkeys do so, and they do make a racket.

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The swans would be most impressive. When I’ve seen turkeys flying it’s been quite ungainly. My best bird flying experience though was back in Washington State, when a pair of bald eagles flew into a wood and landed on a couple of branches just in from the edge. I waited, figuring that they’d fly out eventually. Instead, I suddenly heard loud crashing and banging as they flew off through the wood, breaking branches left, right, and center.

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Lovely. And I appreciate your wonder at the rising of the swans. Having lived in the so-called Central Flyway, one of three north-south-north migration lanes over the USA, I’m quite familiar. The big birds – swans, geese, cranes – are
magnificent in so many ways. Their in-flight calls, in particular, have echoed through my life and dreams. Thank you for bringing me back to that touchstone once again.

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“For long spells they would fly in silence, but most often they maintained noisy communication, arguing, protesting, exulting; at night especially they uttered cries which echoed forever in the memories of men who heard them drifting down through the frosty air of autumn…” – James A. Michener, “Chesapeake, Voyage Eight: 1822”

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