redpinemountain.com

Through A Zoom Lens

Most of the time, when taking pictures for the blog, I use a zoom lens. Perhaps I give you a distorted view. In actuality, one of things I love about our farm is the sense of vast, open space. Here’s how the horses looked this morning, dots in the left hand corner,

But zoom in and they become visible.

Zoom in some more and there they are.

It’s a matter of perspective. The big picture or the smaller details?

When June arrives, I start counting the days until fall. Many people love warm weather but I’m not one of them. As the thermometer plunges, my spirits rise. And what a summer we’ve had this year. Unseasonably hot and sunny days. None of our Vermont brisk mornings necessitating a fire nor the gray days so typical to the Northeast Kingdom. No, this summer has been especially crafted for sun worshipers. Until the other day. Finally, a morning in the 40s. I breathe a sigh of relief. Mountain Man grumbles.

“Ayyah (a sound unique to Vermonters), won’t be long now. Time to move the horses.” And so we performed our yearly ritual of taking the horses off the upper pasture and moving them closer to the barn.

I ventured out late in the afternoon. The shadows draw down the sun earlier each day and in no time at all, it will be dark by 4:00 p.m. I sit with my equine friends. Their coats are already growing thicker and soon the lush grass will disappear. Do they sense what’s coming? I sit quietly and watch from just beyond the fence. I zoom in once and see Bliss and Flower.

Zoom in again and I see Khrysta’s head appear from the run in shed.

And if I zoom in more, I can show you Cash and Blossom grazing.

Or Flower grazing underneath Khrysta’s belly.

My zoom lens allows you to see horses peacefully grazing on their mountainside pasture instead of dots in the distance.

It’s a matter of perspective. There are times in our lives when we need to refocus and think about the bigger picture. This is one of those times for me. I’ll be taking a mini break from blogging. Just posting a couple of times a week. I’ll be available by email as always but it’s time to step back from the zoom lens.

May everyone’s weekend be all that you want it to be.