Window on Wood

I am fascinated by the texture of natural things.  Our world is three dimensional at all levels of size and our senses are well adapted to immerse ourselves in the varied textures around us.  Walking in the woods one day aching with no other reason than to play around with a new lens I noticed this scene.  The snow was very new, just fallen that morning and the sunlight was slicing through the woods at a very low angle.  A single sunbeam opened through the tree trunks and put this log in the spotlight, revealing not only the hidden world under the snow but also the fragile texture of the powder itself as it blankets and softens the objects where it accumulates.  With only light and shadow we change our perspectives and see the world from a different frame of mind.  Although I knew the snow was covering a limb in front of the log it appear instead as if the snow blanket was wrinkled as it draped over the tree.  Although I realized the warming sun found a dark patch of the log and was melting snow away it looked like some fairy creature had pushed open a window in the white wall covering its dwelling in order to look out on the winter world.  A picture window to allow the warming sun to come in and start lighting up the inside for the short day.