Confusion

This image is from late October, not so long ago. When I came upon it this morning, I couldn’t figure out what it was. Looking at a thumbnail of the image, it appeared to be an aerial shot of some particularly unusual terrain. It was after I saw it closer to full size that I realized it was the rotting log near the steps to the Pinebank Promontory at Jamaica Pond. I recalled the array of non-wood-like colors and textures that morning.

The ways in which natural material continues its cycle of decay, getting, it seems, more and more flamboyant in its colors, always moves me. It feels like a celebration of this stage of life, the one we call death. As trees grow slowly, so they seem to die. Yet the addition of this dimension brings some solace, or so I imagine.

What mostly intrigues me is capturing an image as ambiguous as this one. That moment of confusion as my mind attempts to assert order on what is before it and the slow emergence of that recognition of the scene, that’s the most fun!