Photographer Laura Moul spent a month at West Virginia’s Canaan Valley National Wildlife Refuge. A journal of her stay will appear in the next few Word & Image blogs…
May 8-14, 2010.
Another week enjoying the beauty of Canaan Valley. Seeing fields of wild bleeding hearts in the Dolly Sods Wilderness Area was the highlight. More days found me taking photos of ladyslippers, trillums, etc.
Weather extremes were amazing, from snow to wind and rain. It was so cold my digital camera actually froze – that has never happened before. At times, the wind was so strong it about blew me over. Having my laptop with me, one evening I rented the movie Julie & Julia. For the two hours I was watching it I actually forgot where I was, away from home. Enjoyable movie!
The newness of being up in the mountains had worn off. I missed my husband and helping my dad at his assisted living home. Cell phones with poor signals cannot accomplish much. During this week I drove up to Maryland and had a wonderful lunch with my sister and her husband (who had driven from Pennsylvania). It was nice to be with family. On the way back I managed to stop and change my cell phone to a different carrier. What a difference that can make, to be able to call from inside the trailer. The little things in life we take for granted.
I hiked some trails, tried to see if I could see beavers at one of their dams, etc. Wildlife can be elusive. Frustrating to try to capture on “film.”
The final day of this week I spoke at the refuge on travel photo tips. I love sharing my photography and travel passion with others.
