Renascence

Songbirds chitchat in lofty backcountry

Outback wakes from wintertime repose

Unhurried creek murmurs vernal homily

Haggard heart finds joy in pensive prose.

© Ilija Lukić 2015

Whispers Of Spring
(lateral channel of Haw River near Bynum, North Carolina USA)

Eternal Optimist

The setting sun briefly pierces the brume of a stormy day to assure woodland denizens and winter-weary humans of the forthcoming spring revival. In her indomitable way nature provides the palette. Light is her medium and hearts are the canvas for her poetry of light.

© Ilija Lukić 2015

Eternal Optimist

Eagle Territory

A seventy-five degree late-winter day stirs spring fever and Wanderlust. Cooper and I explore the southernmost reaches of Jordan Lake. Here the tawny confluent of the Haw River merges with lake waters. We pause on a bluff overlooking the lake in a northerly direction. The striking views grandstand a small sector of the seventeen-mile-long reservoir and its pristine 180-mile shoreline.

An unfamiliar raptor screech diverts my attention to the skies. A bald eagle on six foot wingspan glides into view and disappears along the wooded shore. Relatively shallow Jordan Lake and woodlands are exceptional eagle habitat and professedly host the largest concentration of bald eagles on the East Coast.

© Ilija Lukić 2015

Eagle Territory
(Jordan Lake east of Pittsboro, North Carolina)

Spring Fever
(Cooper, spring sun and a carpet of moss on a bluff overlooking Jordan Lake)

Restless Heart

I contemplate rockbound river wild
Then set adrift my restless heart
To ponder why both long for renewal
Near windswept dunes in briny deep.

© Ilija Lukić 2015

Restless Heart
(Sycamore on the Haw River near Bynum, North Carolina USA)

Faded Livelihoods

For a couple of centuries small farms produced much of the tobacco crop in North Carolina. Tobacco curing sheds endure as iconic reminders of a way of life in America's rural South from Richmond, Virginia to southern Georgia. They bear witness to mid-South Americana from a time when tobacco was king. Based on centuries-old designs and traditions passed on within families, farmers built unique barns and sheds to cure the leaves.

Once common sights along highways and byways only about 50,000 tobacco curing barns still stand. Some have been re-purposed, most remain as abandoned ruins and nostalgic structures inspiring wistful trips down memory lane and quests for stories of people who made a living in their shadows.

© Ilija Lukić 2015

Faded Livelihood
(Tobacco curing shed near Pittsboro, North Carolina USA)

Tobacco Road Shed

Storm On The Haw

Thunderstorms threaten as Cooper and I descend a wooded trail towards the Haw River. The path takes us downstream and across a small tributary creek. A fallen tree spans the shallow waterway. However, a foggy morning followed by periodic sprinkles coat its surface with a slippery sheen. I heed thoughts of caution until scattered boulders invite a rock-to-rock traverse. Resistance proves futile.

Cooper hesitates but follows my lead across the stepping stones. He's a master in adapting to his new woodland and water environment. We find numerous animal tracks in the muddy, riparian habitat. While Cooper explores scent trails, I take time to enjoy the serenity and capture several images of the churning river. Soon rain cuts our adventure short and we skedaddle back uphill to shelter in our vehicle.

© Ilija Lukić 2015

Storm On The Haw
(Lower Haw River just above Jordan Lake, North Carolina USA)

Beware The Pridie Nones Of March

Wildlife, flora and people across the southern reaches of the Piedmont Plateau yearn for Spring. Unusually warm weather belies the approaching Ides of March. Far and wide the perennial quickening of life forces stirs encouraged by balmy seventy-degree breezes. However, in the thick of woodlands Father Winter chuckles at such foolishness and unleashes a grim reminder of his enduring dominion over the realm. With emphatic sweep of his Cimmerian robe he unleashes torrential rains and bitterly cold squalls. In the wink of an eye temperatures drop forty degrees.

Daylight finds the Haw River a tawny, raging watercourse. A major tributary of Jordan Lake, its rush of flood waters swells the shallow reservoir beyond banks and into shoreline woodlands. Where Cooper and I roamed sandy beaches a fortnight ago, turbid lake waters lap at the feet of majestic Loblolly Pines.

© Ilija Lukić 2015

Pridie Nones Of March

March Flood

Life's Beaten Path

Elysian Night

Oh Elysian wintry night,

You hearten stars on high 

To abandon celestial realms

Veiled as cottony flurries

Coveting soft embraces

With silent Mother Earth.

© Ilija Lukić 2015

Winter Slumber

Falling Stars