Happy Surprises

Snyder Lake Tube

A couple years ago during a torrential rainstorm, actually following a day or 2 of rain, all creeks flowing to the Black River were out of their banks.  Wedges Creek is just down the road and a small dam there form Snyder Lake.  Wedges eventually flows into the Black about 10 miles distant.  Also feeding this system is Meadows Creek, which passes east of the house and then turns west into Snyder.  Arndt Road passes over this small tributary and at the time of the flood, was under repair. An old large diameter steel culvert was being replaced.  From evening til the next morning, the force of high water blew out and mangled the new steel and dumped an excavator into newly created void. Quite a sight.  Eventually, everything was repaired and back to normal, ready for the next 100 year flood, which means we are due again.

All that is just some background I guess for this image.  I've made pictures here many times in a kayak, so in the inaugural paddle of my repaired canoe, I just had to swing by and take another image.  I didn't think much of it at the time-not until I pulled it up on the computer and look closer.  Of course, it was in color and I felt like it wasn't bad-then I noticed all the squiggly lines formed by the culvert reflections in the water and thought, I'd bet that would pop out even better in black and white, so it was converted and yes, so much better.  Not everyone who saw both versions agreed, but it's mine and to me, the line patterns, the "mysterious" nose of the bow plate and the well used idle paddle worked well.  Perhaps it's also because it's different from any other picture I've made here that I'm drawn to it.  In any regard, sometimes we have happy surprises from the shutter to the "print" so to speak.  For me, it's a keeper.