Dawn Fiddlers on the Web

 I never regret getting up early and spending time in Brightwood Park at so-called "golden hours."  In addition to the fresh air, there are many beautiful moments appearing in seconds or minutes, which can only be seen and captured in narrow time-windows.  Here are a few examples taken with my iPhone.  Of particular interest are the young trees with their upper limbs brightened by the sunlight and their lower parts remaining dimmed, as if the trees were wearing short pants to cope with the heat.

The drought has caused the ponds' water to recede and has worsened the duckweed problem.  However, Brightwood is still a fun place early in the morning.  For example, I experimented by moving close to spiderwebs after I was chased by mosquitoes and other blood-thirsty bugs.  It seemed to work for me and I thanked my eight-legged little friends for liberating me from the annoying disturbances.

Upon watching and photographing the remarkable art and engineering projects of my spider friends, I first felt a little upset with tree branches blocking the view.  Later I changed my mind by discovering and appreciating that this can be an elegant string-music instrument designed by nature, with countless strings manufactured by the spiders and the bows contributed by twigs of trees.  A title then came across my mind for the photos taken: "Fiddler on the Web?"