Yes it made a sound.

“When a tree falls in the woods and nobody is … ?”  We’ve all heard the question and probably joined in heated conversations. To see my debunking of this eternal question and to get a closer wilderness scene above, visit the photo of the week page on Corndancer dot com where this story started, a very cool (and safe) thing to do. Click here.

There's more to see here during winter months. During the winter landscape colors are not as intense, but the shapes and intricacies of nature are much easier to observe. This creek is near the bridge over the Ouachita River in central Arkansas, east of Gurdon and west of Sparkman.

It has always been my belief that there is more to see in the great outdoors in winter than in summer, at least in these environs, where we are not up to our keisters in snow for the biggest part of the winter. The scene above illustrates the point. A lot of what you see there would not be visible in the summer.

Many who enjoy the outdoors confine their forays into the depths of nature to more temperate seasons. There is a lot to be missed. The light is different because the sun is lower in the sky and where deciduous trees cover most of the landscape, there is simply more to see when the leaves drop.

Winter colors are different. The image above would not look the same in warmer months. This was shot just north of Holly Springs AR on a county road. A creek crossing the road is routed through a large culvert, leaving a nice sized pond up stream. In the pond, the two old dead trees and sky made an interesting reflection, particularly when crowned with the winter version, golden yellow grass. This is not available during the warmer months.

While I was shooting the scene above, what I was doing did not escape the eye of an area resident. Neither did the scene. He stopped his car, and with a big smile on a toothless mouth, asked what I was shooting – well actually, ” whut I was takin’ a picture of.” I explained what I saw. To my surprise, he said he had noticed the same thing and agreed that it should be recorded. He departed, but before I finished shooting the scene, he returned with a friend in the passenger seat of his car. He did not want his friend to miss seeing the action. His buddy had teeth, but far short of a full set. They were not youngsters by any stretch of the imagination. We all conversed a bit and they went on their ways. Then I swung the lens a 180.

Evidence of a cast gone bad, the ubiquitous icon of southern bank fishing.

Where the creek exited the culvert on the south side of the road, sure enough, there was the ubiquitous icon of southern bank fishing, a hook, line, sinker and bobber on a twig. This is not the first time we’ve explored this phenomenon. Click here for that adventure, you’ll snicker — and a practical joke I played on a good-natured neighbor.

This interstate highway right-of-way marker has not a thing to do with the subject at hand. However, I suspect that not many people have ever laid eyes on one. Now, more people have.

Later in the day I encountered something seldom seen even by outdoor explorers such as myself and probably never for those not so inclined. It is a right of way marker for Interstate 30 near Prescott AR.

Thanks for dropping by, feel free to comment or drop me an email at jdempsey@cablelynx.com.

Joe