Recently, I’ve spent some time mining my photo library for images to use in a couple different projects. While I was down that hole, I took advantage of the process to build some collections of some of my favorite photos and post them on their own web page. I hope the photos help inspire people to see prairies as something worth caring about. Feel free to send the link to anyone who hasn’t yet been bitten by the prairie bug. (Maybe don’t use that phrase with them, though.)

Now, on to this week:

One of the best things about being a photographer is that it encourages me to seek out and appreciate beauty in the world around me. The serenity that comes from that exercise has become a necessity in my life. Geez, that sounds sappy, huh? I can’t help it. It really is a big deal to me.

Last week, I made two trips to my favorite stretch of Lincoln Creek, which runs right through town here in Aurora, Nebraska. It’s not what most people would call a “pretty” stream along most of its length. In fact, many people would probably call it more of a storm drain than a stream. In the fall, though, a lot of the bare dirt on its steep eroded banks is covered by fallen leaves. That spruces it up a little (even though the leaves are from silver maples, not spruce trees – hardee har har).

During my two visits last week, I spent a couple blissful hours admiring the many thousands of leaves floating on the water, searching for photo compositions I liked. I was able to forget about the rest of the world for a little while and just focus on finding beauty. I highly recommend it – with or without a camera.

Here is a very small selection (percentage-wise) of the photos I took during those two trips. If you want to make a little game out of looking through the photos, see if you can find the one leaf that’s included in two photos. I’m pretty sure there’s just the one. You’re also welcome to just enjoy the photos without trying to win a game. It’s up to you. Also, I’m really sorry about that awful “spruce it up” joke.