Snowy County Road

February 2023 Travelling country roads in winter can be risky. Blowing wind and snow make driving challenging while also providing moments like this one. I was headed back to the hospital along a familiar concession late one afternoon when I noticed this lone Sugar Maple on a gravel side road. The snow was just deep enough to obscure all but the dry grass in the ditch and field and some gravel ruts. A few inches more and all would have blurred into a white sheet. I positioned myself on the edge of the ditch and got low so the tree in the distance could be fully seen while balancing the line of grass that lead to a far crossing. Composition is one important element that can make a simple photo into something artistic. After almost twenty years in my role as a community mental health worker I calculate that I’ve driven over 225,000 km. For most of that there’s been a camera in the backseat. I spend many lunch and dinner breaks walking paths in conservation areas and public forests and I watch for scenes like this to develop while driving. I consider it a fabulous job perk that keeps me centred in what can be difficult work at times.