New Year, New Inspiration!
While I worked hard last year in 2024 to put all of my photography passions under one brand, I also realized something: I love nature photography. I'm not sure how it will fit into the business, but that doesn't mean I can't share this part of my passion. That means a new feature in my blog will be to feature these nature photography explorations.
Mima Mounds
This year I'm starting with Mima Mounds Natural Area Preserve!
The details: These are located near Olympia, Washington, which is about a 90min drive from Seattle without traffic. This site is under the care of the Department of Natural Resources - this area is designated as a National Natural Landmark. You do need a Washington State Discover Pass to visit.
The beauty: this is a really beautiful prairie area with a Douglas Fir Forest at the edge, and Oaks around the prairie among the mounds. We visited during the winter, so it was very quiet, a little cold, and still so beautiful. I can see the landscape would be even more astounding in the spring and summer with flowers in bloom and butterflies joining the birds we saw.
The background: these mounds are evidence of what the geologists describe as "soil pimples" because from a birds-eye-view they look that way. Apparently they accumulated during a great flood when rocks and soil mixed during the water receding leaving these mounds behind. The name Mima actually comes from the Indigenous Chehalis people whose word Mima means newness. And, the site is surely home to many new scenes and signs of nature's cycles.
While these 12 photos below don't fully convey the truly amazing site this is, perhaps they can share a little bit of what it was like for our nature walk during the winter day where the sunshine kept behind the clouds trying to shine in various tones of brightness. I am looking forward to visiting again in the spring or summer!
