The last couple days have been spent in the same location along Indian Creek in Indianhead, Pennsylvania. Close to where I grew up as a child, I find this creek to have some very interesting stones to choose from. The weather yesterday was a mixture of rain and snow making for less than ideal conditions. Actually downright unpleasant. I managed to build two balances. The first one was hideously aweful, the second was a little better. The first lasted less than a minute and produced 4 photos, the second I improved upon a bit, but also lasted about 50 seconds. Wet, cold, miserable and with darkness closing fast, I called it a day and retreated home for some warm dinner.
Today I returned to the same location and was greeted with somewhat more pleasant weather. It snowed large flakes almost the entire time which felt like a real life snow globe. The wind was blowing slightly less, which was better. I managed a few balances. The first was an astonishing point balance that may be the most minimal contact point I’ve ever achieved… hard to believe it was done while wearing gloves in a snowstorm? It lived a short duration of just a few moments allowing a quick examination and a few photos before toppling into the creek. I was going to rebuild it, but the point was damaged in the topple, rendering it less than ideal in my eyes. The second balance was less appealing in design, but technically more difficult. Balancing it became more of a game of “can I accomplish this before dark” than a well thought out, interesting piece. The snow came down harder producing a thin blanket of snow over the balance. Despite the balance being less than beautiful in my eyes the moment and experience made up for its lackluster design. I almost found myself dancing in the creek as the snow fell, then suddenly my hands quickly reminded me that they’d spent far too much time in frigid waters and that it was time to bid farewell to Indian Creek.
KeyStone Balance 