As we stay close to home, there is plenty to see. We are fortunate in Illinois to be watching the unveiling of spring. Maybe fortunate—though the number of people out sharing the path in today’s great weather makes social distancing a challenge. I’ve lived in the country’s two flattest states. Erna Nixon, one of my mentors, said clouds were our mountains in Florida. Like all Florida state parks, Paynes Prairie Preserve in the north central part of the state is now closed to enforce social distancing. But scenes like this are still available. Interstate 75 runs through the park, and I had to pull over last year to capture this scene.
Paynes Prairie Preserve, Florida
Taking the highway further north, Interstate 55 runs near the town of Lexington, Illinois. When summer storm clouds like this gather, I knew a cemetery just off the interstate exit might provide some interesting foreground for the storm.
Lexington, Illinois cemetery
Sometimes when the storm clouds gather, it’s worth getting on the rural roads to find a scene like this early morning in Livingston County when the storm was moving east.
Livingston County, Illinois
For something a bit brighter, how about a mangrove on the causeway across the Indian River Lagoon.
