LAST DROPS OF SUMMER

STEVE RYF,—JOHNS CREEK, GEORGIA

While vacationing on a lake in the North Carolina mountains, I enjoyed taking early morning walks down to the shore and sitting on the dock. The calmness of the water and the early mist that hung over it created a tranquil atmosphere. The only sounds were the gentle lapping of the water on the dock and the song of a few birds announcing the arrival of a new day. As the sun started to crest the mountain on the other side of the lake, the mist over the water took on a warm glow.

One morning, the sound of a boat engine caught my attention. I looked down the lake and saw a waterskier taking advantage of the calm surface and carving huge wakes behind the boat. As he drew near, accelerating out of each turn, the spray shot up explosively and was magnificently backlit by the sun. I took several shots with a fast shutter speed in order to freeze this dazzling display of movement, water, and light.

As the skier zoomed off, the water drops suspended in this photo rained down gently on the surface of the lake until it was placid again. Summer was winding down, yet I found consolation of a kind in this thought from Science and Health: "The periods of spiritual ascension are the days and seasons of Mind's creation, in which beauty, sublimity, purity, and holiness—yea, the divine nature—appear in man and the universe never to disappear" (p. 509). css