ghost of nature.

lake loppin on another overcast morning. after our big tour the day prior we 'stayed in' the next day, meaning that we went for a little hike in our loppin surroundings. as i have written before, loppin has some extensive woodland area in the west and the south, which belong to the protected landscape of the nossentiner/schwinzer heide . the heart of this landscape is basically an outwash plain formed by a glacier from the ice age. this plain is mainly covered with pine tree woods these days, though the protectors are at work to change these woods into a more diverse one. the glacier that once formed this landscape washed out channels over time and when it receded completely left the landscape dotted with lakes and marshes that are now home to rare plant and animal communities that enjoy and thrive on the nutrient-rich waters. the area is also an important cultural-historical one, formed by 5.000 years of anthropogenic cultivation. as the nossentiner & schwinzer heide are s...

a flower a day keeps the tristesse away. the third day in the lakelands started with a foggy morning, which i took as an excuse to steal myself away from the breakfast table shortly after finishing eating. i wanted to envelop myself in the mist, especially when you have a lake right in front of your doorstep! lake loppin shrouded in a slightly mysterious mist. the boat house. it was so quiet that morning, no soul around and only some swans were swimming on the surface of the lake. in the distance you could hear the cranes trumpeting, calling the family to gather on some fields nearby for their own breakfast experience. this bench set-up was so lovely - almost synchronized togetherness. on the footbridge, between the two posts of the access ladder, i found this fella cocooning up an orb web. it's a female european garden spider . we call it 'kreuzspinne' in german - cross spider - because they wear a cross-like pattern on their abdomen. it is a toxic spider, though the toxic...