Floating on a Mirror

Tobacco Barn, Hadley MA
Photo by Richard Getler

"𝑶𝒍𝒅 𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒗𝒆𝒔 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒈𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒐𝒑𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒏𝒆𝒘 𝒈𝒓𝒂𝒔𝒔." 

~ Adrian Bell, A Countryman's Spring Notebook

Other than some windy days and nights, this March has been milder than most. Even the few remnants of snow that lingered into February melted away weeks ago. And still (the snow in the foreground notwithstanding), this photo, captured by photographer Richard Getler, unquestionably evokes spring in the Pioneer Valley. This extraordinary image is at once familiar and strange. As Richard observed, “𝐼 𝑑𝑟𝑖𝑣𝑒 𝑝𝑎𝑠𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑏𝑎𝑟𝑛 𝑜𝑓𝑡𝑒𝑛, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑓𝑖𝑟𝑠𝑡 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒 𝑖𝑡 𝑎𝑝𝑝𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑒𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑏𝑒 𝑓𝑙𝑜𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑜𝑛 𝑎 𝑚𝑖𝑟𝑟𝑜𝑟 𝑜𝑓 𝑤𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟, 𝑎𝑑𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑎 𝑏𝑒𝑎𝑢𝑡𝑖𝑓𝑢𝑙 𝑛𝑒𝑤 𝑑𝑖𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑠𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑡𝑜 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑐𝑒𝑛𝑒.”

This is the featured photo for March in the 2024 Head in the Clouds Amherst wall calendar. By a unanimous vote, it was also selected for the calendar cover!