Wallowa Lake Cotton Candy Wall Art Decor/ Northeastern Oregon Landscapes/Joseph, Oregon/Nez Perce/Wallowa Mountains/Mountain Art Prints

HE DIDN'T FIND GOLD AT WALLOWA LAKE

HE FOUND A MONSTER! DO YOU BELIEVE?

FYI

In 1885 an unknown prospector was rowing on the south end of Wallowa Lake shortly after the sun went down. About half way of rowing his boat ride across the lake, he saw an animal about 50 yards to the right of the boat. It reared its head and neck up out of the water ten or twelve feet, but when it saw him, it dived back into the water. He stopped rowing and looked around in amazement wondering if it was going to pop up again. It raised up out of the water to the left of his boat and gave a weird bellow that sounded like a cow. It swam along the waves of the water and looked to be about 100 feet in length. Not feeling threatened, the monster glided in the water for several hundred yards. It got too dark to make out much more of the monster, but it seemed to have a flat head, like a hippo and its neck was 10 feet in length. The girth of the monster was about the size of a man's body.

The prospector remained unknown.

(Wallowa County Chieftain, Nov. 5, 1885)

WALLOWA LAKE COTTON CANDY

Oregon Landscape

A Different Sweet Tooth

My name is Debbie, and I'm a photographer with a passion for landscapes, flowers, and fractal photography. As an artist in the realm of photography hailing from Oregon, I can immerse myself in capturing the intricate beauty of nature's wonders.

My goal on that particular day was to seize an exquisite sunset shot at Wallowa Lake, where the golden hues of oranges, reds, and yellows would melt into the billowing clouds above the iconic, majestic Wallowa Mountains. However, as the evening unfolded, reality did not mirror my envisioned masterpiece. The colors I sought remained elusive, leaving me slightly disheartened by the unexpected turn of events.

The challenge that loomed before me was the waiting game. The hues I had longed for didn't materialize in the sky as the evening unfolded, leaving me feeling a sense of disappointment. Yet, I reminded myself that in the realm of nature photography, Mother Nature dictates the script; I'm just an eager observer.

My photographer's intuition whispered urging me to persist. And so, regardless of the absent oranges, reds, and yellows, I continued to clicking the sunset frame by frame, every few minutes, hoping that something magical might still emerge.

Being out in nature I could feel it's environment all around me. The air embraced me with a gentle breeze, a soft caress that brushed against my skin. The fragrant, earthy scent of pine trees mingle around me, created a sensory symphony. The gentle lapping of small waves on the shore and the rhythmic splashes of leaping fish composed an auditory backdrop that soothed my soul. Magic was going to happen one way or another.

As the evening inched towards its close, a soft transformation begins within the sky. Clouds that once seemed unremarkable now took on a delicate pink hue. In that moment, a surge of hope and determination coursed through me. With renewed energy, I adjusted my camera, capturing the evolved canvas of the sky as it unveiled its newfound splendor. I was there to freeze the essence of this moment, to suspend its magic in time. Among all the photos I shot, one photograph stands as a testament to the fusion of art and environment. The soft pink clouds above Wallowa Lake I saw as a whimsical swirl of cotton candy, prompting me to christen it "Wallowa Lake Cotton Candy."

In that moment, I transitioned from being solely a photographer to a witness of the intricate world that surrounded me. My connection with nature deepened, as I recognized that even in the face of being disappointed by expectations, the universe presents us with the extraordinary. I felt gratitude for not surrendering to discouragement, for embracing my instinct to wait out the sunset, and for celebrating the bounties that nature so generously bestowed. The pursuit of photography amid nature is my portal to joy, and on that night, I relished every moment spent in its embrace.