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Una Selva Oscura
23 February 2022
A dark forest is where the poet Dante found himself in middle age. Or so begins his epic poem The Divine Comedy. And there we were, wandering around the coastline the other day when the trees overhead shadowed our path.
Selva. Nikon D300 with 18-200mm Nikkor at 24mm (36mm equivalent), f8, 1/30 seconds and ISO 200. Processed in Adobe Camera Raw.
Our adventure was nothing like Dante's journey to the afterlife. We had no guide at our side, just a camera with a long zoom lens. And no afterlife in view. Just the moment at hand.
Then, too, we suspect we are a few steps beyond the middle of our life.
But this scene, with its lush overgrowth and wide path, seemed like something right out of the The Divine Comedy. The long steps taking us effortlessly to a slighter higher elevation only reinforced the feeling. Where do you see steps like that any more?
And the light streaming in from beyond only reinforced the illusion. We inhabit a dark wood but the sunlight is just on the other side if we persist only a little longer. Who doesn't believe that?
No, it doesn't always work out that way. When night falls the demons come out. We've seen them.
Still, if the world we inhabit must be a dark wood, it is a blessing that through the branches we can glimpse something brighter. A ray of warmth sneaks through them to us, falling on our face, our hand.
That too sometimes happens.