Baltimore winter beauty

It's winter here in Baltimore which means three months of an utterly dismal landscape with matching weather conditions. Grays upon browns, not very inspiring--unless you are like me and consider it the ultimate challenge in finding color and life in a town known for its seasonal hibernation. Finding neglected beauty this time of year is like shucking oysters in search of pearls. It’s hard work, an even harder to find those beauties, but when you do, it feels like you hit the jackpot. It's a rewarding experience that comes just in time to keep S.A.D. (seasonal affective disorder) at bay.


A few weeks ago, I grabbed my favorite photographer (1/2 of the magnificent Balance Photography duo) and we set out to find some neglected beauty hiding inside Baltimore's frozen landscape. It was our usual flower hunting routine, only this time we had on 3 layers and cranked up the heat in the flower-spymobile.


We started in Catonsville, taking Rt. 40 going south—an often depressing route, given the poverty and high crime rate. And knowing our fellow human beings must live in such conditions makes it that much worse. There is little beauty to be found, although sparks of it are known to shine in the most unexpected places. Take this quirky little fruit tree for example that I found nestled in between a BP gas station and a mattress warehouse, painted the brightest shade of yellow I've ever seen on a building. I've been passing this tree now for three winters and this year I decided to do something about it--I paid it homage.


The scarlet red berries against the screaming yellow paint is an unavoidable road-side attraction. It's a bright dab of color upon winter’s canvas, a deep inhale from the suffocating neutral shades of sadness. Sounds pretty wax poetic, but it's true--that little tree's got spunk and some powerful energy in a place that could really use it.


We continued through the city to another location most would not venture, even in warmer conditions, called Cherry Hill. It's part of town that's known for gang violence and poor living conditions (although I hear it is on the up-swing). But sometimes the worst places harbor the most special things and in our case, Cherry Hill proved to be a much sweeter place than we could have imagined. We encountered some lovely displays of berries, vines and grasses coexisting peacefully among abandoned appliances and stacks of garbage.


When we hit Annapolis Road, there was a sign saying GEMS on a salvage yard lot. And gems we found. The dried reed grasses and bittersweet branches (these, unfortunately, were past their prime) that were across the street from some tall construction equipment created a mini-oasis. The grasses were a beautiful shade of camel that stood out quietly next to a series of abandoned tractor trailers.


We took a lot of pictures of the pretty grasses until we spotted what looked to be the operator of the construction crane who gave us a weird look. So we ventured down the road and caught a few more images of winter beauty before heading out to our next location: Lansdowne.


We went to an old, abandoned warehouse, off I-695 and next to a Jewish cemetery of all things. One of my designers took me to this site in the spring to hunt for wild cherry branches. This time of year, however, left it looking true to its nature-- empty and dilapidated. We found nothing in the woods to report as neglected beauty, it was just neglected. On our way out though, I glimpsed this old tree trunk covered with deep green ivy. It stood out so gracefully against the barren branches from all the other old trees. I found it simple and pretty.


We left the secret warehouse site and followed a road past an industrial business park. The scenery was monotonous, a repetition of offices and fast food joints. When I saw a shock of red whiz past me, I made Nathaniel turn around to go back for this picture perfect nandina (also called heavenly bamboo even though it's not a bamboo) planted outside a dialysis center. It seemed fitting for its location, as the clusters of berries were blood red.


I felt like cutting some of them and taking them back to the studio--nandina berries last forever in arrangements. But I left them for the dialysis patients to enjoy--I thought they needed them more than I did.


Afterwards, we headed home, but on the way, passed these vibrant fruit trees that lined the retaining wall in Arbutus; they still had some gorgeous persimmon colored berries on them. It got tricky when I made Nathaniel stop during rush hour. He did it though, even climbing up the hill towards the wall to get these great pics. I think he's part mountain goat; he's always climbing up steep places for the best shot- an admirable quality in a photographer!


Here's a close-up of the neglected beauty that can be found on I-695 North by the Wilkens Avenue exit.


It was getting late, and we were losing light. So we stopped at the fruit trees in Arbutus. We hope to go back for round 2 of Winter Beauty when Nathaniel gets back from Costa Rica (damn him).


When I think of all the layers of gray that I saw before we set out, I feel like we cheated winter a bit with our finds of persimmon, scarlet, camel and emerald. To think January would deprive us completely of color and plant life is too cruel to imagine, and thankfully, she doesn't. Neglected beauty is still there waiting to be found, by that pile of mattresses on the side of the road, behind an abandoned warehouse or across from your friendly neighborhood dialysis center… all you have to do is pull on your winter coat and get out of hibernation mode. Football’s over and the Boys of Summer are limbering up, after all!
ALL PHOTOS BY BALANCE PHOTOGRAPHY