Miracle Hot Springs: Wasp Float and Other Photographs of Pristine Water

Destination: Miracle Hot Springs in between Hagerman and Buhl, Idaho. This location made the first cut of my "must see/photograph" list of important bodies of water in Idaho. Tuesday's roadtrip marked my fourth visit to a location that made an indelible impression in my early twenties. How could one not love a beautiful pool whose warmth is not too extreme that laps can still be swum (outdoors)?

Or small rooms that are rented with a private pool where the water is drained between each use?

I had 600 wasps at my disposal knowing that we would rent a private room. With my Mom's help (the theme of the month), we estimated the dimensions of the space (on memory) and I arrived hoping I had enough to cover the water. The sun shining above the adobe provided a warmth to the scene that I loved (hence the magenta glow to many of the photographs). 

While Mom swam laps in the other pool, I spent thirty minutes covering as much surface as I could and photographing details of the drawings on water.

Wanting a person in the scene, I summoned Mom who slid under the hand rail into the deep end and began filling the space made bare of wasps when the water moved. I took several dozen photographs but none were as interesting as the action of placing the paper or the clean-up after they began to fall to the concrete below.

Why wasps one might ask? I associate this location with healing from the month of wasp bites that placed me in the Emergency Room for the first time due to insect bites several years ago. With a foot so swollen I could not wear a shoe and a flight to Boise reserved, Mom immediately brought me here upon my arrival. A detail like that is not something that will be known in the final series; it is part of my autobiography with water in determining the final locations to photograph. Here's to the anticipation that one of these images carries its own weight without the explanation.

Thoughts are still pending on which one that will be.