a rose is a rose is a rose

Stereotypical, perhaps, as far as photographic subjects go. But so lovely I simply could not resist!

things of beauty

While snapping this shot of Sugar I had a chance to chat with a friend, who also happens to be her owner :-) Our conversation has left me with a bit of realization-in-progress: I have been inordinately needy for beauty lately. And when I am drawn to, am surrounding myself obsessively with, all things beautiful, there is generally an underlying reason for it.
And I am terribly sensitive to the emotions of those around me. So this evening, as I saw the distress in Lynn's eyes as she spoke of her fears, it occurred to me that the flowers and photos that I give are a way of fighting such fears.
Our world is a frightful one, and these days are full of fears: financial, political, relational . . . people are afraid. And the fear I see in others frightens me.
My way of fighting my own fears is by doing the only thing I can think of to alleviate it in others. Beauty soothes me. It also captures my attention, in that I have found in myself a tendency to notice details that not everyone sees. So recently I have been giving small gifts of beauty to those around me. As one with little influence, power, or wealth, all I have to give is that which calms my own fears. It leaves me vulnerable to others, easily wounded by insensitivities, but I do not mind. The deep joy of seeing the rare moments when my small gifts can mean something to another far outweighs the pain of when they do not.
So here is another glimpse of one of those small beauties :-)

just one

The gardenia bush my mother planted is magical: everything, I suppose, that her green thumb touches, is similarly blessed. This particular shrub's magic manifests itself in the way it habitually blooms as it should, in late summer . . . and then continues to sprout surprise buds at "random" times of the year. It seems to me that each of these surprises comes at some significant time, or day, of the year: so that I benefit from the brightened soul and lifted spirits that a solitary bloom invariably delivers. This particular one now occupies the space reserved on my piano for those of its kind, floating in the glass globe similarly designated :-)

modeling sugar

Once the day's duties were done and my lawn-mowing completed, I had a mission this evening: a quite simply one, really . . . a photo shoot with Sugar. As you can see, by her "come hither" expression, she's quite the natural!

once-solid rock

This is the sight that greeted me this morning, causing me to gasp and lift my hand to my mouth in one of those involuntary reactions. At some point over the night, it seems, a vehicle careened into our street's marking stone pillar, leaving pieces of the car strewn about the road, and leaving this disaster of what used to be a solid block of stone. Having seen this marker without thinking about it for some 18 years now, it is a strange thing to see it so suddenly demolished . . . a sad and somewhat frightening reminder of the inherently ephemeral nature of so many things, both those inconsequential and those of great significance, in our lives.

a family treasure

So maybe he's all growed up [as we say down here in the heartland ;-)] what with a sweet new wife and countless life accomplishments in his young man's lifetime . . . but he's still my baby brother. And consequently my big sister heart was proudly warmed just now at the discovery of this school assignment from many many years ago:

I am thankful for my home. I am thankful for my grandparents because they love my. I am thankful brother and sister.

Coincidentally, I claim the liberty of assuming that he was temporarily grammatically challenged, rather than the less appealing alternative that he was only thankful for one of us "sister"s . . .

when the clock strikes 12

As I walked in to visit a neighbor, I asked her about the "cinderella shoes" near the front door entry. Perplexed, she asked what I meant and, when I pointed them out to her, Lyn laughed. "Looks like my daughter came over last night . . ." Came and went, leaving only this picturesque trace.

subjective objects

Sometimes I am caught off guard, stopped in my tracks by rather ordinary objects that are, for whatever reason, strikingly beautiful to me. In this case, a first venture into a friend's backyard made me return later in the evening, camera in hand, so that I could capture this colorful trio.

photo finish

Trying to decide what my photo of the day would be on this all-important final day of the 31 photos project, I for some reason, unbeknownst to me, wanted to shoot the pool water. So I ran with the inspiration and carted my camera to the pool. Once there I snapped a few photos of the blank water and then decided it would be kind of cool to get feet along with it. So I called a random swimmer over and asked him to do me a favor. He obliged as I had him swim a lap of freestyle directly underneath my viewing window. Thanking him, I started to leave and, on the way, stopped to chat with one of the neighbors. She was assuming my photography was for some sort of newspaper article or write-up . . . for good reason: it turns out my "random" swimmer just happened to be the 50-yard freestyle champion in the city meet this past week! Fitting finish for last daily photo of the month, I think :-)

next stop: sakeji

today's lesson

a rain puddle. a pink parasol. and a sisterly hug. perfect

art lesson leftovers

Sometimes the mess is just too nice to clean up :-)

connor's pickle

Connor happily showed me his garden again this evening. And as we inspected further, we discovered not just two . . . there are, in fact, five pickles in his garden. I, however, am particularly partial to the toes that also have been known to be found in Connor's garden :-)

what does your garden grow?

I met my neighbors the other day, thanks to my bold curiosity about her gardening prowess. This evening, as I crouched on the ground to capture this stunning sunflower [and I didn't add a thing to this photo, so far as color or other touch-ups go!], their young son poked his head up from the vine behind me and made a proud announcement [he had already granted me permission to take photos in his garden]. "Hey! You can take a picture of this one too . . . we have a pickle . . . Wait--we have two pickles!!!"
Wow--I wish my garden grew pickles . . . .
Young Connor kindly consoled me for my lack of a pickle-growing garden . . .

pecking order

Watching the hummingbirds this evening, we wondered out loud as to the fact that there were only females flitting about. Then we realized why: a solitary male approached, and was promptly shoved out of the way by a female . . . he did not persist in his efforts and nor, it seems, did any other of these northern hummers!

line of sight, take 2

So today's machine of choice was admittedly less productive--and decidedly more fun--than the last one featured! A post-service outing afforded me the occasion to have my first go at four-wheeling on the pastor's toy. Don't be fooled . . . preachers can wheel [and deal?] with the best of them :-)

line of sight

Yes, this is, in fact, a lawnmower. And yes, I did, in fact, take a photo of it today. Why? Well, it made perfect sense to me: for after spending the afternoon with this particular view, I realized that I was quite fond of it . . . and what is more natural than to want to capture the image of something you are fond of? Ok, so maybe it is the end result that make me so fond of this machine, but it doesn't need to know that, now does it?

project do-it-herself

This was the day's DIY home repair project. And while it was certainly no work of fine craftmanship, done as best as I could figure out how to do it, I was proud of my work all the same. I was also amused by the fact that, as I crouched on the floor with putty-covered hands and concentrated push-point-placings, two burly athletes sat watching me. One took his mother's phone call, arguing good-naturedly about when he would make it to their family vacation; the other concentrated on his cell phone, cursing his large hands when he accidentally texted an unspoken message to an unintended recipient. And I contentedly carried out my solitary project to its satisfactory completion.

the one

No doubt you wonder why I would be so interested in this, apparently mundane, sort of scene. The reason is a simple one--silly, even: it reminds me of a painting I clipped out of a magazine back in high school. It was an impressionist scene, of a girl lost in her delight, flying high in a swing such as this one, suspended over a forest spring. The depiction captivated me at the time so that I longed to be transported into the middle of it. But I have no idea who painted it, and have not seen it since high school, so who knows what that particular piece of art was, or if it would have the same impact on my now . . . in my cynical old age ;-)

still [not] the one

so this is yet another "side" photo: a glimpse. a gasp. an i-must-capture-that moment. another photo i took when i was out intending to take the photo that i have not yet posted . . . oh, the suspense :-)