Bits and Pieces

Happy Memorial Day everyone!

Yesterday we celebrated our forty-fifth wedding anniversary with our children and grandchildren so I haven’t been out and about with my camera for awhile. So today, I’m sharing some

Bits and Pieces

of the little at-home photos I’ve made during the past week. First of all, look at that blue jay! I’ve been seeing blue jays flying back and forth in our backyard a lot. I think they must have a nest in one of the trees there. But this morning I saw a patch of blue on the ground near the ferns and river birch tree. I grabbed my Canon camera with 100-400 mm lens and 1.4 extender that I keep at the ready for bird photos in the backyard and shot 3 photos. I then moved to another window hoping for a different angle to photograph, but the bluejay had flown away.

A Letter from Home 

She sends me news of blue jays, frost,
Of stars and now the harvest moon
That rides above the stricken hills.
Lightly, she speaks of cold, of pain,
And lists what is already lost.
Here where my life seems hard and slow,
I read of glowing melons piled
Beside the door, and baskets filled
With fennel, rosemary and dill,
While all she could not gather in
Or hid in leaves, grow black and falls.
Here where my life seems hard and strange,
I read her wild excitement when
Stars climb, frost comes, and blue jays sing.
The broken year will make no change
Upon her wise and whirling heart; –
She knows how people always plan
To live their lives, and never do.
She will not tell me if she cries.I touch the crosses by her name;
I fold the pages as I rise,
And tip the envelope, from which
Drift scraps of borage, woodbine, rue.

   — Mary Oliver

I’m not sure what the blue jay was doing on the ground for so long but I’m wondering if it was trying to distract some predator from its nest. Of course I’ll never know, but isn’t it beautiful?

Jon bought me a new metal watering can for watering my container gardens and hanging basket. I had set it briefly on the buffet in the dining room where I often make flower photos. The cookbooks under it are books that I’ve been consulting a lot recently in efforts to eat more plant-based meals. The colors of the bright cookbooks and the bright blue watering can caught my eye so I made a few silly photos of it, just because.

Recently I moved a mobile of origami cranes I made many years ago from my dining room to the living room in front of the fireplace where I also keep a basket filled with bird books. The juxtaposition of origami cranes and bird books seemed like a little bird joke to me, the woman who bird watches through her windows.

And finally, some silly photos of my grandson, son-in-law, and husband. My 16 year old grandson is growing and changing so fast! He’s shot up in height and is now taller than his dad. He was showing me how he was even able to reach higher than his dad. But unfortunately he can’t match his weight lifting dad’s arm muscles. It’s such fun to see him grow and mature. He is also so proud of the mustache he’s grown in the past year. I can’t believe how he’s grown and changed so quickly.

I am giving thanks that they live so close and that we all enjoy spending time together laughing, talking, and playing card and board games.

Here’s hoping that the bits and pieces of your life bring you joy too!

May you walk in beauty.