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Five Flower Photos and a Wood Duck

Saturday morning I saw a male wood duck sitting on the log at the edge of our pond. So I put my 100-400 mm lens on my Canon camera along with my 1.4X extender and made a handful of photographs of him in all his male sartorial splendor. Then I made more photographs of the now fading ranunculus flowers that I bought earlier in the week. So today I’m sharing Five Flowers and A Wood Duck with you. Besides the beauty of the wood duck, I love how you can see small feathers on the surface of the pond below Read more…

By Marilyn, ago

French Regional Park

In a surprising reversal of circumstances, lately I’ve had more photos to share than I seem to have words and topics to write about. Almost every day this past week I’ve been making photographs even if it’s simply in my own yard or in my dining room studio. Today I’m sharing a different view of French Regional Park than I usually show. I’ve made more of the photos from my walk there toned black and whites. I feel as if I am choosing to photograph differently than I have in the past. My emphasis is on depicting how the amazing Read more…

By Marilyn, ago

Lush Beauty

As I walk the paths in my neighborhood I feel as if I am surrounded by Lush Beauty everywhere I look. Most of the cottonwoods have finished blooming and their fluff drifts along the edges of the path and on any plant debris that is on the path creating tiny beautiful still life art. One must have eyes that are open to seeing this beauty, bending over here and there and looking closely at the scenes that unfold right underfoot. Along the side of the path I see that my favorite bed of ferns is a riotous verdant green, another Read more…

By Marilyn, ago

I Wish I Could Slow Down Time

The summer season seems to be moving so swiftly this year. Perhaps it does every year, but for some reason I’m really noticing it now. Sometimes I wish that I could Slow Down Time or at least slow down the turning of this season, so that I could savor the beauty of this time of year even more. I think our long brutal winter and slow start to spring make the rapid changes now seem even faster than usual. “Last forever!” Who hasn’t prayed that prayer? You were lucky to get it in the first place. The present is a Read more…

By Marilyn, ago

This Is My Happy Place

This morning I took a book and a cup of tea and went out on the deck to sip, swing, read, and daydream. This Is My Happy Place where I soak in the beauty of the day, feel the soft breeze on my skin, smell the soft scents of early summer, and listen to the sounds of nature all around me. The time I spend on the deck is a deliberate search for enchantment, seeking to see and experience what is right with the world, not the many wrongs and terrors that could fill my thoughts. Our mental universe (which Read more…

By Marilyn, ago