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All About Joy

Today’s blog post is simply All About Joy — from the joy I feel when I am making photographs to the joy of seeing spring finally unfurling it’s flowers and leaves, myriad shades of green, and pops of color in early blooming flowers. I’m still floating from seeing magnolias and wildflowers yesterday at the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum. This morning I reviewed the rest of the photos I made yesterday and picked out more of them to work on. There were more than is sensible to post in a single blog post. But I don’t care! I’m so happy seeing the Read more…

By Marilyn, ago

Sweet Magnolias

It’s been a day of Sweet Magnolias and turtles on a log. I spent the morning at the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum. And despite the strong winds that were blowing I managed to make a lot of photographs of the magnolia trees in bloom (that weren’t totally blurry from the wind).  It took patience, a camera with image stabilization, and a fast shutter speed. The scent of the magnolias was wonderful! At home in my backyard the log at the edge of the pond has been filling up with painted turtles and ducks. The turtles like to warm themselves in the Read more…

By Marilyn, ago

A Long Slow Stroll into Spring

Tomorrow is May Day. And here in Minnesota it doesn’t look like any May Day I remember. We are still in A Long Slow Stroll into Spring here. Yesterday I took a walk at French Regional Park. There were lots of families enjoying the day at the park. On my walk I searched for signs of spring and though there were some greens starting to appear it was still a pretty stark landscape. Still, I found beauty in the starkness. Those who contemplate the beauty of the earth find reserves of strength that will endure as long as life lasts. Read more…

By Marilyn, ago

A Walk in my Neighborhood

Everywhere I look as I walk the paths of my neighborhood—seeing fiddle-head ferns, pine cones, lichens on a fallen branch—I find beauty! Join me for A Walk in my Neighborhood and see the beauty that is hiding in plain sight all along the path. What We Need Is Here Geese appear high over us, pass, and the sky closes. Abandon, as in love or sleep, holds them to their way, clear in the ancient faith: what we need is here. And we pray, not for a new earth or heaven, but to be quiet in heart, and in eye, clear. Read more…

By Marilyn, ago

Duck-y Weather

With raindrops falling yesterday and today with more rain predicted for tomorrow it has been Duck-y Weather this week. (For those who play rhyming games, you might guess another word for the weather that rhymes with duck-y.) Still I’ve been enjoying seeing different ducks on the pond behind our house and on the pond that’s just down the hill across the street from us. Yesterday I saw two ducks that I could not immediately identify swimming in the pond down the hill. After photographing them and then searching my bird books I learned that they are Blue Winged Teal. Over Read more…

By Marilyn, ago