• bees,  flowers,  fog,  Fujifilm X-T3,  insects,  landscape,  natural areas,  Plants,  trees

    Good morning

    Fog in Rolland Moore Park

    I chased some early morning fog then headed out to one of the natural areas to write and get in a morning walk. It’s about a 5 mile drive to Reservoir Ridge and then found the sun shining brightly there and eerily quiet. I watched the sun burn off the fog along the foothills to the south, nature at work. Everything was wet from the humidity and dew; the split rail fence, the grass, and a spiderweb. The sun and wind will quickly dry things out. Thus begins a morning in the meadow. Makes me smile somewhere inside of me as I experience it.

    Backlit sunflowers at Reservoir Ridge Natural Area

    The birds now begin to sing as if they were waiting for me. They dart so quickly in the aire and must in order to catch all the quick and nimble flying insects. I watch as the wind slowly moves the fog to my east in a southerly direction. While small clouds along the foothills are moved south by the same wind. I watch a blue-jay perched on the fence hop to the ground in hot pursuit of some insect. He misses on the first couple tries then finds success. Such a beautiful bird dressed in blue, a work of art.

    Busy bees enjoying the nectar from a common chicory

    Now a bit of information about common chicory from Wikipedia. I see these all over the place and finally looked them up. The bees love them. The plant was adopted as a coffee substitute by Confederate soldiers during the American Civil War, and become common in the United States. It was also used in the United Kingdom during the Second World War, where Camp Coffee, a coffee and chicory essence, has been on sale since 1885.

  • Fujifilm X-T3,  Fujifilm XF35mm f2.0,  leaves,  Plants

    The Work of Nature

    Hops leaves at Marcee and John’s

    These are the leaves of a hops plant that was climbing up the wall at the apartment my sister and brother-in-law were renting in Lake Forest, Washington. The hop is native to temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere. Although frequently referred to in American literature as the hops “vine”, it is technically a bine; unlike vines, which use tendrils, suckers, and other appendages for attaching themselves, bines have stout stems with stiff hairs to aid in climbing (Wikipedia). Anyway the leaves were stunning in details so I grabbed the camera.

  • flowers,  landscape,  Plants,  quotes

    Hope

    Sunflower looking east for the rising sun at Pineridge Natural Area

    “The world is indeed full of peril, and in it there are many dark places; but still there is much that is fair, and though in all lands love is now mingled with grief, it grows perhaps the greater.”― J.R.R. Tolkien

  • flowers,  Fujifilm X-T3,  Plants

    A Sunday Morning Petunia Fix

    [ngg src=”galleries” ids=”69″ display=”basic_slideshow”]Sorry you have to bare with me as I play with this new camera and lens, putting up with all sorts of images, some which could be quite boring. Spent the morning crawling around on my knees at the CSU Flower Trials Garden and wanted to share what I found. I’ve used the camera exclusively since it arrived. The feel is getting to be second nature. It is a solid body much different than the Fujifilm X-T10. It is also very responsive. I’m not as intimidated with it the first time I held it.

    It has been hot for several days and today is going to be another one. Hope you have a wonderful Sunday.

  • animals,  Meister Eckhart,  natural areas,  quotes

    The Silence

    They call them cottontails for a good reason

    “Nothing in all creation is so like God as silence.”

    Meister Eckhart

    Started the morning with time in nature. The birds were singing. A Great Blue Heron surveyed the kingdom perched on a distant tree. A sunflower looked east greeting the morning sunrise. Cottontails wandered around in search for the best grass to nibble on. I come for the silence and the effect nature has on my soul. It can set me in a good place, clears my mind of irrelevant stuff. Yes, the silence.