Natures paint brush is light. In this image the light is painting the small leaf between the tree trunks. It seems to shout, “Look at me!” Hope everyone has had a good weekend.
Look at me!
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Look at me! -
Wild Columbine
Wild Columbine “One isn’t necessarily born with courage, but one is born with potential. Without courage, we cannot practice any other virtue with consistency. We can’t be kind, true, merciful, generous, or honest.” Maya Angelou
The above image of a Wild Columbine was taken at Blendon Woods Garden near the visitors information building. This beautiful woodland wildflower has showy, drooping, bell-like flowers equipped with distinctly backward-pointing tubes, similar to the garden Columbines. These tubes, or spurs, contain nectar that attracts long-tongued insects especially adapted for reaching the sweet secretion. European Columbine (A. vulgaris), with blue, violet, pink, or white short-spurred flowers, was introduced from Europe and has now become well established in many parts of the East. It is different from its cousin, the Colorado Blue Columbine, which I am familiar with in that it droops downward while the Colorado Blue Columbine tips upward. It is a beautiful flower.
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Young Sprout
Young Sprout -
Gray Skies
Gray Skies Yes, the skies in the Ohio Valley are definitely gray. I did a quick search on WikiAnswers to see what statistics were out on the web for the question, “How many days of sun in Ohio and how many in Colorado?” Here is the answer for Denver (300) and here is the answer for Cleveland (66). The numbers didn’t surprise me and are relative to the definition of sunny days. What has surprised me is the gray. It seems to me there are more flat dull gray skies here in Ohio while the gray skies on Colorado have texture and shades of gray. I’m use to seeing clouds moving and changing as nature creates art with its clouds. Not so true here in the Ohio Valley. They are just plain gray. Oh, and did I mention the wind blows out here in the Ohio Valley.
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Feeding Time
Feeding Time I was surprised at the changes I saw in Blendon Woods after returning from 5 days of traveling. Most of the ice was gone on the lake and very few geese and ducks were around. I watched as the ducks were feeding on the bottom. It’s comical to see them stick their tail feathers up in the air and paddle their feed to keep their head down. Yes, spring is getting closer.
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Bring It On
Spring is Coming What a wonderful day we had yesterday. It didn’t start that way as I slept in late and missed and amazing sunrise. My body must have needed the rest because when I awoke just after 7:00 I could see the colors in the eastern sky. After a shower and some quite time I headed outside and discovered we had a nice frost and a light ground fog . After the fog burned off the clear skies allowed the sun to warm things up as our temperatures rose to 50 degrees. It was so nice I ventured out to Blendon Woods in the afternoon with camera and tripod. I found these leaves against the brown and white background and chose it for my image today. It will not be long and the snow will give way to the green of spring. Bring it on!
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White-tail Deer
White-tail Buck After a delicious salmon Christmas dinner and it was such a beautiful day I took a walk in Blendon Woods Park. I came across this white-tail deer on the path leading to Thoreau Lake. He was quite a ways off and the longest focal length I had was 200mm, I gave it a try. It is surprising how long they will stand and watch you.