My online journal where I share my interests in photography, nature, coffee life, journaling, fountain pens, bicycling, spirituality and asking deep questions.
Nature is always changing and presenting us with surprises. This bumble bee is an example of such a surprise. I was in Blendon Woods park playing around with my white balance preset, you know the adage, practice makes perfect, when this bee decided to get in the image. As a photographer, I had no problems with that.
Life is also constantly changing. Big and little surprises enter our lives on a daily basis. How do we handle the surprises in life? do we accept them or fight against them? Do we run away from them? I kinda like surprises, myself!
I have a wonderful back yard. It’s called Blendon Woods Metro park. I think this image captures what I mean by this. While on an afternoon walk I stopped by the waterfowl overlooks at Thoreau Lake and was treated with both a small deer and a blue heron. Of course I did not have a telephoto lens so they are quite small. The heron is on the right side and the deer is along the edge of the lake. Birds are singing their songs of happiness and the sounds of the city cannot be heard. This parks boundary is right behind my apartments. I do have to drive or walk around to the park entrance.
A simple flower, right? Scientifically we know it is a complicated living organism. I do not need to know, nor explain, all the complicated stuff about this flower so see it’s beauty. I can just open my eyes and enjoy with as many of me senses as I can. Why do we not live life like that? There are many who add complication to their lives with the mind set we must control life. Doesn’t work for me. What works for me is to live the day as it is, enjoy it and I will find it is not complicated. When tomorrow comes I will do it again and enjoy it. It’s pretty simple.
Out for a morning stroll. He’s a bit shy, in case you hadn’t noticed, as he made sure to stay close to the plants. After a hard rain the night before there is a wonder in the air the next morning. Don’t know about you but the freshness that is around us when walking among nature after a rain sure can perk up my senses. A smile comes to my face, well maybe a smirk. Wonder if it’s the same for the turtle. Do you think he’s smiling or smirking?
I could hear the frogs croaking along Frog Pond. I could smell the moisture and rain. I could feel the dampness in the air and in my clothes. For eye candy I had rain droplets hanging from leaves and flower petals. There were sun beams breaking through the trees. All these make for a good morning stroll.
Curves. I like curves. I made a post a while back where it seems nature uses so many curves in it’s design. Plants are a prime example. After a light breakfast this morning, and because I ate way to much last night, I sat outside in the morning sun visiting with an elderly man and his wife. Across from me was this planter where the green plant’s curves caught my attention. I came back later to take this image. It has a pleasing contrast and love that curve.
We finish up tonight so I will be home the next two days. Will try to catch up on stuff around the apartment. We also had major corporate news yesterday with our company and want to see how all that plays out.
I ate dinner the other night with a young man who is questioning the career direction in his life. I would love to say just the right words and help guide him along but those words don’t always seem to come. I do listen and ask questions, hoping those questions will help. While reflecting back over our conversation this morning, I realize seeking a career is not what I’m focused on at this time in my life. Do we need to have a career or as the case is now a days, multiple careers? Why do we pursue careers? Are we seeking the monetary gain or the status? How many of us define ourselves by our careers? We tell others we are an engineer, a teacher, policeman, a doctor, etc. At the root of all this is the realization I was always looking for a career that would give my something. I really wanted to have the money, the title, the unnecessary material goods. I expected a career to make me into someone and it never could.
Maybe a career is more about what I can offer to benefit the world rather than what I can gain.These simple daises pictured above, have so much to offer this world in such a short lifetime. They will sprout, grow, blossom and then decompose as part of the process to nurture the next generation. They are not trying to be a rose or a lily. They will blow in the wind as if waving to us, calling our attention to the beauty around us. Maybe that’s what a career is all about.
A couple days a go I wrote about the dominance of the color green in nature. Well nature is also dominated with curves. I do admit to enjoying the curves you find sunbathing along beaches :-), but nature has that beat. Let’s just say nature is into curves. You just do not find many straight lines in nature. While, man, on the other hand designs and builds with straight lines. Even the framing of this images is done with straight lines. What we may consider a straight line in these leaves still has a curve to them.
So, when we walk in nature do we take notice of those curves?
