My tulip is just on the verge of opening up. I’m betting we see this beauty again.
Here’s another quote for John O’Donohue which seems very appropriate in these days of isolation:
The Beautiful stirs passion and urgency in us and calls us forth from aloneness into the warmth and wonder of an eternal embrace.
It’s raining today in Southern Oregon so I just popped out the back door to see how my Camelia bush was doing. Everything from new buds like this one to full flowers laying on the ground.
from Confucious:
Everything has beauty but not everyone sees it.
Today’s quest for beauty took me to the bird feeders at North Mountain Park where I found the Nuthatches putting on quite a show.
From Rumi:
Let the beauty we love be what we do. There are hundreds of ways to kneel and kiss the ground.
The willows along the Greenway are a in varying stages of development.
From John O’Donahue:
“The Human soul is hungry for beauty; we seek it everywhere – in landscape, music, art, clothes, furniture, gardening, companionship, love, religion and in ourselves. When we experience the Beautiful, there is a sense of homecoming.”
Here are some blossoms to remind us that spring is here and there is beauty everywhere in spite of it all. Get out there and take it in. The air is fresh and clean. It’s people you need to avoid not being outdoors as I have heard some express.
I’m sorry, I have been neglecting my image of the week as well as my own need for creativity. In this time of isolation and darkness I decided we all need a little more beauty in our lives. So, though it has been only a little over six months since my last 100 days project ended, I feel called to start a new one. This one will be called 100 days of beauty. Thought I would start on my street on work my way out. One of my neighbors has some gorgeous daffodils. I expect I will be visiting them again soon.
After keeping and eagle eye on the weather for a month I finally got a break on the same day I didn’t have to be anywhere so that I could escape to Jedediah Smith State Park to kick off the Redwoods National and State Parks project. It was a good start but I wish I had been able to stay a little longer. Maybe next time. I did get a few ideas on how to approach the project and look forward to the months ahead and many trips to the redwoods. And here is the art piece I made to highlight some of my favorite things from my hikes that day.
I’m running way behind with last week’s image of the week. I didn’t have any new images in the first place so I had to go back to the previous week’s visit to the cemetery where the Acorn Woodpeckers were abundant. Then I had to find time to do the art piece which finally happened in fits and starts between all the other activities on my calendar. But here it is at last and now I can go out and do this week’s photography with a clear conscience.
I went to the Ashland Cemetery looking for Stellar’s Jays but they were not in residence. However there were lots of robins so I brought out the big lens to see what I could do with them and found this guy hanging out with them. On consulting my bird books I learned that the Varied Thrush is more likely to be found in the mountains. This one apparently came down to the valley to get warm or find food not covered with snow. For me a great subject and new one to check off my life list. Here is what I did with him in the digital darkroom:
Well, this past week was not very conducive to nature photography, unless you like snow, which I don’t. So, I had to reach back to a walk in Lithia Park the week before when I captured this nice image of some catkins hanging over the creek. I’m hoping to get out and find some more birds tomorrow so wish me luck.
And here is the art piece that goes with this one. In all honesty I’m not sure this was such a good idea but maybe if I get some images to work with a little earlier in the week I won’t feel so pressured to get an art piece done AND post the image of the week.
