Ailsa’s travel theme this week is “Circles” and she posts some beautiful images here. I love photographing architecture and especially the graceful curves that are used in so much of architecture. But I promised myself not to use photos of partial circles (curves) but use full circles. Here are three of my favorites found while traveling in the Maritime Provinces of Canada.
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I have been waiting for this day since we returned to Michigan. I drank my morning coffee as the sun was coming up to a cloudless day. The sky was crystal clear blue and the air was still so I put on my new walking shoes, winter coat, pulled a red hat down over my hair and ears, and put on my red gloves. I grabbed my camera and was off.
I didn’t know how cold it was but knew it was cold because my eyes watered and burned and my nose got really cold. I later learned that it was 20 degrees F but I didn’t care because I was out to explore a new path that I saw yesterday when I went through the neighborhood in the opposite direction. I have been walking this neighborhood for four years and never noticed it.
That little sign on the left says something about no hunting or trespassing. It didn’t stop me – I figure that at my age and with a camera around my neck I could talk my way out of any mess I get myself into. The beginning of the path is like a drive – it goes between the houses that face the street and some houses that are built way back from the road with other drives.
I’m not sure what the purpose of this path is but the walking was easy and the first thing I noticed was fresh deer tracks in sandy soil – unusual for here because we have lots of heavy clay.
The walking was easy because of moss underfoot…
Until…
This was the end of the groomed trail but I easily climbed over this and found all kinds of delights as I walked on down the path.
The walking became more difficult as I had to watch for fallen limbs among the leaves. I finally came to a point where there wasn’t a trail and the walking was too hard so I turned around. On the way back, the sun was high enough to cast beautiful shadows across a mossy lane that seemed to go to the back of someone’s home.
I hated to reach the road and leave this natural trail and all its treasures for the well-manicured lawns of the neighborhood. But there were other treasures to photograph and I’ll share those on another day.
I was taking a few last shots in my yard when my camera stopped working – the memory card was full. I had been gone 2 hours and had taken 275 photos. What a fun way to spend a late November morning.
Strelitzia – Bird of Paradise
I feel like I am in a whole other world. I have spent a lifetime learning the plants that would grow in the colder climate of Michigan, and even learned those that were exceptions given the unique micro-climate of my gardens. Now I am having to start over because so many plants here in Florida are “foreign” to me. Today I found a book that will help, published by Southern Living – a big book of over 700 pages of plants that grow in the southern regions. What I am learning is that almost anything that grows anywhere will grow here – especially if giving a little extra treatment. Spring bulbs need to be dug up and placed in the frig each year.
I have had a lot of fun taking pictures of plants that have strong structural lines. Sometimes a plant can be beautiful to look at but I have a hard time capturing the beauty with my camera. The resulting images can be disappointing but this particular plant did not disappoint. I love the way the leaves create beautiful lines and the dramatic way they catch the light. I haven’t been able to identify most of the plants but will update the post as I learn. I couldn’t decide which image I liked the best so I included two.
The next image is of a palm font. This also has a dramatic way of reflecting light and was fun to photograph. There wasn’t much I could do in editing to make it more dramatic.
Here is the palm that it grows on.
On two different days, I admired the combination of these blue and yellow flowers but the images I took didn’t have the same impact that they did when I was standing by them. Then I noticed the piece of fence and decided to photograph that with the flowers. The geometric lines of fence was just what I needed to emphasize the delicate beauty of these flowers and the beautiful color combination.
I just couldn’t resist the urge. Us folk in the northern half of the US & Canada, too, never seem to get tired of fall color. I have lived through many, many falls and still marvel at the wonder of this miracle. Although I think the leaves are getting smaller or maybe not as many trees because I remember kicking my way through leaves up to my knees as I walked to school.
Anyway, this morning I went for a walk with my camera to record the vibrant colors in the early sun (okay, not so early sun). I started with the trees in my neighbor’s yard – the ones I see outside my kitchen window. Almost makes me want to wash dishes.
This is the scene as I go down the hill and turn the corner.
But this morning, I decided to turn in the other direction to see what was happening there. Here are my favorites.
As I was walking back up the steep hill towards the house, I couldn’t resist the needles from the white pines by a neighbor’s gate. They drop so many and they make excellent mulch for acid-loving plants.
