No Photoshop or even a little saturation. A Florida sunset…the kind that stops you in your tracks and makes you remember to Be Here Now. ❧
Image #296 – Sunsets that Stop You in Your Tracks
Image #185 – Life is Good, III
It became a fine spring day here in Franklin, NC on the 19th of January. The temperatures topped out in the mid-50s and, if you chose your position properly, the wind was not a problem. These two canines–Sweet Pea and Murphy–were clearly enjoying the day on Boni’s deck. Poor Murphy is an old man. He can no longer navigate the stairs to go and “do his business” in the yard so he pees on the deck and Boni patiently cleans up after him. We should all hope for this when we are old–a warm place in the sun and someone to lovingly clean up after us. ❧
Image #183 – Life is good!
And its even better with friends! ❧
Image #182 – Getting Re-acquainted With Winter
It may sound odd but after nineteen years in Florida but I am enjoying the process of getting re-acquainted with winter in North Carolina. Don’t get me wrong, I am not about to move to Minnesota. It has been plenty cold for me with temperatures dropping into the teens at night and sometimes barely breaking 40 degrees during the day. But there is treasure everywhere and there is certainly treasure in winter. It is an integral part of the automatic earth, a time of slumber and re-alignment. It is also a time of crisp, rich blue skies with low-slung cirrus clouds that seem to materialize before your eyes and quickly join forces to make a bright day gray.
Armed only with the iPhone camera I enjoyed a walk down Potts Branch Rd. today and climbed a pasture hill to enjoy the view and snap this photo. Tango, of course, was at my side and he too enjoyed the smells and sights. Every day is a gift. ❧
Image #114 – Sunday Morning
Sundays at our house are very low key. Usually I watch “Sunday Morning” and the critters … Well, you can see they take it easy too. That’s Tango, on the couch and Rainbow cat above him. At one point they had touching paws but by the time I got the iPad to take this picture the touching paws was gone. Oh well, it is still a sweet image ☙
Image #41 – Indian Pipes
For years I have thumbed through field guides of flowers trying to identify various varieties from the pictures I take. I do this a lot because my facility to remember plant names is terrible. But along the way certain flowers have leapt out at me and among them is the Indian Pipe (Monotropa uniflora). I could never believe it was a flower because to me it looks like a mushroom and the habitat they prefer is not commonly available in South Central Florida so I never had the pleasure of actually seeing one. So I got very excited when my friend Boni said she had seen some on our adjoining properties. And sure enough, tonight on our twilight walk Tango and I found this stand emerging from the humus. They are about 3 inches in height, the flower petal is about an inch. They seem almost ghostly in their color and translucence. This shot was taken with the iPhone in dim light. I’ll return tomorrow with the “big” camera and hope to improve on the image. But just as things go bump in the night things also get eaten by nocturnal critters. Speaking for myself this beauty of a flower looks good enough to eat. ☙
Image #36 – July 1, Carolina Sunset
A grainy iPhone photo of a beautiful sunset. Not the first that has occurred in Carolina since I arrived but the first I’ve noticed. Progress! ☙
Image #33 – Tango in Pasture
Tango checks out the new neighbors in a nearby pasture. ☙
Image #31
Normally we think of mushrooms in soft, mossy forests. But fecundity rules — especially in the summer and these mushrooms are making a bold stand in a seemingly unforgiving landscape. Good luck to them! ☙
Alice's WanderLand 