Muse – A WordPress Photo Challenge

This week Brie Anne over at WordPress has chosen the topic “Muse” for this week’s photo challenge. She asks what subject keeps bringing you back to it, and inspires you. My muse has always been water. And, without further ado, here is my muse…

Lighthouse

Nature designs a water and sand pattern

Water crashing on the rocks

Swirling waters

A view of the river

Air bubbles

I hope that you enjoyed the photos! Thanks for stopping by and be well… ^..^

Read Full Post »

Playing with the Macro Lens

Since going through chemo, I have had issues with my hands. Not only do I have neuropathy, but tremors, or shaking, too. This makes taking photos, especially macro shots, hard to do. I gave it a go the other day and wanted to share with you some of the photos I took.

The center of a clematis

Galardia

A very tiny spider on coreopsis

Russian sage

Artemesia

Water from a sprinkler

The top of a red hot poker

Weedicus Unknownicus

Spirea blossoms

Out of the 175 photos I took that day, these were the best. I am hoping that eventually my hands will stop shaking. Thanks for dropping by today and be well… ^..^

Read Full Post »

Off-Season – A WordPress Photo Challenge

Krista at WordPress has chosen the topic “Off-Season” as the topic of this week’s photo challenge. Here in the Sierra Foothills this June, we are experiencing weather that is not typical and is off season. June is usually hot and dry. Well, we have the heat, but we have had rain. Here are some photos taken recently of this odd off-season weather.

Thunderheads off in the distance

A double rainbow

The independence day ufos are behind these clouds

Lightning shooting off to the right

Looking up at the dark clouds

Since these off-season storms have blown through, we have returned to clear sunny days and hot temperatures. Today will be in the high 90’s. We are melting here!

Have a great Friday and thank you for stopping by! Be well… ^..^

Read Full Post »

Around My Yard

For today I decided that I would share with you some of the views in my garden. Most of these have been blooming for a while, which is early. This is due to the drought. I hope that you enjoy the shots. The final photo is something a bit different, but sweet!

Gallardia

Hydrangea

Clematis

Another clematis

Gerboa

Red hot poker

This last shot is not a flower, but a hummingbird. Did you know that one of their favorite foods are ants? We watch the hummers as they dart around our gravel driveway eating ants. I caught this little bird with an ant in its bill.

A hummer catches an ant

Well, that is it for today. I hope that you enjoyed the photos! Have a wonderful day and be well… ^..^

Read Full Post »

Another Storm Blows Through

We have had very odd weather here. Yesterday we had 3 tenths of an inch of rain accompanied by a huge lightning storm! I am posting the stills today that I shot yesterday. I have lots of video footage to review to find all the lightning that I was able to film. I will take stills from those videos to share the lightning with you at a later date. This storm was indeed impressive! Click on the photos to see greater detail. Ready to take a look?

The storm is coming our way…

The approaching storm

Looking towards the west, you can see where the sky is clear with a few clouds heading that direction.

The leading edge heading west of us

There are many layers which look really cool.

Layers

The storm slides in.

Sliding in

It gets really dark. It is early evening, around 5:30 p.m. It should be very bright still as sunset is around 8:00.

It got really dark

From where I sit, I take a photo looking up.

Looking up from my chair

The clouds appear like a hand with fingers spreading out.

Fingers

A bolt of lightning as it starts..

One bolt

Then one more. This one spreads quite far.

Then another

Well, that is it for today. We are to have another storm come in this evening.

Thanks for stopping by today! Have an amazing Saturday and be well… ^..^

Read Full Post »

Vivid – A WordPress Photo Challenge

Lingnum Draco over at WordPress has chosen the topic “Vivid” for this week’s photo challenge. So, let’s head into my world of what vivid means to me. I hope that you enjoy the photos!

When we were on the “Big Island” of Hawai’i, these little guys stuck out with their bright colors.

Gordy Gecko

A splash of red is always vivid for me.

Just Red

There are lilies that grow around the area, and the contrast in colors fit this week’s challenge too.

Contrasts of rust and yellow

This lovely sunset, this photo taken from my back deck, certainly fits the bill.

Sunset in orange

What do you think about this sunflower?

A sunflower

The rose of sharon in our yard is quite pretty. Don’t you just love the red contrasting the white?

Rose of Sharon

One more shot…I just love peonies. How about you?

Shades of gold

Well, thanks for stopping by today. It’s the start of the weekend. Make it a good one, OK? Be well… ^..^

Read Full Post »

Western Fence Lizard

As my husband and I have our evening cocktails, we observe one of the local natives: A western fence lizard. I decided that I would share photos I took the other night of this foothills critter. Please do click on the photos so that you can really see the detail on this amazing creature.

Meet the western fence lizard

Did you see the blue stripe on his underbelly? This lizard hides in the night blooming jasmine in our front yard. We were please to see him out and about. Here is a photo of this little guy looking right at me. I think it was the sound of the camera as I snapped photos that attracted his attention.

He is looking at me

Here is a photo where he is watching possible prey.

He spies prey

His prey: A honeybee.

Predator and prey

He gives up on this bee and heads over to the hose.

Hiding on the hose

While in this spot, he catches a wasp. I missed it, but I did get photos of him consuming his meal.

He caught a wasp

As his mouth is clamped down on the wasp, we watch the back end of the wasp wiggling. He quickly swallows and clamps down again.

It’s almost gone

It now gone. He is smiling!

It’s gone

What surprised us next was when he burped! If you look closely at this photo, you will see the hind legs of the wasp sticking out.

Burping after lunch

Satisfied after eating, he scratches an itchy spot by rubbing his head on the cement.

Taking care of an itchy spot

Well, there you have it. This is part of our early evening entertainment. We are very fortunate with what we get to see and experience here.

May you have a wonderful Wednesday, and thank you for stopping by. Be well… ^..^

Read Full Post »

Catching Lightning!

Recently we had a storm, it was on the 26th I believe, and there was a lot of thunder and lightning. Because lightning is quick to strike, it is very difficult to catch a bolt coming down. Deciding that the only way that I could catch it was to video it, this is what I did. It took about 15 minutes of filming and from that I was able to catch the split seconds of a bolt of lightning! 😀

Here is the single bolt captured in 3 frames of the video that I shot.  To get the full details of this photo and the others, I suggest that you click on the photo once, then with the photo isolated click on it again to bring it to full size.  The bolts actually go from side to side and if you look closely, you will see how amazing this bit of nature truly is!

Here it begins…

The bolt of lightning begins

Here is the second frame…

Second catch of the same bolt

The last bit as it retreats…

Third catch as it finishes

Pretty cool, huh? June is usually a month were we get the monsoonal flow from Arizona and with it comes more lightning. I am hoping that I can catch more when it comes again!

Thanks for stopping by today, and have one heck of a fine Saturday! Be well…. ^..^

Read Full Post »

On the Way – A WordPress Photo Challenge

Michelle W. over at WordPress has chosen the topic “On the Way” for this week’s photo challenge. She asks that we, “Share a shot of something you saw, did, or experienced on the way: a photo not of your destination, but of an interesting thing along the way. Show us something stunning others might have missed, or find some unexpected beauty in a mundane moment. Maybe we can all start looking at the in-betweens a bit differently!”

Ready for some shots taken on the way? Let’s head out.

The first thing that came to mind was the flight we took to Hawai’i. There was an amazing storm happening on the ocean and this view is with us being up in the air at 35,000 feet.

A storm cloud over the pacific

The next that came to mind was the day on our cruise we headed into Glacier Bay.

Following another cruise ship into Glacier Bay

As we drove up Highway 5 in the central valley of California, on our way home from a trip, the mirages on the road were amazing.

A mirage on the road

On our way to Red River, New Mexico we drove by the Rio Grande.

The Rio Grande

Celebrating the birthday of a very good friend, we made our way on this special day to Yosemite National Park, a park he had never been to before. On the one lane road, I snapped this photo. El Capitan is center left, and Half Dome in the center.

A view from the road heading to Yosemite National Park

This last photo was on our way into Red Rock Canyon near “Lost” Vegas. The beauty of the mountains had us stopping many times on the way. The colors were amazing!

Heading in the canyon

Thanks for coming along! I hope that you enjoyed my photos of being on the way! 🙂 Be well… ^..^

Read Full Post »

Memorialized – Friday Fictioneers

Memorialized – Photo by Douglas M MacIlroy

He had found a rift in the time continuum, which allowed him to travel back through history. Dressed in scuba gear, he jumped through the rift.

Light as a feather, he found himself floating in the sea. Whooshing towards him was a huge creature. It slowed as it got near. John was dog paddling. The Plesiosauria leaned forward as if smelling him. He reached out his hand. The nose of the creature touched his hand. He stroked her face. What a thrill!

When John came back to the present day, he created a sculpture to memorialize his unique encounter.

* * * * * * * * * *

Thank you to Rochelle Wisoff-Fields for hosting Friday Fictioneers, and to Douglas MacIlroy for the photo that inspired my short story!

And, thank you dear reader for taking the time to drop by for a quick read. I hope that you have a terrific Thursday. Be well…. ^..^

Read Full Post »