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A week ago I went to the Maine Wildlife Park and stood next to a coyote, patted a moose and a mountain lion, walked through a fox pen and felt humble and safe. We could learn a lot from the natural world.
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what it would be like to live in a lighthouse? You would see
plenty of fog, smell the changes in the ocean, almost always
have a fresh breeze, watch ships pass in the night and enjoy
nautical wildlife. Sounds romantic, doesn't it?
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Next I came across a smaller grasshopper who was perched on a raspberry bush. When I brought the grasshopper into focus through my macro lens, I was amazed by the colors and intricate details.
And finally I was struck by the way the sun highlighted this pink zinnia. What I like about this image is the way that sun catches hold of the web and how happy the flower seems to be.
As you look through my photos, I want you to be aware that despite that I have an album entitled "Macro" that is not the only place that you will find my macro images. Macro images are in nearly all of my albums simply because everywhere that I look, I see things that I want to see in macro. Enjoy!
]]>and decided to drive home at 10 PM and managed to get 3 hours
of sleep before getting up to get ready for work. My eyes burned from
the midnight drive and lack of sleep, but as I stumbled out to my
car to unload my travel bag, I noticed that not only were the roses
still blooming, they were dressed in morning dew and ready for the sun.
I went back into the house, grabbed my camera and took a few
shots. What I saw through the lens was perfection. And as usual, the
vision that my camera showed me, reminded me beauty is always
there, no matter how tired or hurried I am. I just have to open my
eyes and except that it is there.
with a camera in my hands. And more than likely you will
find me photographing shore birds. Why do I keep aiming
my camera at these avians, seeming to take the same
photographs time and time again? Simple, that is the only
way that I will ever catch them in action. They might not be the most
beautiful birds in the world, but they sure are entertaining
and they can't disappear from sight while I am trying to photograph them!
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where I live. I knew my address, the street and town I live
In, but I forgot to look around. As I stood in the driveway the
other day, looking up through the lace of new maple leaves,
I sucked in my breath in awe at my surroundings. When
did the green splash into the white, eventually completely
replacing it? When did the birds return?When did the air sweeten?
When did I start leaving my jacket behind?
This isn't unusual. It happens to me every year whether
I was busy finishing a semester of school, planning a
wedding or busy with work projects. I wait all winter
for the freshness of spring to take over the state, yet I
have a tendency to almost miss it every year. Perhaps it is
because it is such a gradual change until the final burst
takes over and Vermont is suddenly very green.
Maybe next year, I'll slow down a little in spring and notice
all the subtle changes, but I doubt that will happen. This is
why I take photographs, so I can come back and see the things
that I miss in day to day life. I can come back in January and
experience spring once again. And so can you!
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]]>May is a month that brings many changes to Vermont as we transition from winter to spring. We start the month off with lingering traces of snow and end it with trips to camp for Memorial Day weekend. Flowers sprout, grass greens, and wildlife mothers bring their children out to play.
Winter boots are shed and mud boots become garden boots as we till the soil and talk about when the last frost will happen. Winter jackets are buried in the backs of our closets, with vows that no matter how low the temperature drops, that jacket is not coming out of the closet until November! Sandals and flip flops are polished, cars are washed, windows opened, air conditioners are located "just in case it gets hot" and smiles blossom everywhere.
I remember my first spring in Vermont, I couldn't believe how green everything was! Maybe it has something to do with looking at white and gray all winter, it takes our eyes awhile to adjust to brighter colors. But in May in Vermont, everything is brighter, shinier, happier and full of promise. Happy May!
]]>Longer days and warmer temps. I love to take photos of the brook in all of her stages and the last few
days she has been showing me a little excitement. I'm sharing a couple of closeup shots from the weekend
and a broader shot from last night during the rain storm. I took a quick run to visit her before I left
for work this morning and will have some shots to post later with the dusting of sugar snow. Yes, I
said snow! Hopefully that is the end of the snow.
Today enough snow was finally melted so I could go outside and do a little work. I decided to clean out last year's flower bed and discovered a few firsts for 2014. First I found this little green guy. I have no idea who he is, but I discovered him and several of his friends hidden under the wet leaves.
Next I was greeted by my first frog of the season. He was rather slow moving and once he had hopped out to the warm stones on the driveway, he didn't want to move any further. I took that opportunity to do a mini photo shoot.
Next I woke up a sleepy caterpillar. He was curled up in his bed of leaves when I raised his covers. He seemed to yawn before stretching out. I left him alone and went back to removing decaying leaves from the garden when I saw a tiny seed bravely sprouting. But when I walked down to the brook an hour later, I discovered that this was not the first sprouter of the year, as a lone coltsfoot had woken up right next to the brook. I did not have my macro lens with me when photographing the coltsfoot.
All in all it was an enjoyable day of several firsts. I love this time of year when everything seems new!
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the romantic version of saying that I smelled mud and puddles, but none the less, spring
is really here. I am late posting an image of sap dripping, and the sugar season is winding
down. It was short and sweet. I am just happy that spring is here and I can't wait to hear
that first peeper I mentioned in my last post!
PS This photo was not taken this year, it is a dream of what is to come!
all going to melt soon! As I walked the path from the parking lot to my office this morning, I
noticed the aroma of skunk. With feet of snow still covering the ground, I welcomed this smell.
It meant that Mother Nature is waking up her children. From my office window, I see squirrels
shimmying up and down tree branches, crow calls echo from treetop to treetop and the chickadees
and robins return to the barren crab apple tree in hopes they may have missed a morsel of food.
I know that when I walk back down to my car in 4 hours, mud will tug at my boots and the wind will
gently toss my hair since there will be no hat in its way. Yes it must be spring time in Vermont!
However any fool who has lived in Vermont for more than a year knows that spring time in
Vermont is a perpetual April Fool's joke!
He was beside me when I had tough good-byes to say. He was beside me as I put countless hours of work into two degrees. He was beside me when I didn't feel well and when I laughed and acted silly. He slept on my bed, watched me eat, turned his head when I changed my clothes (yes he, did, he would lower his eyes and look away). The first hint of sadness that rose in my voice or fell from my eyes, he was next to me, comforting me with his big paws and warm kisses, letting me cry into his fur. He was my fearless protector except when it came to thunderstorms. Having an excellent sense of atmospheric pressure before the first rumble of thunder was audible to my human ears, he was camped out in the bathtub trembling.
His patience taught me unconditional love. No matter how boring your day was or how tired or angry or sad you are feeling, you should always greet your loved ones with a giant hug and a wagging tail. You should always be ready to go for a walk no matter what the weather is. You should eat whatever is prepared for you. You should clean up your messes and the messes your buddy creates. You should smile whether you are happy or sad. You should enjoy the simple things in life and marvel at how a ball bounces and always find where the squeaker is hidden. Always know where your toys are because you never know when someone will be willing to play with you. Treat everyone equally (except for your mate who should be treated better than you treat yourself!) and have no prejudices or biases. Protect those who are weaker than you. Listen more than you speak. Above all, love with all of your heart.
I look at his photo and he's staring back at me. It's almost as if he's watching over me, waiting for the day when I finally come home.
be fooling myself if I thought it was always springtime at the shore! This photo was taken on December 24th, 2013.
I had gone to Westbrook, ME to spend the holiday with my daughters. Despite the fact that there was snow, it was still
a treat to be able to walk on the beach at Christmas. Sadly, 3 months later, I have not been back to visit the
ocean. This is the longest time span that I have gone without visiting the ocean in roughly two years.
During the last couple of years of my grandmother's life (she passed away last August at the age of 103), I tried to visit her
every couple of months, sometimes more frequently during the warmer weather. Each visit to my grandmother
also included a visit to the ocean.
My journeys to Maine hold so many memories for me. And they truly were more than just trips, they were journeys.
I wonder if my grandmother chose to stay in Maine, not far from the southern beaches because she knew her
grandchildren loved to visit the ocean and could visit her and the ocean together. Maybe she knew that as her life
was winding down, those visits to the ocean would hold more meaning. The walks on the beach carried more
emotions, the power of the natural world held more answers, and I came away knowing more, always knowing more.
Every time I visited my grandmother, she would ask me if I had been to the beach yet and which beach I visited or
planned on visiting. If it was afternoon and I hadn't reacquainted myself with the ocean yet, she would suggest I cut
our visit short and go to the shore before dark. She knew as well as I did, that the ghosts of youthful days were dancing
in the waves and that the taste of sandy ham sandwiches and tart lemonade lingered on the shore. She knew that
if I kept those memories alive, a part of me would stay youthful. I felt bad that she could no longer go to the beach
with me, that she could no longer feel the soft sand shift between her toes and feel the salty air blow across her
cheeks. So I scooped up a baggie full of sand and brought it to her. It was a gift that held so many memories,
answered so many questions and held peace. She showed that sand to everyone who visited her and told them
"Grammie couldn't go to the beach any more, so Lisa brought the beach to Grammie."
Is there someone in your life, who needs you to bring the beach to him/her? Don't wait until summer, the beach
is nice this time of year.
on a Star" when I see the creatures who enjoy the suet feeder. Remember, "would you like to swing on a star, carry
moonbeams home in a jar"? Wouldn't it be cool if you really could capture moonbeams and hold them in a jar? Before
get too carried away with the possibilities imagined in the song, I will return to our friends here.
I know a lot of people dislike seeing squirrels stealing all the bird's food. But when we choose to feed wild animals, can
we really choose who gets to eat the food and who does not? When I put a new cake of suet out, it is generally the
the chickadees who get to it first. They are brave souls, unafraid of me and waiting close by. They are rather quiet,
not bringing a whole lot of attention to themselves and so they get a nice meal before the noisemakers show up.
Once the blue jays spot the suet in the feeders, they insist on telling everyone else what they have found and that
it is theirs exclusively. And for awhile, not one dares to disturb them until the woodpecker family arrives. I said the
chickadees are brave, but the woodpeckers are fearless when it comes to chasing the blue jays from the suet. I think
they are the police officers; they want everyone to have a fair chance at the suet. And that does work for awhile
as all of the feathered variety of diners take turns on the feeder. The only true hog on the feeder, is the squirrel.
So if the woodpeckers are the police officers, the chickadees are the brave soldiers that means the blue jays are the
court jesters and the squirrel is the king!
And so this little guy is dubbed King Moonbeam!
As I look outside and see new snow covering not so new snow and a crab apple recently depleted by a
circus of squirrels, I quote Bunny Hopwell, "so this is spring?" I'm not new to Vermont, so I know that yes
indeed, Virginia, spring will arrive, but on her own terms. Before spring can arrive in Vermont, we must first
pass through two other seasons, sugaring season and mud season, often times these two seasons happen
simultaneously, with both the sap and water running. If you aren't familiar with the terminology, sugaring season
is that time of year when sugar maple trees are tapped, so their sap can be gathered as the trees thaw out.
This sap is then gathered and the water is boiled off of it creating maple syrup. On the other hand, mud season.
Many of Vermont's back roads are unpaved. All winter as the snowbanks rise up along side the road,
frost settles into the road and the road becomes a giant dirt ice cube. At the end of winter/beginning of spring,
the snowbanks begin to trickle down the sides of the roads and the sun starts to heat the road turning that
giant dirt ice cube into a pile of dirt pudding creating mud season!
As I drive my way through springtime in Vermont, I will think of Bunny Hopwell. I will see the robins struggling
to find their dinner and think, "so this is spring",. My steering wheel in my car will jiggle and try to shake off my
hands and I will think, "so this is spring". My mailbox will appear to grow taller and I will think, "so this is spring".
I will smell the sweet combination of wood fire and boiling sap and think, "so this is spring." And most likely
there will be a morning when I have to shovel snow in order to drive my car to work and I will think, "so this
is spring." There are many mini seasons to spring in Vermont and each milestone towards the ultimate goal of
green grass is celebrated gleefully until we reach black fly season!
Happy Spring!
I just wanted to remind everyone that 1) spring is on the way! Mother Nature is just a little moody this year. 2) all of my images are available as cards and prints and many of them can be used fo my letter openers.
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