Tell me a Story" August 2014

Tell me a story is live and I am pretty excited this month to be blogging with a whole new group of ladies.  Welcome to all the new ladies, I am looking forward to get to know you much better. Since this post is part of a circle blog, please take time, when you have finished reading my blog, to head over to Stacey Markel Photography / Maryland Family Photographer and see what she has to offer you this month.  

For this month I opted to go to a new park. I say new because we have not been there often. We have kayaked through the loops, check out the gators, cycled the canal, but we have not really done the walks.  I have discovered lately that I really enjoy walking through the wetlands, parks etc. It is not a fast paced walk but a slow meandering with eyes that move around to see what may catch my attention. 

So today I walked through the Arthur R Marshall Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge. The park also forms part of the Everglades. If you cycle far enough down the canal you will eventually come to the the view I have of the back of my home.  

But less about the park and more about my walk. I was interested to see that they had a boardwalk and I decided to wander down and see what I could find. My first find was interesting. A blue bee like bug, that was flying from plant to plant sucking up some pollen. I loved the iridescent colors on this bug. Good start to my walk..... 

Butterflies flitted around the plants. This Ruddy Daggerwing butterfly is part of the Swallowtail butterfly family. There were oranges, yellows, white and brown butterflies. I was pretty impressed.  

Excitedly I headed for the boardwalk......mmm so this is what the Everglades looks like in places....  I was the only person walking along that walkway.  It was lonely, there was not even a mosquito buzzing. There are signs that say if you see this a bobcat has walked this way... okay. The only thing I am seeing along the way is the potential for a snake to slither down a branch and greet me.  

And yet there was unusual beauty. Not in critters, or birds but in plants.  The first I saw was Spanish Moss lying on the edge of the wooden walkway railing. Interestingly, Spanish Moss is an airplant and a flowering plant.  I have always looked at it as an alien plant that takes over trees in Florida.  It apparently loves humidity. The flowers are tiny and inconspicuous.  

Tree after tree, vines layer trees and new plants begin to shoot. Green is abundant and alive. Yet the animal life seems to be missing. I saw a few lizards, but there were no butterflies, no dragonflies, no snakes (thank goodness).  I did not see an alligator, no bobcat, el zipo.  

So I focused on what I have enjoyed doing in the past.  Playing with leaves and creepers on the wooden walkway railing.  Attempting minimal focus with a lot of bokeh.    

The walk is lonely - there is not a lot to see, not much to stop and engage in and watch and after a while I am glad to find myself out of the loop and back and seeing critters again.  Once more the butterflies are flitting about and I am smiling at nature again.  

So I thought while I am here I may as well head up to the canal and see if I can spot any alligators. No alligators.  Not sure where all the creatures are right now. However, other than a few folk fishing I did spot this Great Blue Heron strolling down to the water, and so for a while I thought I would watch it's actions.  

It waded into the water and stood around watching. I thought okay, this looks good.  And we both waited. 

It was not long before the Great Blue Heron got down into a crouching position and seriously stared at the water. There was very little movement on it part. Stealth was a good word to use.

And suddenly it took off into the water. Thank goodness I was sitting with the shutter pressed down to the focal point because this bird moved fast. And I got it.... I was pretty stoked.  I got the bird, but the bird did not get the fish...

It came up looking a little disgruntled, still staring at the water.  

A bit of a fluff and shake and the water droplets are off and it can begin the process of fishing for food again.  

As I was walking away the Great Blue Heron had assumed the position of stalk mode again. Perhaps it may have better luck this time around.  

Thank you for joining me in my outdoor walk, don't forget to check out the next person in the circle blog.  Look for the link at the top of my page.  

If you are interested in seeing more of my photography take a look at my Facebook page or my Flickr Page. 

30 Minutes in the Life: August 2014

I love being part of the 30 minutes in life group.  We have added a few new members to the group and so I am looking forward to seeing what everyone else has to offer this month. Remember that this is a circle blog, so when you are finished reading my blog, don't forget to head over to Mary Slone Photography | Memphis Lifestyle Photographer and read what she has for you this month.  

In the life of a photographer, whose art is created in tiny fractions of a second, thirty minutes is a sustained thought.  Thirty, minutes, the length of a child's ballet class, a quick sauce's simmer; a commute, is long enough to witness change and short enough to be over before you know it.  We offer you here our monthly results of thirty minutes of watching and waiting and recording, of rendering permanent those fractions of a second that slip past in the time it takes to watch a television show.  

                                      

                                      Thirty minutes in the life ~ Sara Kelly

Mornings are not my best time.  I don't do early morning well.  I don't like to wake up early. But since I was awake so I decided to head out early and do the loop. So join me as I meander through the wetlands.  

South Florida weather has been unpredictable on most days.  At some point it is going to rain. Apparently while I was out of town last weekend a tornado whipped through our area.  I am okay with the hurricanes, tornado's not so much.  So walking out in the wetlands has been fun this summer.  I have found myself in the middle of the wetlands with lightening forking around, I have had to dig out my rain cover for my camera, and just lately I have been carrying a rain cover for myself. This morning however, looked promising. The sun was shinning.  I was happy.  

I have discovered that the wetlands during summer months is pretty dead.  The mating season has happened, the babies generally have been born, seems like everyone has gone north except me.  However, I will persevere even if I take spider webs and bees and plants.   

This leaf really got my attention, because it was hanging from a spider web thread in the middle of nowhere.  

I headed through the long shaded walkway, already overheated, and towards my favorite tree. Generally I will find Ibis hanging out in it, but today was a real treat.  The bird that I typically see the least and photograph even less is the Roseate Spoonbill.  As a norm it is in the middle of the wetlands, when it is there, and my lens does not stretch that far.  The Roseate Spoonbill is a wading bird and part of the Ibis and Spoonbill family.  They typically wade through waters swinging their bill from side to side searching for food.  Their diet consists mainly of crustaceans, frogs, small fish, insects etc.  When nesting they will typically build in shrubs, trees or in the mangroves.  They will lay up to 5 eggs.  They are a gorgeous pink in color.

While the Roseate Spoonbill was hanging out in the tree an American White Ibis decided to join it.  The American White Ibis is a medium sized bird, with white plumage and black tips on the wings.  The bill is a redish orange color and it curves down.  The legs are long and pinkish. They tend to eat insects and small fish, but like most humans, if crayfish is on the menu the American White Ibis is one happy bird.  It typically probes the ground with its beak when searching for food.  The American White Ibis normally pairs up and lives in large colonies during mating season.  They can lay anything between 1 and 5 eggs.  The juvenile America White Ibis is generally brown in color.  

Of course, there is always the ducks around and the Black Bellied Whistling Ducks are a favorite of mine.  I have walked the other Wetland 7 times in the past few weeks hoping to see their chicks.  10 were born.  You would think that you could see ten little tots following their parents.  Not such luck.  It was just last week that I managed to see 1 little cutie.  The chicks are black and yellow spotted and are adorable.  The ducks normally hang out in shallow marshes, and freshwater ponds and they feed mainly on seed and plant food.  

Moorhens are another common sight at the wetlands.  In fact I tend to get tired of taking photo's of them because they are always around.  What is nice about the Moorhens right now is that it appears that it is breeding season.  The chicks are so strange looking that they are really cute.  They have barely there wings, and feet that look like they belong to their mother. These are a few weeks old and so they are starting to develop a little bit of an independent spirit.  The Common Moorhen tends to live in marsh like areas or well vegetated lakes.  A distinctive feature of the Common Moorhen is the frontal shield on its face. Their diet consists of vegetative materials and small creatures found in the water. They will build their nests on the ground and typically lay between 5-8 eggs.  The Common Moorhen makes a very distinctive weird barking kind of sound.  

Last but not least I came across an Anhinga sunning itself in a tree.  Anhinga normally fish in the water.  Often all you will see of the Anhinga is a snake like neck protruding from the water. Unlike most water birds the Anhingas feathers are not waterproof and the bird can quickly become waterlogged.  When done with the fishing, you will often find the Anhinga with it's wings spread out waiting to dry. This season I found that they seemed to hatch up to 3 chicks at a time and it is quite a treat to watch the mother feeding her chicks.  The entire head of the baby chick will disappear, in what appears to be, down her throat to retrieve its food.  

Thank you for joining me on my walk. I love to get out there and be one with nature, or try to be in the midst of the early morning power walkers, who seem to pass me by 3 or 4 times during my meander.  It is a great time for clearing my head, archiving the stuff, and looking forward to the rest of the day.  

"There is eloquence in the tongueless wind, and a melody in the flowing brooks and the rustling of the reeds beside them, which by their inconceivable relation to something within the soul, awaken the spirits to a dance of breathless rapture, and bring tears of mysterious tenderness to the eyes, like the enthusiasm of patriotic success, or the voice of one beloved singing to you alone"

~ Percy Bysshe Shelley

Don't forget to click on the link at the top of the page to view the next photographer in the circle blog.  

If you are interested in seeing more of my photography take a look at my Facebook page or my Flickr Page. 

Project 10: Nostalgia

I was not sure what I was going to do for this topic.  Nostalgia is hard for me.  My parents have both passed away.  Richards dad has as well.  We live far away from any family.  The kids are out of home. I started with one theme and switched based on a conversation this evening.  

There are so many good memories.  Today was one of those days to look back and remember.  

29 years ago I met the one person I believed would be the man I would want to spend the rest of my life with. He was fun, he was outgoing, energetic.  He made me feel special.  He came into my life very unexpectedly, and he made every effort to stay.  Just weeks after we met, he told his sister that he had found the woman he was going to marry.

We knew this was what we wanted.  Our foundations were both the same.  We both had a strong faith. We both had a dream.  We knew that we could stand against all things if we stood strong in our faith, and united as a family.  A good reminder for us was the old family bible that Richard's grandmother had passed on to us.  

And so we agreed that we were going to open the doors to a new and exciting future.  We had no idea what it would bring but we were ready to forge our relationship and move on forward.  

We took the plunge.  Today is our 28th anniversary, and today I had time to remember and smile.  The hyperventilating, the nervous giggle, the fear that I may trip over my clumsy feet walking down the isle. Seeing the look on my father's face and the tears in his eyes.  Sitting here now, I can see his face and it brings tears to my eyes.  My dad died many years ago and yet I can see his smile, the quiver on his lips, the sheen in his eyes and the shake of his hand. He was giving away his baby girl.  I can see my mother as I walk to the front, the smile on her face.  She beamed brightly.  She was so excited.  Finally her baby girl was getting married.

And then I saw Richard.  I think about him today.   We were so young.  So excited,  So happy. This was the beginning of a new adventure.

Life has not always been easy.  We had a baby die during pregnancy.  We had a child that had a lot of medical challenges that lasted a number of years.  We had the day to day ups and down.  But we stayed strong.  We traveled on our own, we have traveled with kids.  Richard has often taken me out of my comfort zone.  So we have slept in a cave, camped on a plot of land where the only place to wash was in a salt water river, never thinking about crocodiles.  I was cajoled into scuba diving.  Sucked in all the air when I saw my first shark.  Even got paid to go on a roller coaster. 

Time has gone quickly, the babies are now the age we where when we got married.  They are ready to spread their wings.  As I looked to develop a memory of that day and to celebrate 28 years of marriage, I thought of the first song that was sung at our wedding, and I am reminded that it is all about love.  Each one of us is so different.  We have our own way of doing things.  Neither of us is perfect, but there is a common denominator, that when the tides turn against you, and the days seem dark, and you don't always know which way to turn, I remember "There is love".  I remember our foundations, the strength of my faith, and the words of guidance that we were given from our parents.  Two are stronger than one, but a cord of three strands will be the strongest of all.  

Today was a simple day, Richard worked in the garden, I supervised.  We went to the flower nursery together to buy a palm.  I added a few more things into the bin.  He did not complain. He bought grass squares.  I helped him move them to where he needed to lay them.  I enjoyed working alongside him today. I really liked supervising though :) 

We could have gone out to dinner, but after all the work he put into today, I knew he was tired.  So we chilled.  Relaxed on the patio, barbecued dinner, had a glass of wine, and enjoyed each other.  Best part of the evening was watching the sun set on the day.  

Just like the sunset, there is the ever changing facets of life.  There are the good days, the fun days, the stressful days.  There are the jobs you just love and those that you wish you had never ventured into. Their are the homes that you have created and loved as you have made every little nook and cranny just a little part of who you are.  There is family who are always there for you, no matter what.  There is friends who have come alongside you and walked a while with you.  All these events have made up our 28 years of marriage.  

As the sun sets on today, and we see another year pass, I look back and think that on that day 28 years ago, I put my hand in his and agreed to a new adventure.  28 years down the road, I can only say that I am happy to put my hands back in his and carry on.  

A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.

~ Ecclesiastes 4:12

If you are interested in seeing more of my photography take a look at my Facebook page or my Flickr Page.