Bird Watching on the Beach

A day at the beach is never boring. Love to watch the birds and listen to the waves coming in. The sights and  sounds are a symphony for the senses. Each tone...each note is unique and beautiful from the sandpiper to the pelican. Of course the seagulls out do everyone.

"Sit in reverie and watch the changing color of the waves that break upon the idle seashore of the mind."

~Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Purple Booties

These tiny purple blooms look like little velour booties... 

Fuzzy and soft hanging on a clothes line. 

"Flowers are those little colorful beacons of the sun 

from which we get sunshine when dark, 

somber skies blanket our thoughts."

~Dodinsky

In the Midst of the Blossoms

Seemingly submerged in a sea of pink ruffles I find these delicate sunny centers. Sometimes they just wave lightly in the breeze like little fingers... Beautiful... quiet... and colorful...

"Flowers... are a proud assertion that a ray of beauty 

out values all the utilities of the world."

~Ralph Waldo Emerson, 1844

Ivy Curls

I think the tendrils winding through the ivy leaves are fascinating. They swirl and spiral in different patterns creating captivating art forms. The sunlight sprinkles through the fence and shadow dance across their green canvases. Nature is art and God is the artist. 

"The best place to seek God is in a garden.

You can dig for him there."

~George Bernard Shaw

Dancing in the Light

Fiery skirts twirl in the breeze. 

Like little fairies they dance. 

Sweet fragrance blooms on the wind and somewhere laughter echoes. 

Like little fairies they dance. 

Circle by circle they spin and giggle. 

Like little fairies they dance. 

Until the sunlight fades and the petals descend. 

Like little fairies they dance. 

Only sleep now, waiting for the sun to fill the horizon tomorrow.

"I sit in my garden, gazing upon a beauty that cannot gaze upon itself. And I find sufficient purpose for my day."

~Robert Brault

A Purple Morning

Flower petals shimmer in the sunlight like sparkling amethyst. They glisten with indigo hues like delicate, soft feathers reaching for the sun. Butterflies and bees drink their plum nectar. The faint humming swirls with dizziness through the violet strands. A breeze softly blows, and tiny amethyst blossoms shimmer in the sunlight alone once again.

"In the garden I tend to drop my thoughts here and there. 

To flowers I whisper secrets I keep and the hopes I breathe. 

I know they are there to eavesdrop for the angels." 

~Dodinsky

Pretty in Pink

Fuchsia pink bloom sway in the breeze. I would have preferred a butterfly to be on them, but the color is captivating. Bright hot pink...nature has some great inspiration. God has a great art box!

"Take thy plastic spade, it is thy pencil;

Take thy seeds, thy plants, 

They are thy colours."

~William Mason, The English Garden, 1782

Little Ant in the Rain

In the insect world raindrops rolling down a leaf become raging rivers collecting at the center. A reflection pond that an unsuspecting ant doesn't want to get caught in.

This one was running. He was looking for the first dry 

leaf he could find...and quickly.

"It is not enough to be industrious; so are the ants. 

What are you industrious about?

~Henry David Thoreau

Crimson Petals

Hues of red...Crimson, scarlet, vermilion, carmine, and cherry these petals trumpet their sound. They twist and wind through the shadows of the forest up to the canopy for light. Bright blossoms lift in the light and petals open awaiting a new day.

"Give me odorous at sunrise a garden 

of beautiful flowers where I can walk undisturbed."

~Walt Whitman

Snack Time

It seems like everything in nature comes alive after a rain shower. The birds are splashing in the puddles, the ants are running from the droplets on the leaves, children stomp through the puddles in giggles, and tiny snails come out to snack.

"Will you walk a little faster? 

said whiting to a snail,

There's a porpoise close behind us, 

and he's treading on my tail."

~Lewis Carroll

Evening Light

Evening light is so beautiful. Light and shadows bounce off of the clouds. Sometimes you can watch for hours as the clouds swirl, change , and grow into different shapes.

"He had been eight years upon a project for extracting sunbeams out of cucumbers, which were to be put into vials hermetically sealed, and let out to warm the air in raw, inclement summers."

~Jonathan Swift

Sounds of Summer

The sounds of summer in Central Texas are buzzin' with life. No summer afternoon is complete without the serenades of countless cicada. There are at least three species that I have heard hanging around here... Tibicen superba, Tibicen resh, and Tibicen pruinosus.  I encountered a superb green cicada yesterday afternoon flipping and sputtering around in the yard. I took a few shots, but when I went to change lenses he disappeared into the green somewhere...hidden.


But you can't miss his unmistakable sound...


http://www.insectsingers.com/100th_meridian_cicadas/songs/04.US.TX.LWI.C23.Tibicen_superbus_two_phrases_filtered.mp3

Just wouldn't be summer without it.

"If the robin is to many the harbinger of spring, then the cicada is perhaps an advance scout for autumn warning all who hear it to 'enjoy the summer while you can for the end is near'."

~Charles Fonaas

 

Bee Buffet and Dining

Oh, a happy little bee. His little legs were so full of pollen he could hardly get up. The pink fuzzy blooms on these little "weeds" were so bright and colorful the evening I was out and he was having a feast. 

"The men of experiment are like the ant, 

they only collect and use. 

But the bee...gathers its materials from the flowers 

of the garden and of the field, but transforms 

and digests it by a power of its own."

~Leonardo da Vinci

Little Wings Magnified

My nephew spied this little one in the grass near the lake. First time I had a chance to get this close. Usually they are long gone within seconds.

"The green grass and the happy skies

court the fluttering butterflies."

~Astrid Alauda