Posted in Books I Love, Inspiration, Nature Notes, tagged arts, artwork, book covers, colors, fantasy, flowers, fun, illustration, imagination, Inspiration, nature, orchid, Photography on July 2, 2013| 5 Comments »
It was the beauty of the artwork on the covers of fantasy and sci-fi novels that used to draw my attention in bookstores. So many of the illustrations depicted a cloaked figure, partially illuminated. And then there’s my growing interest in stained glass windows. The figures in them, whether peasant or angel, wear luminous robes in a rainbow of colors. With such inspirations in my life, how could I not see a cloaked figure as I zoomed in on this orchid?
Posted in Inspiration, Nature Notes, tagged abstract, Boston, colors, Copley Square, fountains, Inspiration, leaves, nature, nature photography, Photography, water on June 30, 2013| 4 Comments »
Downpours have been threatening for days in the Boston area, yet little rain has fallen so far. So yesterday I was able to sit by the water fountain in Copley Square as I ate my lunch. A warm gusty wind blew through the square sending a shower of leaves into the water. It was fun to hold tight to my sandwich with one hand while trying to snap photos of leaves sailing by. Quite unexpectedly,a lady decided to strip and bathe in the fountain at the same time. I decided to focus on the leaves. 😉
Posted in Inspiration, Nature Notes, tagged abstract, Boston, Charles River, colors, Inspiration, nature, nature photography, Photography, reflections, refraction, ripples, rivers, water on June 27, 2013| 5 Comments »
When I walked the river’s edge last Saturday, I kept peering deep into the water looking for fish and turtles. But the sun was so hot and there were so many canoeists in the water. It became quite clear that beneath those churned up waters that I would be spying no fish or turtles. So I paid attention to the surface.
Posted in Inspiration, Nature Notes, tagged colors, flowers, gold, Inspiration, nature, Photography, pink, plants on June 25, 2013| 2 Comments »
Posted in Inspiration, Nature Notes, tagged Boston, Charles River, colors, feathers, Inspiration, nature, Photography, rivers, walking, water, white on June 23, 2013| 6 Comments »
Posted in Guest Contributor, Inspiration, Nature Notes, tagged family, home, Inspiration, life, listening, musings, nature, outdoors, Photography, prose, siblings, storytelling on June 23, 2013| 6 Comments »
We spoke by phone. I sat in my kitchen in Somerville, MA while my younger brother sat outside his home in Lynchburg, VA. After I had described my latest walk by the water and what I might write about, he said, “Mmmhmm. I think you should write some more about porches.”
“Porches?”
“Yes. About what it’s like to sit on the porch steps at night, in the quiet and in the cool, with fireflies in the distance. They look like stars.”
I imagined him sitting on his little back porch. I thought about the seeds I had sent him and his family. “Next year, I am sending you night blooming flowers.”
“That’s fine,” he said, and then he added, “And you should write about wearing glasses, how we wear them to see clearly, these wire frames that are not heavy but somehow you feel their weight all the time, and if you have long eyelashes you’re constantly batting them against the lenses. Yeah, there’s always contacts … but somehow when you wear glasses and then you sit and you take them off … you can’t see as clearly and yet there is a certain sense of freedom. A weight has been removed. Though your view is a bit blurry somehow you can see with greater clarity the beauty all around.”
“I gave you a blank notebook. Why don’t you write these things?” I say.
“Because you’re the writer,” he said.
Posted in Inspiration, Nature Notes, tagged abstract, children, dandelions, family, Inspiration, nature, parenting, Photography, plants, seeds, Talking Writing Magazine on June 20, 2013| 5 Comments »
As spring draws to a conclusion, the last of my dandelions have fallen apart helped by a sudden gust of wind from an open window. I wonder what the summer will blow my way. Meanwhile here’s a gallery of the dandelion images. FYI, the folks at Talking Writing Magazine paired some of the images with an essay by Fran Cronin about a mother letting her daughter go as She’s Leaving Home for college. An excellent read. Check it out. Meanwhile have a good Thursday!
Posted in Inspiration, Nature Notes, tagged beauty, blooms, colors, flowers, Inspiration, nature, orange, Photography, plants, spring, yellow on June 19, 2013| 4 Comments »
Posted in Branches, Inspiration, Nature Notes, On the Road, tagged childhood, Inspiration, nature, outdoors, Photography, shadows, sunlight, urban landscape, walking on June 17, 2013| 3 Comments »
In the heart of the city, adults don’t tend to say anything. They’ll pass me by and pretend not to notice me as I lean precariously over fences into private property or kneel at the base of trees.
It is the children who ask, even as their parents are sometimes trying to shush them, “What are you doing, lady?”
When I tell them that I am photographing sunlight, they ask, “Well, how do you do that?” And I say with great drama, “Well, the way I choose to photograph sunlight is as it pours over the branches of the trees and creates shadows on the ground.”
The older kids raise eyebrows in disbelief but the younger children, they sometimes nod with great understanding.
Posted in Inspiration, Nature Notes, tagged Inspiration, interview, life, nature, poetry, prose, silence, Talking Writing, Terry Tempest Williams, voice on June 17, 2013| Leave a Comment »
Please, please, please treat yourself to this Talking Writing interview, “Silence is Where We Locate Our Voice,” by Lorraine Berry with Terry Tempest Williams. I consider myself quite lucky to have met Terry Tempest Williams at a pivotal point in developing my voice. You can read about that experience in this blog post, Birdsong.
Words + Images 