The Changing Seasons, May 2022
I didn’t take many pictures this month, but they all came out well. I’m getting better at limiting the number of pictures I take.
I drew a lot of pictures and I think I’m making progress. I’m still trying to figure out if I can make some kind of book from the pictures. I have pictures. What I don’t have is a story.
We completely redid the deck. We removed two flat feeders to reduce the mess but also to reduce the amount of feed. The price of birdseed has gone sky high. I’ve been trying to find a way to keep up with it, but we are on a fixed income, so the inflation is winning. We added as many red and pink flowers on the deck as we could to lure butterflies and hummingbirds.
Today, I saw the first butterfly I’ve seen in years, a Tiger Dragontail. He stayed a while, checking out the red flowers then flew on. It gave me hope, just to see him there.
Inside, three orchids are blooming and a fourth is sending up shoots. I can barely see through my dining room windows which makes taking pictures of birds difficult. But, if I can’t see through my windows, having too many orchids blocking them is a great reason.
And of course, we went to Minnesota to visit Garry’s brother Anton. We heard two concerts, both wonderful and I took a few pictures. Although Northfield is a bigger and busier town than Uxbridge, it reminded me of home. It has a river with a dam running through the middle and the architecture is the same age as the architecture in this town — late 1800s, from 1860 to around 1900.
And finally, there was the red moon in eclipse. I got a few pictures.
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Categories: #ChangingSeasons, #Flowers, #gallery, #MonthlyPhotoChallenge, #Photography, Drawings, moon
SERENDIPITY: SEEKING INTELLIGENT LIFE ON EARTH 
What a month you’ve had Marilyn: a refurbished deck, stunning flora & fauna (photographic as well as drawn), roadtrip, concerts, and an eclipse to boot. Whew! and the summer has just begun! Wishing you a fabulous June!
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Your photos and paintings are so beautiful, Marilyn. Why do you need a story for your book? The pictures speak for themselves. They are gorgeous. You could use some of the stories from your blog posts. Or host a contest for each picture you want to publish. If you are into poetry, a simple haiku would be sufficient. Your photos are really enough!
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From you, this is truly high praise! I hadn’t thought of just letting the pictures do the talking. Maybe I could also write about the animals, maybe from “their mouths” so to speak. I don’t need a lot of text, but I think I need SOME text at least to identify what that creature is and how he or she lives.
I REALLY appreciate the encouragement. I took a 50-year break from drawing when I was in my late teens to this year. I sort of surprised myself. I didn’t think I could do anything.
I’m a terrible poet. As well as I write prose is as poorly as I write poetry. It’s not so much BAD as completely LAME. It’s the kind of stuff teenagers write except when I was 13, I thought it was great stuff 🙂
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My poetry is rather lame, too. I borrow other people’s poetry at times. I really relate to Willow Dot’s poems usually. They are short and sweet. Here’s hers today if you don’t follow her. https://willowdot21.wordpress.com/2022/06/01/tankatuesday-weekly-poetry-challenge-no-276-5-31-22-shareyourday/#comments
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I see why you like her. She is crisp and doesn’t meander around the point.
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Exactly. And her poetry isn’t trifling and mundane like mine tends to be. Lame…
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Mine too. Maybe we could publish an anonymous poetry book titled “Heartfelt Yet Lame” poetry.” I think a lot of people write sincere poems that are, well, not great. Maybe it IS meaningful, but that doesn’t make it a good poem except maybe to the one who wrote it.
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I think most of them are like that, Marilyn. I’ve been reading T.S. Eliot, and other than his great descriptions, they are too full of references that I don’t get to be super enjoyable. Nonetheless, I read through the entire book along with all the notes and other poets’ comments.
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I love your flower photos, and your sketching is getting very good 🙂
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Thank you! I’ve been working at it and I’m glad it’s beginning to show. I tried charcoal last night and realized why I don’t like them. I forget what a mess they make of the paper, hands, fingernails, clothing, everything. I don’t like all the dark grit.
Next will be watercolors. I’m not sure how I will handle brushes, so I’ve been delaying it. Also, paper for watercolors — even the less expensive stuff — isn’t cheap. It has to be pretty dense or the paper puckers up or just soaks through. I have a little bit of it put aside. I guess I’ll have to take that leap 😀
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Beautiful captures and fun times! This is encouraging!!
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Thank you. I’ve finally gotten to a point where I know I can draw a shape from what I see. I can’t (yet) draw from imagination. I need a photo or a living thing from which to work. But I think I’m moving forward. Baby steps.
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You’re welcome! Yes, baby steps!
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