Fotografaire - Blog and Photography

Notes From the Garden

Saturday morning (3/31/07) was spent working in the garden, planting many individual flowers. By the time the gardening and planting was finished, 72-80 plants had been planted.

Needless to say, I am feeling a bit stiff, from all the bending and digging. But, gardening is a passion of mine, and worth the joint stiffness, that will disappear in a day or two.

Violas

Violets (bloom in spring and summer)

Cosmos (bloom in spring and summer)

Cockscomb (bloom through fall)

Pansies (bloom in spring and summer)

Petunias (bloom through fall)
Snapdragons (bloom through fall)
Daisies (bloom in spring and summer)

Salvia (bloom in spring and summer)
Sunflowers seeds (bloom in the late summer and early fall)

Most of them have at least two blooms, as I write this.

After planting, I spread mulch out in the garden areas, to help protect the plants, and keep the soil moist. the mulch makes a nice contrast between the tones and textures of the flowers.

I can’t wait until the end of April or beginning of May, when the blossoms will be vibrant and profuse.

I checked my many rose bushes, and the leaves are abundant, with tiny buds beginning to form in between them. I spoke softly to each one of them, telling them how lovely they will look when they bloom, trying to encourage their growth.

I threw them kisses (yes, indeed), because our plants, bushes and shrubs need love, too.

I plan to take some cuttings of various bushes, tomorrow or Monday, so I can try to root them. I might even go next door to my neighbor’s house, and take some cuttings of their dogwood trees. We’ll see.

© Copyright - All Rights Reserved - No permission is given or allowed to reuse my photography or inspirational prose/quotations, or my poetry in any form/format without my expresss written consent/permission.

Surrounded

Sometimes a walk down a pathway can evoke many feelings and thoughts. I had that experience, yesterday, when strolling through this walkway, at Cheekwood Botanical Gardens, in the suburbs of Nashville, TN.

The beautiful dogwood trees, with their pink blossoms, is what immediately struck my eye, along with the flowerbeds leading the way towards the trellises. Their loveliness reminded me of days gone by, and my backyard, when I was a child, living on Long Island.
I have fond childhood memories of my father planting dogwood trees in our back yard. He always had a fondness for them, and loved the ones with white blossoms, as well as the ones with the pink blossoms. He nurtured those dogwood trees, constantly feeding them with a mixture of soft, sweet-talk, love and nurturing. He cradled the young trees in his hands, before, and after, planting them.

My soul was warmed, yesterday, looking at those trees, and how they gracefully surrounded the trellises, beckoning me to walk forward, to smell their fragrance, to be delighted at their beauty, and beckoning me backwards in time, remembering nostalgic/beautiful moments, when I watched my father commune with nature, and commune with me, by making lasting impressions, and precious memories.

More photographs to come.

© Copyright - All Rights Reserved - No permission is given or allowed to reuse my photography or inspirational prose/quotations, or my poetry in any form/format without my expresss written consent/permission.

Smell the Flowers

I have been working in my yard for a good part of the day, weeding, planting, and stopping to smell the flowers. I like to garden, and it is a form of relaxation to me. For other people, it is drudgery, but for me, it isn’t a chore.

I bought several snapdragon plants, in various tones, to give contrast within the varied garden areas in the front of my house, blending white with purples and pink hues.

The purple tones really add vibrancy, blended within the white snapdragons, violas and pansies. I really love the small buds of the snapdragon blossoms.

The buds look graceful, with a hint of classic nostalgia to them. And, the combination of colors adds vibrancy to the background of the green shrubbery I have in my garden.

While outside planting, I noticed a robin perched on top of a tree stump in the front of my yard. I tried to get a photo of him, but he kept flying off. I finally was able to get one (only one) shot, before he flew in the direction of my neighbor’s house. He never sits still for me, and always taunts me, and he seems to know when I am about to shoot the photo.

I continued on with my planting. Several minutes later, I began raking some leaves and looked up (due to a loud racket being made between 2-3 birds), and noticed a sweet cardinal sitting on the branch of a tree in my yard. He was quite high up (the tree must be at least 35 feet, and he was almost at the top of it), and even with my 300mm zoom lens, it was difficult to get a good photo of him. I managed to get three pictures, and cropped this one quite heavily, in order to make it look halfway decent. I stopped photographing him after the third shot, as I just wanted to watch him for a few minutes, knowing he would fly off.

After the cardinal flew off, I noticed a few sweet clouds in the sky, the wispy type, the kind that flow so nicely against the nature’s blueness. I liked the way the small branches were reaching upwards, towards them, delightfully.

I finished my planting, raking, watering, and put my shovels, rake, and other yard tools away. I looked up at my porch, and saw the lovely four-foot statue (which I bought a few months ago, for its serene beauty), and saw my rocking chair, and walked up the steps, and sat down to relax and sip some iced-tea, for a few minutes, before going inside to check my email, and update my websites.

All in all, it was a relaxing few hours, and time well spent, in my yard, viewing the sky, watching the birds, enjoying the planting, and stopping…to not only smell the flowers…but look at their beauty.

~~Notes From the Garden

© Copyright - All Rights Reserved - No permission is given or allowed to reuse my photography or inspirational prose/quotations, or my poetry in any form/format without my expresss written consent/permission.

The Joy of Walking

The joy of walking is such a simple activity, yet it brings me such pleasure. I can’t define any specific reason why it brings me joy, as walking for me is a way of life, and one that has encompassed my lifestyle, ever since I can remember.

I started walking when I was a child, living in Queens, visiting relatives with my parents, walking to the subway stations. I also had to walk to school, and had to walk to see my friends. We eventually moved to suburbia (photo below), on Long Island. In order to get to the stores, school, or a friend’s house, I had to walk. I could cycle, but preferred walking.

Some of the distances were quite long. I walked two miles to school, each way (no, I am not whining). The closest store was one mile each way, and I walked there at least 4-5 times a week, often with friends, but more often to go and buy some food item, like bread or milk, that my mother needed right away. I walked to the bus stop, the train station, church, and anywhere that I needed to go. When visiting my grandparents, or my aunts, I walked…from the train station, the subway station, the bus, wherever, and whatever, walking was the mode of getting from point to point, and was a way of life, in suburbia, to get from point A to point B.

I had to walk to the beach during the summer months. We lived three blocks from the Long Island Sound, but, I had a season pass to the summer swim camp about two miles from home. I usually walked there, and took the bus home, after swimming all day.

I remember trying to compete with my father, whenever we walked to the store. He was a fast walker, and his long legs,moved with strides I struggled to keep up with, and it became a challenge for me. As I got older, the challenge was still there, but it became easier to keep up with him, and we would play games along the way, to see who could beat the other at some walking feat. Some of my most fond memories of my youth include walking with my father.

When I began working, I had to walk to the train station, the subway station (I worked in NYC, and lived on Long Island). Walking was a necessity, but not a chore, not something I dreaded doing.

To this day, walking is an integral part of my daily life. I walk for physical fitness, I walk because I love to, I walk for the joy of walking. I take in the scenery along my route, and appreciate the way the light, or the varied seasons cast unique perspectives over the same roads traveled, the same landscapes, etc., on different days.

Even a simple sign, that I pass by each day, takes on new dimensions during my walks. The light and shadows adding their own mystery and drama to a sign for a “hidden entrance”.

I never fail to enjoy the pure beauty of barns, the older the better, the more dilapidated, the more beautiful, in my eyes. I love the nostalgic feeling I get, when looking at them.

During winter, the same barn I pass every day, retains its beauty, through the trees, bare and naked, of foliage. I relish my walks, relish breathing in the air, the beauty that the morning brings me.

I love to look at houses while walking. Some have been around for more years than others, yet each house retains itsown loveliness, surrounded by nature’s beauty, as the trees hover, in umbrella fashion, like sentinels, over the house and the landscape.

When I am finished with my daily walk, it is bittersweet, as I feel invigorated, rejuvenated, not only physically, but emotionally, as well. Nature tends to make me emotional, and thankful that I live in a rural setting, with the countryside surrounding me, where beauty is just a blink of the eye away.

I wind down my walk, slowly inhaling the last few steps, before I step up on my porch, sit on my rocking chair, and rest a minute, as I sip some water and enjoy the moment, remembering what new visons I saw that morning, replaying them in my mind, from my porch with a view.

© Copyright - All Rights Reserved - No permission is given or allowed to reuse my photography or inspirational prose/quotations, or my poetry in any form/format without my expresss written consent/permission.

Please Vote

I have entered two photos in jpg magazine’s current contest, to possibly be published in their magazine.

Please take a look at them, and vote for me, if you think my work deserves it. I appreciate your time and your visit. Thank you.

Bridging the Gap - Category Breakthrough…discovery/progress

Rust in Peace -Category Enropy…things fall apart

© Copyright - All Rights Reserved - No permission is given or allowed to reuse my photography or inspirational prose/quotations, or my poetry in any form/format without my expresss written consent/permission.