Sunday Safari

Today I went hunting for balance.

I have been watching this Robin who has lost his tail.
He still can fly. He still can hunt for food.

A full tailed Robin ran tail-less off the raisins.
I hope he can grow a new tail soon.
I will hide some raisins for him.

I am reading a very interesting book.
I have thousands of photographs. A huge collection.
Every day I take more, even though I am still processing
 the 3,700 photographs  I took while on holiday.

I have read page one 10-15 times.
I just keep rereading these two paragraphs.
I am reading it again while I post today.
I have also moved on in the book. I read a chapter and go back to page one. I am impressed.

       "Several of the animal figures in the collection in the
 Chauvet-Pont-d'Arc cave were drawn with a finger moving on a thin film of clay. In French the term for such drawing is trace digital, or digital drawing. We are at once linked from twenty-first- century digital images to the digital images of our ancestors, reminded that the computer-based use of the term is anchored in our very physical nature and reminded that construction of images is a purposeful act."

Today while I was taking photographs I thought about my
"purposeful act."
Sometimes I am looking for the relationship
of the bug and the bloom.
Here is a Hoover Fly in Queen Ann's Lace.

Sometimes I am looking at the patterns of the bug and the bloom.

For my collection of Queen Ann's Lace photographs
I needed the pink of the just beginning to open bloom.

Sometimes I am taking photographs and changing the
 settings on the camera just to see what kind of effects
I can create.

I have photographed the
Eastern Tailed Blue many times.
Each time the light is different.
Each photo is unique.

Often I look for the way the light shimmers.
I will use different lens and cameras.

Often I am documenting relationships

seeing the pattern of life and enjoying the beauty.

Today I began a new collection of images.

                                     This one is titled,
      "Bees in the Moon Glow Coreopsis."

I took many photographs of the
 Mason Bees today.

She is my favorite bee.

I hope to document all the different
 bees and bugs that visit this year.

I will keep looking for balance
and maybe get another hard drive for storage.

Happy Sunday Safari

Sunday Safari

A Great Spangled Fritillary nectared in the Purple Coneflower garden this afternoon.

Another fed in the butterfly bush.

They joined up for a short time.

I have seen all my butterfly friends since I have been home.

I missed them while gone.

I was shelling peas when the Giant Swallowtail came to the Garden Rue to lay eggs.

I shall be looking for Orange Dogs to emerge. The Garden Rue is for them.

It is hot and humid today.

My camera fogs up when I go outside with it.

We have had lots of rain. Another .7" fell last night.

I fell asleep to the sounds of thunder and rain.

Summer Solstice is Tuesday.

I shall watch the sunrise.

Happy Father's Day to all the Dads.

I miss mine and am grateful for all the love he gave me.

I am processing trip photographs and doing up my scrapbook.

I am slowly getting back into the swing of things.

Happy Sunday Safari.

We are home

We drove 5,468 miles.

We drove the trails west and home again.

We stopped for fossils and rock shows.

We visited National Parks and Monuments.

We visited our children in Oregon and California.

We followed worn paths.

We honored those who have also traveled
these sacred grounds.

Our wagon is very different from
the covered wagons of the 1840's.

We were comfortable sipping coffee,
talking and listening to music.

Our adventure has filled me with awe.

It will take me a few weeks to process
the 3,724 photographs we took.

There are wildflowers to identify.

We will decide on one photograph

 to frame for our travel room.

I have bird sightings to record.

I found fossils on my travels

and met many amazing people.

We began our journey with a little
dashboard friend,
Horsey.

She entertained us for hours
as she pointed out wildlife
and gorgeous landscapes.

It is a beautiful country we live in.

We learned about the geology
of each area we traveled and about the
flora and fauna of the past.

Mammoth joined us in Oregon at the
John Day Fossil beds.
He has a very interesting story.
I am looking forward to sharing it with you.

I did some shopping too.
Lots of new books for my Natural History library.

I am happy to be home.

Happy to hear the cicadas sing and watch the fireflies.

Happy for lighting storms.

The butterflies and birds greeted me.

My children are happy.

We laughed and hugged

and laughed some more.

I already miss them.

Fossil hunting is my new hobby.
I am dreaming of gem trails.