California Flora and Fauna

A delicate flower as lovely as a song.

Dancing in the Santa Anna Winds.

I wonder if all Michiganders are so fascinated with palm trees.

Day One Random Hollywood

This sums up Hollywood in so many ways.

Nobody walks in L.A.

The homeless survive.

Nostalgic

Wildlife?

Splendor remembered.

A rare moment in L.A.

Along the Expressway

The next time you are stuck in traffic on Michigan roads, look out your window to observe some of the most beautiful autumn in our area.

Our cement highways are filled with many wonders of nature.

Perhaps nature knows the troubles we are facing in Michigan because it seems her brush is particularly bright this year.

Enjoy the beauty around you. 

Backroads

Took a little ride near home and we snapped some shots of the imminent autumn arrival.

Hodgepodge Cemetery

The rest of the pictures fI wanted to share from our cemetery shoot but they didn't really fit into a category.

Finding beauty in the long forgotten.

The lens makes us look with a unique eye at places we drive past everyday.

Graveyard Art Close-Up

Dan and I love textures..looking beyond the big picture.  These next pictures once again demonstrates the beauty of the cemetery.

Is it ironic that living things are gracing the stones of the dead?

There is a poetic elegance to the growth.

Many times it enhances the beauty of the carvers intent.

The Wife of Mr. Barrett....I pondered why they never said husband of Mrs. Barrett.

Dan and I had great fun walking among the marble markers this day.

Laid to Rest

I have this fascination with cemeteries. They are such an amazing history of an area. So today, Dan and I went to two cemeteries in Highland.

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As we read the stones, the names are a familiar part of our everyday lives. Many of these same names  grace area road signs, store fronts and lakes.

There are stories of families...some very sad and some seem much happier. Big families where everyone lived long lives together and yet others of little children who had but a day on this earth.

 Dan and I took these pictures together. The next few post will be dedicated to our cemetery shoots..I hope you enjoy them and see why we find great history, beauty and art in them. 

Corn

Growing up in corn country, my family often measured the season by corn. In the spring, the fields always smelled of fertilizer and often we would all hold our noses and grumble as we passed the farms. (Our farming relatives told us it was the smell of money). In the summer "Knee high by the fourth of July"  was the saying as we measured the progress of the corn. In the fall, the fields would stand ready to have the last ears picked and be made into feed for the livestock. And of course, in the winter...the field lay barren with the promise of a new crop the following year.

Corn reminds me of growing up in Illinios. 

Corn reminds me of my own seasons...right now I am in the early fall of my life, watching the seeds I have planted begin to blossom on their own.

May your fall harvest take you through the winter of life happily and content and with a full pantry.

Migration South

We always know when winter is breathing it's icy breathe onto our necks when we see the birds gathering for their flight to warmer weather.

 We will miss you feathered friends but the feeders will be filled and ready for your return in the spring. 

Welcome Fall

Fall has graced us with it's beauty, the promise of cool weather and it's wonderful bounties. We celebrated with some wonderful squash soup and a drive seeking out natures first brushes of color. 

A Virginia Creeper weaves it's way up the trunk adding a bright splash of color to the hard bark.

The colors of this vine are so vibrant.

This was taken in fairy light which adds to the beauty of the colors...very soft and magical.

Is there anything more captivating than the colors of fall?

Even as these leaves die, they give us a memory that holds us through the long winter...with the promise of bright green spring drives