Closer to Home

All photographs were taken with a Kodak Easy Share cx7525 camera and are unretouched. Except for cropping, the pictures have not been manipulated in any way.

We come to the end of the virtual show. Thanks for sticking with me through all of it! Today, I am officially one year older than I was yesterday. I'm at the gallery, helping host a reception for our show and for a second show the gallery is holding, and trying to ignore the fact that another year has flown past and I haven't published, still have a humongous arse, and am feeling rather lumpy and useless right now. Oh, well.

Meanwhile, here's the last of the virtual show - the real one will hang until the end of the month.

All photographs were taken with a Kodak Easy Share cx7525 camera and are unretouched. Except for cropping, the pictures have not been manipulated in any way.

~~~~~

Turtle

Turtle

Hello friend
How do you do?
It’s a curious sort of day
When there’s a turtle in the wheelbarrow
How did he get there?
He can’t have flown
Could he?

We have quite a bit of yard, more than people who are not gardeners need. We can’t keep up with it, really – one Summer, the grass grew so high we called the back yard our own Serengeti and looked for the giraffes that must surely come along at any moment. One of our neighbors felt sorry for us, took pity on our son (and his desire to play in the yard) and stealth-mowed it for us one afternoon when we were away. Finally, we hired a lawn service, an extravagance indeed. They were very thorough, and much to my delight, observant – they found this turtle in the grass near the woods and moved him before he became something entirely less engaging via a good mowing. My son was fascinated – little boys and turtles, peas and carrots. To keep him safe, the gentleman who found him placed him in our sad, rusty, entirely ill-used wheelbarrow. Once the lawn service was gone, we released our new friend. I suppose he’s still about, but he’s careful to avoid places where he may run into my son and my son’s curiosity.
~~~~~Dangerous Lady

Dangerous Lady

She is quiet
Just fed
Perhaps napping
I cannot tell
She is less a danger to me
Than her web can be
Stretched across the stairs
Found by my face in the night
A gossamer reminder
That I share my home with many

These spiders have long fascinated me. I don’t know their proper name, but am hardly bothered by my ignorance – I call them Writing Spiders and am content with that moniker. This one had spun her web in a bush at Ft. Yargo State park, and was as long as my thumb. I wonder what stories her weaving tells? Some universal mysteries are best left to themselves, I suppose.
~~~~~Harbinger

Harbinger

One
Little
Yellow
Flower
Became a burst
Of fireworks
But first
It was
One
Little
Yellow
Flower

Braselton, Ga - The forsythia is anxious to be the first to announce spring. It doesn’t seem to mind that sometimes it is too soon, that it will probably be dusted with snow or glazed with ice or suffer wind, rain, and chill – it has felt the hints of spring in its roots and it will shout for all to see, Spring! Spring! Spring!
~~~~~Ascension

Ascension

Upwardly mobile
In an achingly slow fashion
The snail was wise enough
To avoid the poison ivy
Where it was wise
I was merely lucky

In Oakwood, Georgia, just beside the highway, is Elachee Nature Center. They have miles of walking trails that are open to the public, the science center to members. We have a membership, but spend more time on the trails than inside. The trails offer trees, ferns, bushes, flowers, fungi, birds, animal tracks, frogs, lizards…and snails. We decided to take a hike one day that turned into a six mile jaunt through woods, over creeks, up and down hills, and quite possibly through time and fairy realms, too. Who knows? This snail may have been someone’s steed…
~~~~~Froggy Friend

Froggy friend

Oh, hello
It’s lovely and damp here
And I enjoy the trickle
From the hose that is cross-threaded
Will you be my friend?
I’ll sing for you…

Braselton, Ga - Imagine my surprise when I met this fellow one morning! It was before the watering ban, and I would get up early to water the Iris, Morning Glories, Rowan Trees, and the Hosta that I call the Muppet plant because it is large, shaggy, and friendly. The frog hung about for some days before finding less paparazzi-infested places to linger.
~~~~~Blue Glory

Blue Glory

In the morning
They burst
From coiled-tight
Spiral tubes
To brilliant blue trumpets
Sometimes wet with dew
Or collected rain

Braselton, Ga - Some years ago I planted these Morning Glories beside my front stoop, hoping they would climb the trellis I gave them and onto the railing one story above. They did not disappoint. There were two shades of blue, this one and a lighter one. This one has come back on its own, year after year – the lighter one is rare, a prize, and it’s a treasure hunt to find its seeds to save and pant next year. When their heart-shaped leaves begin to unfurl each spring, the waiting game begins – which one will it be? Purple? Medium blue? Light blue? Or some other one the birds have brought me as thanks for the seed...? Morning glories make me smile, they are such happy flowers.