A little stroll . . .

"There is an art to wandering. If I have a destination,

a plan - an objective - I've lost the ability to find serendipity.

I've become too focused, too-single-minded.

I am on a quest, not a ramble.

I search for the Holy Grail of particularity,

and miss the chalice freely offered, filled full to overflowing.

- Cathy Johnson, On Becoming Lost



Oh how I love this quote! You know wandering IS one of my favorite things to do, but sometimes
time doesn't allow (or my budget) to wander to some of the places I would really love to visit.
But that's okay, because if I could never go to another place, I would, be quite content to just wander
the 8 acres of my favorite place, Maas Nursery. It sits just along Galveston Bay and borders the
coastal birding trail I like to visit, a two for one!

It's where I went last weekend in a quest to quiet my mind from the busy week. And it seems fall is
just as busy a time as spring for all the bees, who were in abundance gathering their stores for the
cooler weather . . . if we ever get any.

This bee took off right as I was snapping the picture, but there is something about the perspective of this
that I really liked.

There were tables upon tables of beautiful pink Dianthus....

And morning glory vines blooming. And then I heard it,  this little sound,

that is very distiguishable and matches its sweet owner . . .

{Flower art Friday}

 . . .  and then I saw it - he flew down from the tall Oak trees to perch on this wire above the table
that held the Flame Acanthus.

And then down for a little treat, but I'm not sure who it was sweeter for, him or me!

Okay, I think it was me . . .

No, I'm sure it was me!! You know, these little gems are soooo fast, and it was almost dusk and the light

was fading, so I had to really bump my ISO just to get a half-way decent speed.

{Photograph life}

And this week at Pixel Dust, Bonnie asked us to use the prompt to compose a seven word sentence that describes your life or experience or process as an artist (be it photographer, painter, mixed media artist, digital artists, whatever...) and marry your sentence to a piece of photo art that somehow illustrates your sententce. 

And this is what I came up with . . . finding Bonnie's blog, and her link up of photo art opened up my world

to a whole new meaning of creating and she generously shares free textures for us to use in our creations. As usual I waited til that last minute to create this, and not sure I'm completely happy with it. But Bonnie just know you have been instrumental in opening up a new world for me, and I thank you!  

 Wishing you all a weekend full of wonderous serendipity!!

Love, Kim

XO

Sharing with, Photo Art Friday, Flower Art Friday, Photograph Life, Finding Serendipity

Be still . . .

  

As the dawn breaks over the horizon, for which I see no beginning or end,

I sit in stillness and know that you are God. When I silence my heart and mind,
I can hear you call my name. And as my eyes take in the beauty around me,

I see all that you have written.  - Kim

I had set my alarm, but hit snooze a few times too many. I was pretty sure I wouldn't make it on time for the show, but decided to just go anyway. I'm glad I did . . .  I raced out of the car with camera and tripod in hand, and this was the very first click of the morning. And surprise, this week I do have more than just the sunrise. ; ) 

And as soon as the sun rose just behind the clouds, it turned into this . . .

If you look really closely in the photo above, far in the distance in the golden light,

is this shrimp boat that I zoomed in on.

There is just something about the stillness at the start of the day, although that doesn't mean everything else around us is still. There seemed to be a fierce game of chase going on.

And I wasn't the only one in need of a little reflection.

And then I was off, just down the street, to sit and just think about nothing. It's one of my favorite spots along the coastal birding trail, a small wooden platform off in a little alcove. This place is kind of like

an eraser for my mind, where inspiration comes in the stillness. The silence of real life. Where you can hear things you can't see rustling about, where you can hear the buzzing of a dragonflies wings.

And on my walk, I have to say that I was a bit surprised to see Wisteria blooming this late in the season. The photo art Friday theme this week is container and I'm stretching this one a bit. The heavenly scent is

contained by this beautiful vine....I know, I know, but it's all I got.

{Flower Art Friday / Photo Art Friday - textures, RHWest Script, and age it from Pixel Dust}

As I started heading back to the car I just happened to spy this Night Heron up in the trees. He wasn't at all

liking the clicking of my camera and didn't stick around long.

And then shortly after that, I had found a bench in the shade and sat down to take a break from the heat. And there it was, this Green June Beetle rustling around the ground. It was incredible, as the metallic colors seemed to glow in the shade. Oh, but I didn't have my macro lens with me (it was still in the car), so I looked around for something to carry it back on, hoping the whole while it didn't fly away and that I could actually change my lens without losing it.  

Just check out that antennae! And it was no small beetle at about almost an inch long and half an inch wide. It was pretty difficult to really capture all its shiny metallic colors, and he didn't want to play dead and roll over so I could show you his belly that was a metallic copper. He would have made a great specimen for some resin jewelry, but I wasn't about to kill it.

{Shoot.Edit.Submit}

"Not to be able to stop thinking is a dreadful affliction, but we don't realize this

because almost everyone is suffering from it, so it is considered normal. This incessant

mental noise prevents you from finding that realm of inner stillness that is inseparable from being."

-Eckhart Tolle

How do you quiet your mind, do you have a special place?

Wishing you a wonderful weekend with some stillness!

Love, Kim

XO

    

Foto Friday - A sunrise and a beach walk

 

The sun rises

and nature wakes up

there is an instant reminder

we are alive

The ocean

and its ability to heal our hearts

brings joy to our minds

and wakes our souls

-Kim

Finally, after three visits to watch the sunrise, we actually got to 'see' the sun rise!
I really do wish I could watch it everyday,
because it's painted with a different brush
and a different color palette
on each new morning!

Three minutes later.....

And then another 6 minutes . . .

After the sunrise, we drove to Galveston for a walk on the beach, and to relax. But it's that time of year again for the seaweed, which between May and August is a common sight along Galveston beaches. It's a gulfweed, called sargassum which grows in really dense mats in the Sargasso Sea, and this year it's the worst it has been in 10 years. The Sargasso Sea, in the North Atlantic Ocean, is the only sea that has no coastline. Yep, it's completely surrounded by water and known for its deep blue color, very warm and very clear water. When large masses of it break off and hit the gulf currents, it's brought to the Gulf of Mexico.

Now depending on what part of the Island you're on will depend on how much you find because each area manages the seaweed differently. There are some areas that are raked and others like the Galveston Island State Park which is a natural area and no raking occurs. After it dies some of the seaweed ends up at the base of the sand dunes and is important in helping to establish other dune systems, which during a hurricane absorbs wave energy and protects the sand from wave erosion.

The amount of seaweed that comes ashore varies from day to day. The lighter color being the seaweed that is still alive and the darker which is dead. On this day there were more seagulls than I have ever seen at one time and they were as far as the eye could see. They were feeding on all of the marine life that also finds food and shelter in the seaweed.

But really, it's just a minor nuisance. And when you love the beach, you just work walk around it.

 Being watched by a sandpiper . . .

Sandpipers in flight . . .

Isn't nature is a wonderful thing . . . these guys are so well camouflauged

not only in the sand but in the seaweed too!

Notice her tool of choice, it's an ice cream scooper - Gotta love it!

Have a wonderful weekend everyone.

Do something that makes you feel alive,

brings joy to your heart,

and wakes your soul!

Yep, you know where you'll find me . . .

Love, Kim

XO