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

What does it mean . . .

 . . . to be part of a team?

Team: (n), a number of persons forming one of the sides in a game or contest.
(v), to gather or join in a team, a band or a cooperative effort.

In our house, football is synonymous with the start of school.
In our house, we started the countdown from last season starting at 280 days,
exactly the same amount of days from the last game until the first game of this season.

And,
in our house, we now have a Charger poster that hangs in a central hub, our laundry room!  lol

{ Kim Klassen texture grunged up 2 at hardlight 61% and dream in overlay 38% }

My son has played for the last three years, but this year as a freshman he has joined along with

264 other athletes in his high school to play the sport of football. It's a continuing journey of 

building strength, endurance and discipline that was started during training and

camp this summer . . . the building of a dream, together as teams.

We have all heard that there is no "I" in team, and especially in football where an impact player will

have the least effect in making the team better, because in order to execute well he will need the help of his teammates. Which brings me to their motto, INAM,

It's Not About Me,

simply because it's about all of them. You will find it on their helmets, in big bold letters at every game, and on the football t-shirts in the stands. Because it's not just one or a select few that can accomplish the end result desired and because each team member brings their own unique strengths derived from personal struggles and perseverance towards goals in their own journey. Being part of a team you enter with the understanding that it takes all team members to reach a common goal. It is, a state of mind and a spirit of sportsmanship, where all participating posses the knowledge that it's not one individual but the sum of its parts that make up the team.

And most importantly, not to be forgotten . . . they win, and they lose together . . . as a team!

"Individual commitment to a group effort - that is what makes a team work,

a company work, a society work, a civilization work."

-Vince Lombardi

Hope your day is fabulous!!

Love, Kim

XO

Linking up with Communal Global and,

Scavenger Hunt Sunday

I'm back this week in the hunt....but a little on the quiet side today, so onward to the prompts!

{ monochromatic }

I took a little field trip to my favorite nursery, Maas, and they still had roses and they were

still in bloom.

{ starts with the letter . . .    }

"D" is for dessert, or aka creme brulee . . . yum-my!!

{ upside down }

Oh I had to blow up my ISO to get this one as it was in really low light. He is definitely upside down, and well so was I for a while trying to get a shot of him under the web, but I couldn't keep steady enough.

{ hair }

 This was our third football game but the first one at our district stadium, and the drill team coach had

just given them a lipstick and hair check! ; )

{ soft }

Another  one from my trip to the nursery today . . . looks, feels, and smells soft!

{ Your Sunday Best }

Hope your Sunday is a good one!

Love, Kim

XO



 

Drifting along . . .

"We cannot direct the wind, but we can adjust the sails."

-Dolly Parton

Oh, I would like to adjust those sails alright, by taking them down and just drifting for a bit.

I've still just not quite adjusted to the schedule of school yet, and being gone three nights during the weekday's, doesn't help - although we do love our football! So I'm pretending that I'm on that sailboat, with its sails down, 'cause it doesn't look like they're coming back for me! ; )

I did manage to get to the sunrise last weekend and I remembered reading in one of my photography books

that you could get a moonrise like photo if you changed the white balance. So I took a few with it set to incandescent, and although I'm not so sure it looks like a moonrise, I do like the effect.

{ Shoot.Edit.Submit}

And a short visit to the beach . . . I just love watching the pelicans skim those waves!

I kept seeing more and more pelicans, unusually so, flying by me, and then realized that they were landing on the State Park beach. I don't think in all the times I have been that I have ever seen them in this spot. But my euphoria didn't last long, as I was spotted and right on cue they all took off together. With a wing span of 6-8 feet, I have no idea how they take off with out getting tangled in one another....especially since they were standing so close to each other.

But this cormorant didn't mind me too much, even sang me a little tune of Galveston, Oh Galveston.

And what's a day at the beach without a few friends.  But apparently they don't like fudge poptarts . . .

Or they were just holding out for my Cheetos . . . oh do they ever like their Cheetos!

This week at Photo Art Friday Bonnie gave us a theme of movement. I overlayed two images and added two layers of her texture mauve threads. I think it surely works well with water and gives more movement to the piece. 

And my submission to Flower Art Friday with  two layers of Kim Klassen's texture take heart at hardlight.

{Photographers choice - Photograph life }

Happy Friday to you, and I hope your weekend is a restful one!!

Love, Kim

XO

Linking up to Flower Art Friday, Photo Art Friday, Mom Tried It, Photograph life,

Finding Serendipity {1440}