Wake up a little earlier . . .

"Life is too short," she panicked, "I want more." He nodded slowly,

"Wake up earlier." - Dr. SunWolf

I've really never been a particularly natural early riser, you know without an alarm, however I do quite enjoy setting my alarm for this. . . .I hope you aren't tired of sunrises yet!

1. At some point the sunrise time started going backwards, getting earlier. Just a few weeks ago I remember it being at 7:19, tomorrow it will be 7:09. So by the time we 'spring ahead' on March 9th, the sunrise time here at my spot will be at 6:35. But I don't think they take into account that we turn our clocks ahead so will it really be 7:35? Hmmmm. This sunrise was on Sunday and this shot was with my 50mm lens and I had a little fun with slow shutter speed and camera movement (I'll share those later).

2. I wonder . . . you know that saying what a difference a day makes? Do you think they said because they watched the sun rise two days in a row. . . because what a difference a day makes!! This was on Monday.

3. THIS, is why you never leave right away after the sun rises. Because if you're lucky, someone will show up to go wade fishing and give you a silhouette photo op.

4. Do you think seagulls can smell french fries in your pocket?

5. Why yes, yes they can. And they will bring their friends and relatives. Tip: throw the french fries in front of you not up in the air above you unless you have on hat. Not that I know this from personal experience or anything, but I have keenly observed when others have not been so lucky. ;)

Oh, and this was back at the same spot I started at in the morning. I had gone to the nursery and then to the butterfly garden, which looks terrible since our hard freezes, and then to lunch across the street for fresh shrimp (and french fries).

I hope you have a great weekend and remember, wake up a little bit earlier!

Love, Kim

sharing with Little Things Thursday, Thursday Favorite Things, Random Five Friday, Friday Photo Journal

Get your blog on . . .

. . . cause it's a party!

Last year Vicki from (2 Bags Full) had a wonderful Grow Your Blog Party hop, and I definitely wanted to do again as I met some great bloggers and I'm always up for meeting new friends. A big huge thank you goes out to Vicki for putting together this epic event, double last year's party.

This is me, Kim, a 51 year old mom of two (half an empty nest) with one in college and one still in high school, and a wife of 21 years.

A learner of life, a seeker of light, and a finder of all things beautiful . . . and I document it here in my little space. I've been blogging here for a little over 3 years now.

I love nature, I tend to be a deep thinker, and share my thoughts and my view of the world through my pen and my camera.

I have a love affair with the beach, and shells, and the ocean . . . 

And sunrises . . . definitely one of my favorite things. I am fortunate enough to live on the gulf coast of Texas near Galveston Bay, and 25 miles north of the island. You'll see a lot of sunrises here because I live 30 minutes away from an hour vacation . . . gosh I love that!

And, last March a friend gave me some cuttings of milkweed that ended up having 2 monarch caterpillars which turned into a nursery in my dining room and the nickname of 'The Monarch Farmer' from my son. Since March I've raised and released over 400 Monarch butterflies. I am still working on getting through all my photos from last summer and putting together my journey in a series from egg to butterfly. They are amazing creatures!!

I also raised queen butterflies, black swallowtail butterflies, a few pipevine butterflies, and tersa sphinx moths (aka hummingbird moths).

I love flowers, and photographing them especially in my garden, when I have visitors.

And I love sharing the beauty in the ordinary I find through my lens. 

Thanks so much for stopping by. I look forward to making the rounds today, although truthfully it will probably take a week with this many blogs!

You can follow along with me here: Flickr (I'm attempting a 365 day project), instagram (kimatpickingpoppies), and you can like me on my Picking Poppies facebook page. I am also part of a collaborative blog, Focusing on Life (my recent post), with 9 other women of all ages building a community for people passionate about photography and life. You'll find me musing there every other Tuesday.

Until next time,

Love, Kim

You're taking a pictures of ...?

"By these labels we recognize everything,

and no longer see anything."

- Frederick Frank

Why yes, yes I did!

I went to the sunrise yesterday toting my camera and my 50mm lens, and well besides loving the sun rise, this weeks lesson with the nifty fifty is landscapes. It was somewhat of a challenge as having a crop sensor it's more like a 75mm, and I'm used to being able to zoom and or get a wide angle shot.

After the magic sunrise moment was over I headed over to the boardwalk for a coffee and a little stroll and as usual I garnered a few followers. I thought it was just because they like me, but apparently they have darn good memories (aka, nice lady that has kibbles in her pocket), and I'll get to that later too, the memory part not the kibbles. See #1 of random facts below

I had stopped to watch the pelicans in the harbor when I noticed one of my feathered friends drinking from a little puddle of water. I got down on my knees to get a low shot when around the corner I hear footsteps and a grumpy woman's voice say, "You're . . . (pause) . . . taking pictures of a . . . (pause) . . . pigeon?"

Now besides her feeling the need to ask me (although I'm not sure it was really a question), it really was about how she said it.

  

I replied back, "It's all about perspective, about how you choose to see things," to which she replied, "oooooh . . . . oh....kay," in a sarcastic tone as she walked away.

We've all heard that saying that beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Salma Hayek says, "that the most liberating thing about beauty is realizing that you are the beholder. This empowers us to find beauty in places where others have not dared to look..." It certainly doesn't hurt my feelings that someone doesn't like pigeons or anything else that I like. You don't have to like the what, but it reaches a different level when you question my why because I see with my heart first and then my camera.

Labels are barriers and to really "see" anything or anyone at their true core we have to take care not to use them, if not for the shear fact that by labeling others we label ourselves.

Here are some random reasons to like pigeons: (aka the Rock Pigeon descended from the Rock Dove)

1. French scientists did research that suggested that not only do pigeons recognize people, but that they will avoid those who have in the past been hostile. (article) See #5 - good reason to never piss off a pigeon, and well they do live for almost 30 years.

2. Pigeon guano was considered a very valuable resource in the 16th and 17th centuries in Europe and used for gunpowder.

3. He is a war hero . . .and messenger. In WWI and WWII the pigeon was able to save hundreds of thousands of lives by carrying messages over enemy lines. And the earliest communication network used them around 5th century BC in Syria and Persia and was used in Roman times to carry the results of sporting events, which is why we today we release white doves at our Olympic Games.

4. They have an incredible knack for being able to 'return home' even when released 100's of miles away. Some theories say they use the earth's magnetic field.

5. They're lifesavers, one of the most intelligent of all bird species and the Navy has found a unique use for pigeons . . . since they can see color in the same way we do they have been trained to identify red or yellow life jackets when floating in the water to save us humans and they've had a high success rate. Don't forget #1

One of these days there will be some clouds again. I noticed the last couple all seem to look the same even though they are slightly different. I was trying with slow shutter speed to really slow down and blur the water again, but I got there and got set up about 15 minutes or less before the sun rose and it was getting too light. And since I got there with not much time to spare I had to pick a spot...hard to do when you know you won't be able to zoom.

Just trying a different composition here and playing with different depths of field. Now if I can get out to find another landscape besides the sunrise.

I hope you all have a really great weekend - we are under a winter storm watch here that could turn to a warning tonight as some areas may get 1/8" of ice...now that could be interesting...in a town that is not prepared for that sort of thing. All I know, is I want a snowflake photo so bad!!

Love, Kim

Sharing with Little Things Thursday, Thursday Favorite Things, Friday Photo journal, Random Five Friday

The Purple Iris . . .

"The flower is the poetry of reproduction.

It is an example of the eternal seductiveness of life."

- Jean Giraudoux

The Iris is the birth flower for the month of February.

It is the Tennessee State flower.

 It's a perennial herb and some can even grow in deserts, and swamps and even in the very far cold north.

It is named after the Greek rainbow goddess, 'Iris,' for the variety of colors you can find them in.

{KK Edith}

From ancient times the Iris's stateliness stood as a symbol of majesty and power.

And as the three leaves of it's blossoms exemplifying faith, wisdom and valour, the Egyptians

placed it on the brow of the Sphinx.

{Monet Inspired}

"Don't try to force anything. Let life be a deep let-go.

See [God/Spirit/All That Is] opening millions of flowers 

every day without forcing the buds."

- Bhagwan Shree Rayneesh

I think we could learn a lot from flowers, their patience, the beauty that is revealed in that patience,

and with a few essentials we all have the possibility of blooming.

There is also much to learn about their giving and our receiving with out boundaries.

Today, I'm over at Focusing on Life sharing thoughts about boundaries and expectations

and how they can get in my way of 'seeing.'  I would love for you to come on over and

join in the conversation . . . and I'm proposing a challenge.

Love, Kim

sharing with Texture Tuesday, Sweet Shot Tuesday

source:  Botanical.com, The flower expert.com