Sunflower Study

It's been a beautiful day in southwestern Ohio!  Dreary as all get out, but not insanely hot, no major storms, and not all that humid.  I'll take it especially since I got to turn the AC off and open the windows.  Nice fresh air.  Ahhhhh.

I have to admit that I was more than a little surprised to go out back today and see how nicely my volunteer sunflower was doing.  I thought for sure the birds and the squirrels would have decimated it by now (as they have in the past for any that got close to flowering).  I am very pleased and thankful they have decided to leave it alone.

Considering the weather and lack of sun, this rather tall but unplanned beauty made the back yard much cheerier.

I quickly found myself captivated by the symmetry and geometricity (I'm pretty sure that's a made up word, but ya know what I mean by it!) of the flower, not to mention the contrasting and complementing colors.

As I moved slightly to study the change in light and perspective, at times I felt as if I were looking at an optical illusion.

A quarter of an inch move brought different sections of the plant into the focal point.

Each section is utterly awesome and amazing on its own; different from the other parts, but so necessary for the bloom to exist.

The more I looked and the closer I zoomed, the more I felt as I was being drawn into a vortex of amazement.

So many views.  So many different focal points.  But all combine for a beautiful flower.

I think I'm going to go back and slowly go through them again.  And try not to smile.  What about you?

Just Do It!

I decided it had been long enough since I'd been out taking new photos, plus I'd been successful in donating blood earlier, and was now able to take the Extra Strength Excedrin again.  Whew.  I really should buy stock in that and Benadryl . . .

So, I took off again for Huffman MetroPark, and in a short 40 minutes, got some shots I'm more than a little happy with!  I really like the challenge of finding new ways to see things, especially when I manage to hold myself to taking pictures every day.

This was one of the first shots I took, and I almost stopped after I got it.  I'm glad I didn't though - this isn't my favorite for the day!

Changed the focal point a little to have more of the reflected sky and clouds in the frame.

I liked the part of the tree w/ the stripped bark - hadn't seen one that was yellow before.

I liked how the V of the fallen tree fit the intact tree, and that you can see the roots from the fallen tree.  I also like the different contrasts in colors and light and shadow.

There's a lot of greenery around, but this shot gives a slight idea of how gently the water was moving here.

I liked how the pieces of what appear to be part of a dock have survived, and that in contrast to the foliage nearby and reflected in the water.

Still not to the favorite picture for the day, but this is another one that's right up there.  We've had so many extremely sunny days with beautiful blue skies and cotton ball clouds that I HAD to get a couple of shots of it.

The flow of the water as it was disrupted by a small island .

I don't have a clue what this plant is, but I liked the spikey-ness.

THIS is my favorite shot of the day.  It's almost made me dizzy a couple of times I've looked at it as the ol' brain tries to figure out exactly what it is I'm looking at.  I think that's why I like it though - it requires some thought.

I wasn't sure I'd be able to capture the almost brush-like strokes of color changes in the water.  It turned out better than I'd hoped for.

And the final shot of the beautiful sky and cottony clouds - the sun highlighted the clouds perfectly.

I had almost convinced myself not to go out for new pics but to take another break.  I'm really glad I didn't because I don't know I'd have gotten the same shots on another day.  Now I'm more motivated to go out every day to take pictures.  The hard part now is deciding where to go!  There are so many great places around here for photographs that it's takes me longer to decide where to go than it does to take pics once I get there!  But it's been worth it - the self-imposed challenge has pushed some creative limits, and encouraged me to try different angles or perspectives I wouldn't have thought of before.

J O Y

I had a hard time with my name as a child.  No, not spelling it, just having it.  The "jokes" got old very fast.

Everything from being asked if I washed the dishes the night before (Joy dish washing detergent), to being in church and singing a hymn with the word joy (not even a capitalized "J") that made my friends all look at me.  We won't even discuss my least favorite Christmas carol (I would LOVE to make it through just a single Christmas without hearing or singing it . . .) or the Three Dog Night song.

I always appreciated having a name that's easy to spell, but not that people expected me to be, well, happy.  ALL of the time.  Honestly, that's my preference, but sometimes life just doesn't cooperate, and I get a little angry, upset, moody, and/or downright hostile.  Sometimes I get a lot angry, upset, moody and/or downright hostile.

Tonight, I was out running a couple of errands  when the clouds caught my attention.  Yes, I pulled over to the side of the road to catch the pictures.

When I took the first one, I thought I was focusing on the clouds and burst of sun coming through. But when I reviewed it on my phone, I thought it was out of focus.  So, I took another one, and it seemed to be in focus.

Technically, both of the pictures are in focus.  The first one had it's focal point on the raindrops on the windshield.  The second one was my intended point of the clouds/sky/sunlight.

The difference in how the pictures turned out made me think about what I've been focusing on, which led me back to my name.

Quite a few years ago, I read somewhere that the only way to find real joy or to maintain that joy in your life was to follow the directions of the letters of the word.

J - Jesus

O - Others

Y - Yourself

If you prioritize your life in that order, you will have true and lasting joy.  

Nope, it's not easy.  There are many days I'd rather it be spelled either yoj or yjo, with a few of yyy thrown in for good measure.

But for those times I actually put it into practice, there can be a lot of craziness or drama going on around me, and I don't get sucked up by it or in it; there's a calmness and peace, knowing it will eventually be okay.  I hope that calmness and peace reflects like the sunlight shining through the storm clouds.

The name carries a reminder and a responsibility.  I hope I remember more often to follow the responsibility of not putting myself first and it becomes an ingrained habit.