Cox Arboretum

Yesterday's visit to Wegerzyn Gardens whetted my appetite for nature photography, so today I hit another of our metro parks - Cox Arboretum.  Our family has lived in this area for more years than I care to admit, but today was the first time I visited Cox.  I can guarantee I will be back.


I'm anxious for the butterfly house to open so I can get pictures there, but I ambled along for about an hour today, and am VERY happy with the variety of flora and fauna I caught, as well as some of the more artistic shots.  It was another 200+ shots that I'm trying to pare down to about 15 to share.

I think it's fun to see the turtles sunning themselves.  It's certainly a good indicator of a warm and sunny day!

There was a little girl who drew my attention to the chipmunk . . . I got quite a few different shots of him, but I like this one of him eating in his little leaf covered cabana.

It was a great day for getting the mirror image reflections off of the water.  The symmetry was amazing.

I thought this piece of wood was an interesting shape; it was certainly hard to ignore!

I don't know what this plant is, but when I first glanced at some of the blooms, I thought they were spiders!  Glad to realize they weren't.  Not a spider fan, unless we're talking about Spiderman.

My first goldfinch sighting of the season!  They were having some fun playing in the water, but were pretty shy.

This shot of the bridge's reflection reminds me of a Monet painting.  I'm seriously considering having it printed onto canvas and hang it upside down (so the bridge is right side up).

I loved the colors, as well as the mirror image here.

A different view of the bridge; from this angle the arch looks much higher than it does from the side.

Just a couple of turtles hanging out on a rock in the middle of the pond.  Too bad they had to climb over each other for lack of space . . .   :-D

I'm not sure what the food was (probably bread), but this guy definitely found it, and was not planning to share it!

An unusual shot, but I liked the reflection of the duck's head and bill with the back of the body and foot . . . a different perspective.  I was trying to get as close as possible to better capture the texture of the feathers.


I was really hoping to catch sight of Zipp.  He's a working border collie they use to keep the Canada Geese under control; since they started working him, the sidewalks are less hazardous, and definitely less slippery!


I've been to two different metro parks in as many days.  There are only 16 more for me to visit!  Then there's also Charleston Falls in Miami County . . . I'm going to be getting a LOT of photography practice in.  I must give the weather its due for helping make getting the shots so much easier today.  A bright sunny day seems to make it a snap (no pun intended) for some of these types of shots.  It also helps that I hadn't been here before, and was probably a little more alert and observant.  Gotta keep these eyeballs peeled for all different kinds of beauty around me!


Since I didn't subject you to all 247 photos, you couldn't know that I seemed to be taking a lot of pictures with the mirror image reflections.  I haven't been able to catch many of those type of pictures so they turn out looking as good as these do, but I think my brain was telling me something, too.  


Our lives reflect who we are, what we believe, and what's important to us.  What image am I reflecting?  I hope tomorrow's reflection is better than today's, as I continue working toward a sharply focused mirror image of my Creator.

Sweetest Day

I had a feeling it was going to be a great day when I started on my morning walk . . . well, after I turned around and got my cell phone that I'd left on the charger.  I'd decided to take my camera with me to get pics of the "new" elementary school that took the place of two schools I'd gone to.  I was looking all around me as I made the trek, and found a few interesting things to photograph!

We're just getting to the end of April, and here come the pine cones!  That just messes with my sensibilities somehow.

This reminded me of a miniature wreath . . . Christmas in APRIL????

A couple of Irises almost ready to bloom!  This is so strange to have the plants so far along already.

I thought this was a funny angle . . . perspective IS important.

This is the new school.  It combined two elementary schools that were back to back.  I went to 2nd and 3rd grade in one, then 4th-6th in the other.  With the fencing, and the cupola, I think it looks more like a prison than an elementary school!

I love construction equipment, and this particular piece had some interesting shapes to it!

I think there is something drastically wrong with the next three pictures.  It's getting close to the end of April, when most kids are more than ready to be playing outside, yet the playground at the school is off limits.  The old playground has been torn down, but the kids can't use this lovely equipment!  I can only assume it's a liability issue since no protective/cushioning cover has been put down around and under the equipment.  I think somebody messed up their planning BIG TIME.

I liked this tree stump . . . it has the weathered and aged, interesting character look to it.

 

This house is where I attended first grade.  Back in the day, there were so many elementary school age kids that we didn't have enough schools to house them all.  So, the builder of all of the homes in the community offered the school system the use of homes for kids to attend first grade for a rental rate of $1/year each.  The houses were modified slightly to be able to accommodate approximately 25-30 students.  Many of us walked home for lunch because the only other option was to bring our own - no cafeteria here!  It was a great experience since kindergarten was not required at that time.

I got a nice 2 mile walk, some interesting pictures, plus a trip down memory lane (remembered where several friends lived when we were in school as I walked by them, and then some of the fun stuff we did).  Then I got home to find the animals ready to entertain me!  The squirrel cracked me up with the way he was perched there on the end of a branch; he kept looking for something, but I never figured out what it was.

I don't know why, but I haven't noticed many robins the last few springs.  This isn't the first one I've seen this spring, but it's the first one I was able to get a shot of.  I did finally see a blue jay in the redbud tree, but I didn't have my camera with me.  :-(

Then, just as I was thinking about getting up and going inside, a minor miracle occurred.  A red bellied woodpecker flew onto the redbud tree, closely followed by a beautiful cardinal!  It's not clear as I'd like, but I managed to get a picture with BOTH of them in it.

The icing on the cake?  When visiting Mom today, it was a pretty darn good visit.  She was joking around and laughing.  It's so wonderful to have those kinds of visits.  More icing on the cake?  I spent the evening with friends, talking and laughing and having a great time.  It's definitely been my sweetest day so far this week (and maybe this month).