Gems

Yesterday it was dams, the Great Miami River, and turkey vultures.  Today it was a visit to Charleston Falls, although there wasn't a whole lot of water actually falling.  It's been pretty dry (not Colorado dry, but dry enough that we are on alert for fires), so the falls were limited to one small area . . . I did find a few other things that caught my eye, though.

When I first saw this, I wondered why somebody had put an omelet on the tree trunk.  Duh.  Some kind of fungus I assume.

I loved how the light made some of the leaves almost translucent, while others were opaque.

I'm not sure I would have spotted this female cardinal if she hadn't put on her lipstick this morning!  Sure looks like it to me . . .

Just one of the many examples of a beautiful patch of sunlight in the midst of darkness or shade.  I won't bore you by waxing poetic . . .

Here are the falls . . . see the water falling?  Nope?  You're not missing anything.  Normally there is at least a small waterfall going, but not today.  Keep looking though . . .

I don't know why these vines appeal to me, but they do.

A couple of shots of the very small trickle of water falling . . . loved the individual droplets above, plus the splash below!

My favorite shot of the day - for the shadow . . . I spent quite a bit of time at this spot.

Love the detail in the wings on this one; so intricate and delicate.

There was water, but it wasn't moving . . . I did like the reflection in this shot.

More interesting shadows . . .

The imagination must have been in overdrive . . . this stick in the water reminded me of an alligator or crocodile!  It would have fit well in my Crafty Nature post . . .

This was a first for me - taking a picture of the shadows on the water . . . I like it.

Growing up here in the Dayton area, I always thought of us as pretty much landlocked, with not much in the way of lakes, rivers, etc.  I knew about the Great Miami and a few others, but didn't realize just how much water is around us (and I don't ever remember learning about the 1913 Dayton Flood in school).  I don't know if I'm more open to learning about Dayton and its history, but I am appreciating those who made sure we have such wonderful parks and reserves to visit.  I might just end up admitting I'm loving what Dayton has to offer and embracing its nickname of The Gem City.

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.

Another first!

Wow.  So very happy with the pics I got today at Eastwood MetroPark!  AND I do know how very blessed I am to have so many MetroParks to visit within 30 minutes of home.  There are also several other parks and hiking trails to visit that aren't part of the same system, so there's plenty of variety for my wandering eye!

For several years, I drove by a stretch of land next to a railroad track that had a lot of thistles growing.  They looked so pretty, but it was never safe to stop there and take some pictures.  Today, I took the entrance to Eastwood by the lake, which is not where I normally go.  I was surprised to find thistle growing down by the lake, and in varying stages of blooming.  I would have been a happy camper just from getting those photos, but it got better!

I figured since I was close to the lake, I should probably get at least a couple of shots of it.  I'm glad I did.


Then, I drove around a little more before turning around to head back to the main road to the entrance I normally use.  As I was slowly driving along looking at the scenery (no other cars on that road), I saw a "new" bird and tried to stop so I could get a better look at it.  Unfortunately, all I know is that it had a black back and white underbelly; could be a whole lot of different birds.  Bummer.  But, it was still nice to have spotted it, even if I don't know what it was!


So, I resumed my drive out to the main road and on to the other entrance to the park.  I was about halfway to where I wanted to park, and I looked over toward the water and couldn't quite figure out what I saw, but hoped it was either a crane or heron (neither of which I'd seen before!).  So, I pulled onto the shoulder, turned the emergency flashers on, grabbed the camera, and ran across the lane (well, as close to running as I get).  As I got closer to the water, I slowed down and peeked around the foliage, and saw . . . 

 . . . a Great Blue Heron!  I'm not subjecting you to the numerous very similar shots I took, just a few.  Jenny @ I'd Rather Be Birding!, this is a HUGE first for me, and I have you to thank.  If you hadn't encouraged me to begin blogging, I wouldn't be making opportunities to stop at the parks to take photos.  You've pushed me to try different perspectives and styles that I might not have gotten around to for quite a while.  THANK YOU!

A baby Canada Goose (gosling) . . . loved the downy feathers!

An adult Canada Goose with some goslings.  With all of the "floaties" on the water, it looked kind of like twinkling lights. 

I love the bridges they have, at least to look at.  Today I went over them for the first time, and they are pretty steep.

There were a lot of mallard ducks, mostly males.  I think I saw a total of 3 females.  I wasn't sure I'd caught this guy in flight - I was moving and so was he!  What a thrill when I saw it.

The way these two guys were standing cracked me up - the way they both rested their bills on their chests . . . kind of a motionless strutting if that makes sense to anyone but me!

And the last few shots are more pics featuring reflection.  The rocks above made me wonder at first where the shore line was.

I felt like I saw double, double of the female duck . . . one of my favorites of the day.

When I saw this shot, it reminded me of the scenes in Mary Poppins that mixed animation with live shots.  The log and turtle seemed to come out of the "drawing" of the tree and sky . . . You're probably right to think I need to tone down the imagination a little (just not too much!).


All of this fun and creativity packed into about an hour.  I love catching these kind of images.  This needs to be my job.

If it's Tuesday, it must be . . .

It's May, and if it's Tuesday, it must be a MetroPark kind of day!  Today it was back to Englewood MetroPark where I took a different path . . . mostly down by the water.  Again I was fascinated by the shadow and light, and the reflection of the vegetation in the water.

I thought this was a snake when I first glanced at it.  I was VERY glad I hadn't screamed once I realized it was just a tree branch.  There weren't a lot of people around, but I still would have felt absolutely foolish.

I loved the contrasting colors on the wood - it reminded me of an Appaloosa horse.

There were so many interesting shapes going on with this plant that I HAD to take a few pics of it; this is the best of them.

This little guy posed for a little while, then took off.  He had heard enough of the "click, click, click" of the camera.  He probably never thought he'd be stalked by paparazzi in his own backyard!

I loved the color of this bloom, as well as the way it peeked out from all of the surrounding greenery.

  
There were a LOT of berries for the birds and squirrels!  I didn't take any so they would have plenty.

Caught this guy trying to hide from me.  I guess the squirrel network was down or he would have known he wouldn't be successful.

The path was blanketed with this plant - I tried to walk where it wasn't growing because it looked sunny and beautiful.  I didn't want to trample it.

This tree had some MAJOR texture going on.  It almost looks like rock rather than a tree trunk.

This picture only shows about 1/3 of the tree; it was huMONGous.   I tried several different angles to try to capture the enormity of it, but this turned out the best.  I couldn't get very close, which made it more difficult.

Can you find the two (yes, TWO) woodpeckers in this picture?  I'll bet Jenny @ I'd Rather Be Birding! spotted them right away.

And, ending with my favorite picture of the day, and wondering if I could pass it off as a fog enshrouded shot rather than the reflection in the water . . . regardless, I think it looks more "artsy" or brooding than a straight shot of vegetation.


It doesn't surprise me that I was fascinated with pictures using the water for reflection, because I've been doing a lot of reflecting the last couple of days.  Yesterday was not a good day with Mom, and she seemed to want to pick a fight.  I know it's not something I should take personally, but it hit me wrong at the time, and it got me really down.


It took a while, but I finally worked through it.  I have to remember that I am not responsible for Mom's mood or her happiness.  I am responsible for not intentionally irritating her, but not for how she reacts to anything.  That was further reinforced tonight at the presentation by the Alzheimer's Association.  There are times when it is necessary to redirect attention to reduce the anxiety and frustration, which are the times Mom tries to pick a fight.  She is probably still tired from the excursion on Saturday, which also intensifies her anxiety and frustration.  Since she is highly functioning, most people think Mom is pretty much her old self.  Some times she is.  Most of the time she isn't.  She's not far from it, but far enough that she knows it (deep down, even though she really doesn't want to admit it).


I'm very thankful for the staff at Friendship Village who understand what dementia does to people and how little things can have a big impact on their behavior.  I'm thankful for groups like the Alzheimer's Association that provides education on issues regarding dementia.


Mostly, I'm thankful for a God who provides a literal walk in the park as a way to clear my head and enable me to think again, not react to things.