Remembering all those who gave their lives for our country.
We went down to the Courthouse Square today for the western art show and watched at noon as the Scottish military group laid the wreath and flag at Prescott’s memorial for all who were lost in war. With bagpipes, an honor guard, and local dignitaries, it was a very small but moving tribute.
I am finally getting around to posting the third in my Merging Realities series! Although I’ve been taking and editing photos, I’ve been super busy and just couldn’t get my act together to post any of them. But summer vacation is here, and my retirement life is going to slow down a bit- so expect more posts soon-ish!
Another image from the mall.
Part of a series created from scenes at a mall this week.
One of our favorite (and almost NECESSARY) things to do when we go back to the Bay Area is to drive over to Bodega Bay, the scene of many memories from our dating and early marriage days. The drive from Petaluma is through rural Sonoma County, and it still looks much like it did over 50 years ago. I loved this view of the curve in the road, the white power poles, and the intense green as we approached a hill and made Lonnie slow down so I could take an iPhone shot through the windshield.
We have just returned from a wonderful trip back to Benicia to attend Morgan and Matt’s wedding. We took the opportunity to visit as many friends as we could in town, as well as driving over to Sonoma County twice to visit our Petaluma and Santa Rosa friends. I captured this beloved view of the Carquinez Bridge through the window of Sailor Jack’s on the Benicia Waterfront as we ate dinner with Debbie and Dale (Morgan’s parents) on our last night in town. I have taken hundreds of photos of this view, and I never tire of it!
Such a sweet face!
I went on a field trip with our photo club a week or so ago- to an ALPACA farm! It was a wonderful experience learning about the alpacas- and feeding them. I will never forget the feeling of those soft alpaca lips on my hand as I held out the food. In an alternate universe, I raise alpacas and spin their wool/fiber into yarn. I would have to be a very different person to live on a farm, but one can dream!
I’m a bit obsessed by the moonshadows created by Monday’s eclipse. This is a composite of two moonshadowed iris leaf images. The painterliness of the image was not created by filters, but by the magic of blending the moonshadows and leaves together.
I’ve been having fun combining some of my little moonshadow images (especially the ones on leaves) into abstracts. These are the first three in a little project I’m calling “In the Path of Totality”.
A week ago, I spotted this ladderback woodpecker, all puffed up as it warmed up in the morning sunshine.
When one doesn’t have the high tech gear or knowledge, you make do with what you have- in this case a colander! I heard about this in my photo group today- and evidently it’s a very well known technique- so I gave it a try. I took many shots of the shadow of the moon over the sun as projected through the colander (also a saltine!) on our driveway. Then I tried other places and found it made a pretty good shadow on iris leaves. They look like little hearts, don’t they?
Where is Spring (sung to the tune of Where is Love? from Oliver!)? We just keep getting snow- and some rain. And then it melts- and then we get more. Today it is sunny- and cold (it snowed last night). Our plants just don’t know what to do! We have blossoms and buds and leaves and a nest with finch eggs attached to our wreath on the front door, but we still get snow. Can you tell I’m getting impatient?
Spotted at Moorten Botanical Garden in Palm Springs a few weeks ago!
We actually saw two nesting hummingbirds while we were there. I’ve never been so close to one before- it was a real treat.
Happy Easter! It has been a rainy and snowy Spring, so I guess we shouldn’t be surprised that we woke up to snow today. But it’s the first time since we moved here in 2013 that we have had snow on Easter. Our plum blossoms have endured several snowfalls this year and are so far surviving. Nature is amazing!
melinda anderson photography 