Sleigh bells ring, are you listening?

“When, what to my wondering eyes should appear,

But a miniature sleigh, and eight tiny rein-deer.”

“A Magical Sight” (Cinderella Castle with Candy Cane Holiday Projection, Disney’s Magic Kingdom) Canon SuperShot SX40 HS, 10.4mm, F/4, 1/25s, -1.7EV, ISO 1600

 “But I heard him exclaim, ere he drove out of sight –

Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good night!”

~ exerpt, ‘A Visit from St. Nicholas’, Clement Clark Moore

 
Much love, good health, happiness, peace and prosperity to you and yours, now, and all through the new year! 🙂

The doctor will see you now

In addition to peonies, I also love clematis and have several varieties in the garden (10 at last count). I managed to drag myself away from the baby red squirrels for a bit to take notice of ‘Dr. Ruppel’, one of my oldest and, quite possibly my favorite for its large striped pink blossoms. It never disappoints!  

"Pinwheel" (Clematis, 'Dr. Ruppel') Nikon D300, 70mm, F/8, 1/00, -0.7EV, ISO 200

These days, everything is blooming about one to two weeks ahead of schedule due to our ‘higher-than-normal’ temperatures (it hit 95 degrees today!). Doesn’t bother me – just means I need to keep pace! 😀 

As for the Dr., I was happy to catch this particular blossom unfurling in late afternoon light.

A good errand day

“Lexie” (Barn Tabby Cat Behind Clear Corrugated Lexan) Nikon D300, 105mm, F/8, 1/500s, ISO 400

Out doing errands today (typical Saturday), we stopped by Richardson’s Ice Cream (the local dairy farm) thinking the cows and antique farm equipment might yield some interesting photo opportunities.

After about 45 minutes of feeling no inspiration whatsoever, I caught a glimpse of a cat staring out at us from behind the corrugated plastic windows of the cow barn and instantly, I am off and running, knowing, THIS is the shot I came for! 🙂 

Alot of my photos just work out that way for me and I love the thrill and total surprise of it all.  

Happy Tracy is back. 🙂

Life behind bars

"Variegata" (Dracaena marginata 'Tricolor' aka Rainbow Tree) Nikon D300, 105mm F/2.8G Macro, F/40, 15s, ISO 400

Last weekend, we bought some pretty cool-looking foliage plants to brighten the house during these less-than-colorful winter days. 

Dracaena marginata ‘Tricolor’ sports dramatic  spikes in stripes of green, cream and reddish-pink. Shot at close range, form and color take center stage – looking less now like a houseplant and more like abstract art. 

I can’t help but think this image might be a metaphor for how caged in I’ve felt these last few days.   

However, I’m sure life behind real bars is not nearly this colorful!