Trifecta

Joy is a net of love by which you can catch souls. ~ Mother Teresa

New Dew Spider

I had the most amazing morning, a photographer’s trifecta … fog + dew + webs! I spent over 3 hours wandering in the fog taking shots at every turn. I burned through two fresh camera batteries and loved getting hot and sweaty from the workout. I was squatting, bending, even climbing to capture webs and so much more. I had no desire to come back inside until the fog burned off and it lasted sooooo long – YEAH!

This straight out of the camera photo is one of my favorites. I love the way the two largest drops of dew become the eyes of a new kind of spider I have so many more to sort and not just from today, yesterday was unseasonable warm and so many little critters were out and about. I am so excited to organize some new posts. I’ll be back soon, until then … happy early spring. I hope its warm and wonderful where ever you are today.

Holy

For everything that lives is holy, life delights in life. ~ William Blake

Beginning to Bud

Obstacle Course

Slingshot

Sun Drenched

Puzzle Piece

Holy

Have a Beauty ✻ Filled Day.

Springing Forward

In the right light, at the right time, everything is extraordinary. ~ Aaron Rose

Mini-microphones

Dried Daisies

Floating Feather

Beautiful Burn

A Spring in his Step

I love springing forward ~ more time to hike.

Do it for Half-an-Hour a Day

Alice laughed. “There’s not use trying,” she said: “one can’t believe impossible things.”"I daresay you haven’t had much practice,” said the Queen. “When I was your age, I always did it for half-an-hour a day. Why, sometimes I’ve believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast.”  ~ Lewis Carrol

filling up & flaring out

alice’s new mirror

slurpee!

sit & stretch

fill & frame

Wow, what a week. It’s been a wacky, wild, weird week? I’m not sure if it’s the energy of the full moon along with the solar flares but something is helping me to believe some things I thought were impossible … perhaps it’s the friends & family who believe in me when I forget how to believe in myself?

Grateful to all of you <3

How was your week?

Create a Poem

Art is the most intense mode of individualism that the world has known.~ Oscar Wilde

It’s time to curl up on the on the couch and create-a-poem. Using the visual inspiration from the photos above – CREATE a poem.

• It could be a combination of one word captions inspired by each photo.
• Each line of the poem could be a phrase created by each photo.
• It could be any form of poetry or word play you choose, inspired by the photos.

I came up with this idea on a whim and it has become one of my favorite practices. I’m looking forward to reading a photo-poem by you in the comments.

All artwork, photography, and text in this website copyright © 2011-2012 Christine Young Contact 

Frosty Mornings

When you arise in the morning, think of what a precious privilege it is to be alive – to breathe, to think, to enjoy, to love. ~ Marcus Aurelius

Have a Beauty ✻ Filled Day

A Simple State of Being

Birds are a miracle because they prove to us there is a finer, simpler state of being which we may strive to attain. ~ Doug Coupland

I can sit for hours staring out the window watching the birds, I wonder what this one is staring at?

The tree with all my feeders get’s pretty crowded on the snowy days.

This one needs a napkin.

I was zoomed in with my camera watching this mourning dove fall asleep on the branch.

I just love their blue eyelids.

We both were surprised when this one flew in and landed right by his side!?

The jays were being fairly nice to the others ~ surprised me.

The titmouse are so skittish. They rarely sit in one spot for long? I’m determine to get a good shot of these beauties someday. Maybe that’s why I sit by the window for hours bird watching, I love a challenge.

Sometimes I feel like some of the birds are looking right back at my with something important to say.

Fairydrop

Raindrops are like fairy whispers.  ~Author Unknown

I think this photo is my favorite shot of 2011, I don’t think it’s my best work but it still makes me smile so much. When I look at this I am reminded of how magical the world is. I can’t believe this little fairy fly stuck around… for 6 frames even! I call it a fairy fly because it reminds me of these ones I found earlier in the fall floating around, it’s hard to see them until their wings catch the rays of sun. I did not see the fairy fly in this photo until I downloaded my shots. I was busy focusing on the beautiful raindrops, it was a like an unexpected magic trick to see this cool little one appear! I love the way the veins in the wings mimic the upside down tree branch reflections.

This year I’ve spent bliss~filled hours discovering tiny treasures in nature, I love that my new camera has given me bionic eyes to see MORE than I can with the naked eye. Each time I wander on my hikes, I know I’ll find something new and interesting to photograph. As the weather gets colder, me and my dog are often the only ones on the trail, but I never feel alone, I feel embraced by the magical world that keep revealing itself in new ways.

Do you have a favorite photo you took in 2011?

May your holiday season be filled with enchantment <3

P.S. I’ve been listening to PRI podcasts lately and this one on ‘The Uses of Enchantment’ has some great stories about ‘magic as a way of seeing the world’.

Gratitude

Open your heart to all these blessings and let them flow through you, then everyone you meet on this day will be blessed by you, just by your eyes, by your smile, by your touch, just by your presence. ~ Brother David Steindl’s

The golden hour yesterday was divine. I took 774 photos on my 2 hour stroll at sunset. It’s days like these that make me feel so lucky to be alive, experiencing nature in all her glory, who else could make dead drying decomposing weeds & grass look so magical.

My friend Barb sent me this 10 minute film on gratitude by Louie Schwartzburg today. I am so grateful that my blog has kept me in touch with her and so many of you who I would have lost touch with if I did not blog. And so many of you who I would not have met if I did not blog. And for those who I get to be present with in my life ~ I am so deeply blessed.

If you have 10 minutes this video is a lovely reminder of how lucky we are to see and experience such beauty. (The quote above is from the film).

Happy Thanksgiving

Water Worlds

If there is magic on this planet, it is contained in water. ~ Loran Eisley

When I download shots of rain drops hanging out to dry, I feel like I’ve shaken a magic snowglobe that reveals tiny upside down mysterious miniature world after world…

Have you watched the fairies when the rain is done, 
Spreading out their little wings to dry them in the sun? ~ Rose Fyleman