I’m reaching that point in this month-long blogging challenge where it feels like I have already written about the things that are interesting in my day. No one wants to read more about the rainy days we’ve been experiencing, the state of the streets in my neighborhood, or the outdoor public art at UCSD. So what to do? Weirdly, one of my posts is today’s inspiration for others…so maybe, just maybe, it can inspire me too.
I love to take photos and have an unimaginable number of photos on my phone (some taken with the phone, others taken with my Sony mirrorless camera and transferred to the phone). So today I decided to give myself a prompt and explore my camera roll.
I decided to search for blue, and with that single word as a prompt, so many photos came up for me to examine and think about.
Instead of going down a blue rabbit hole, I picked just a few for a short photo essay…an exploration of some of the blues that caught my eye.
I love to take photos of trees. Sometimes when the light and the background is just right, the photo offers a sense of the majesty and wonder of a tree. I love the blue of the mountains in the distance and the varied blues of the skies in the distance. There’s a moodiness that feels reflective, quiet…like a deep breath.
This Joshua Tree National Park sunset offers the deeper, more intense blues of the desert as dark chases the light across the sky. Once the sun dips, the stars will make their entrance crafting vivid pictures in the indigo as nighttime creeps across the desert.
But as much as I love trees, I am more likely to find myself walking along the shoreline. While it’s common to think about the ocean as blue, in this case it is the blue plastic bucket that stands out in the transparency of the water. I love the way the light and shadow also captures the subtle movement of the water.
I’m always a sucker for a shore bird, and this great blue heron was a wonderful surprise. Blue when it comes to herons is of the blue-gray variety and these tall, stately birds are a study in patience. They embody stillness–unless they are startled and then they spread and flap their enormous wings and somehow those large bodies take flight.
The ocean is never a single color–and that’s true of the sky too. Light and shadow shift the spectrum of blues and greens, purples and grays, pinks and oranges, offering a magnificent palette of colorful waves for surfers to explore (rightside up and upside down).
What will you find if you take time to explore your camera roll?
A treasure hunt is the perfect way to start a day! That’s how I felt when I read the Open Write prompt today on Ethical ELA. I took a little different pathway on my treasure hunt and let my walk this morning uncover the treasure.
Who doesn’t love a poem about a poem? Today’s #verselove prompt at Ethical ELA was presented by Glenda who also shared a mentor poem and video by Darius V. Daughtry, what can a poem do? Daughtry’s poem begins with a series of explanations of what poems don’t do, then pivots to what poems can do. For my own poem, I decided to focus on what poems can do without the examination of what they can’t or don’t do.
Somehow Dixie over at Ethical ELA conjured this heron into my path today…the day she offered bird as our #verselove poetry prompt. Thanks Dixie–readers here know I love my egrets…and their cousin, the great blue heron is a welcome sighting any day!
On day 7 of National Poetry Month, I have faced the most difficult challenge ever! As you know from Day 3, I don’t identify as a music person and today’s challenge was to use a song structure to write new lyrics. Chris over at Ethical ELA was generous, offering his song as structure and giving writers an out–if it doesn’t work for you, do something else. But…the point is to try…right?!?
So after a day spent in 100 degree temperatures learning about and photographing power generating windmills, I just had to figure out how to say something with a song structure. Since music is definitely a challenge for me, I asked my husband what song he might think of related to our exploration today. And he offered up the old classic, They Call the Wind Mariah from the movie Paint Your Wagon.
I listened and hummed…and tried my own (amateur-ish) attempt at song writing. This will definitely not be up for any Grammys, but I hope you get a bit of a glimpse of what a windmill farm is all about.
I try to take a picture everyday…and most days I successfully take and post a photo on Instagram. But some days, getting out of my own way and out into the world to find something interesting to snap seems impossible, or the photo I do take doesn’t feel worthy of posting. On those days, I take a wander through my camera roll in search of a photo taken recently that hadn’t yet made it’s way into public view.
And, to be honest, photos help me write when I get stuck. And stuck I am today…I already wrote a post that I won’t post. It is simply too dull to impose on anyone! So instead I took a stroll through my camera roll and came across this pelican I photographed a week or so ago.
One of my favorite things to photograph on the beach are seabirds. Egrets are my favorite…and I post and write about them frequently. Seagulls are pretty common and royal terns are such characters they make me laugh. The occasional osprey fascinates, especially if I am lucky enough to watch the powerful dive and snatching of a fish from the sea. And pelicans…more often than not I see them from afar, often in formation above me or surfing along the waves. But lately, I’ve come across some pelicans hanging out on the reef along the shore.
On those days, I creep close, trying to pay enough attention to my feet not to drench my tennies in the cool, briny water. I creep and snap, afraid to wait to take my photo until I am where I want to be–knowing that anything may cause the bird to flee into the sky.
This guy let me get pretty close–even looking me right in the camera lens at one point, seemingly unconcerned. These birds are huge and so prehistoric looking. It’s hard to believe that a bird that is so incredibly graceful in the sky is so awkward-looking when you get up close.
Finally, unrelated to me, this pelican decided to leave as I watched it raise its wings and lift that enormous body into the sky. Luckily, I’ve learned to watch and snap photos at the same time, determined to capture some of the wonder I am feeling as I watch these incredible birds.
Writing this takes me back to the deep blue of that afternoon some days ago. I can almost feel the sun on my shoulders and the cool breeze on my cheeks. And I’m glad I can take a few moments of bird-spiration to share some of my wonder and appreciation of nature’s beauty with you.
I so appreciate the community of writers and makers that take the time to read my posts and provide supportive feedback. And it’s because of them that I took the time to write this lazy Sunday. It was dreary and gray today, the perfect weather for staying inside to read and relax. Luckily, before we even realized it was damp and chilly, we headed to the beach for a low-tide walk. The mist dampened my cheeks and hair, but not my spirits as I explored the familiar shoreline. And the reward: breakfast out at the local diner just a short walk from the beach!
And thanks to Ronald who encouraged me to use the daily create suggestion as inspiration…I actually went back a day, inspired by “create a collage of a loved one,” I created a photo collage of lifeguard tower 19–the landmark I frequently walk to as my turn around point. I realize I frequently take a photo of tower 19: on gray days, on cloudy days, on brilliant blue sky days, looking up at the steps, facing north, facing east… And thanks for Margaret who offered a #poemsofpresence challenge in May, which today I took as an invitation to write a Haiku expressing an appreciation of Tower 19.
Thinking Through My Lens 