All the pretty things...

I love playing around with my digital camera. I am in no way saying I have any real talent, or even a basic knowledge of the camera. I just enjoy looking at things and taking pictures. It is almost like meditation for me. I look around for something that I think is interesting to look at, study it closely, and try to capture it as I see it.

I have no ability for gardening either, and like my little patch of earth to come out as it wants to. I seem to be lucky that it wants to have flowers, and they seem to come up every year, so I have lots of things to catch my eye and photograph. The meadow I let grow wild in the back produces all sorts of wild flowers, the vines and wild roses that grow on the fence give me a myriad of different blooms, and the bushes in the back have great quantities of white and yellow beauties!

Every year new things appear, probably coming in on the wind or on animals that tromp or fly through. It is exciting to hunt down the new things and capture them as a record of the changes that happen in the yard. I also think I benefit from what the neighbors plant, as many of their more manicured flower beds and plants propagate my yard with their offspring!

It amazes me that there is so much diversity in one small area (if you let it happen). One day I should try and count what is here, but I am sure I would under-count the number of different kinds of plants as I have zero knowledge of botany. I am just an audience to this show, and try my best to be as observant as possible and enjoy what is displayed.

I think leaving some things to go wild can really help out the local ecosystem as well. There are so many creatures that take advantage of the plants that grow, and I am sure that the plants use the wildlife for their own welfare, too. I love the balance and synergy that I am so lucky to be a witness too. It makes all the stress just drain away when you are in the middle of this...
Even the most "humble" of the flora can amaze you if you look closely. There is as much beauty in a dandelion as there is in the most cultivated of roses if you care to see it. And the dandelion has an admirable tenacity, too...