Drops of Beauty #157

December 8, 2023

“I want to know if you can see Beauty even when it is not pretty every day.” - Oriah Mountain Dreamer, "The Invitation”

Hello friends! I’m happy to say we’ve seen the sun again this week, but we had two weeks with a lot of gray. I challenged myself to find the beauty on the days it wasn’t so obvious or easy to photograph and today I’m sharing some of these photos - along with some others because we need a little vibrance too. Hope you enjoy!

Sunrise December 4, 2023 (it’s back there somewhere!)

That tiny bit of green among the fallen leaves.

The new life growing on the dead tree branch full of greens and blues.

I did notice the pink berries on the gray day, but then I cheated and photographed them again on a sunny day because they are just so much brighter.

Goldeneyes floating in the fog. There’s even a blue heron back there standing on a very low branch.

The hedge apples provide a little color!

Can we call this a “fungi flower”? I don’t know what it is but it made me laugh.

The rosemary with the first little snow on it from my porch.

Or maybe on a gray day try black and white?

It’s much easier to capture photos when I have sunlight! I often see interesting things when the light isn’t good but usually I don’t try to capture it, so I hope you found that interesting. Here are a few more from sunnier days:

I loved all the texture in this.

That one leaf with the ripple coming towards it…

…then splashing over it.

Occasionally it’s fun to allow the camera a soft focus, in this case on the reflection of the trees in the water.

And maybe just end with a little sunset color from November 24, 2023

For more than a decade now I’ve walked in this one place, a county park near my home, and gotten to know it with my camera. My friend the extraordinary nature writer Janisse Ray is offering a year-long course in “place-making” via her substack. I’m looking forward to participating and if you are also interested, I’m attaching the link to her post about it here. I’m sure it will be a wonderful way to connect with the place where you live.

How Do You Learn to Be in Place?

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