August's Last Sunset

taken:
day seventy three
08.31.12

As the sun sets on the last day of August, over Lake Mille Lacs, the evening becomes drowsy, dreamy and quiet.

Evening Stroll

taken:
day seventy two
08.30.12

Just a small and curious beetle taking an evening stroll around the center of a daylily.

High In The Sky

taken:
day seventy one
08.29.12

Sunflower season is always in full swing by the end of August. Just in time to round out the summer with happiness high in the sky.

Potential

taken:
day seventy
08.28.12

This sunflower, tightly clenched, was filled with potential and promise. In days it could become a splendid summer beauty. Unfortunately, on day seventy one {the day after this photo}, this blossom was gone. Totally gone. All that was left was an empty stem and a bit of sadness. I'm pretty sure this young sunflower made a little treat for a passing deer. I hope it was tasty, at least.

Grasshopper On Goldenrod

taken:
day sixty nine
08.27.12

Just a little grasshopper on a billowy Goldenrod flower cluster.

A Day At The Lake

taken:
day sixty eight
08.26.12

My view from the docked pontoon at my in-law's cabin. I spent the day lounging in this cozy spot as the boys swam, paddle boated and fished off the dock nearby. A prefect day, the kind that summer is legendary for.

Draped With Texture

taken:
day sixty seven
08.25.12

This interesting moss grows along the shoreline at my in-law's cabin in Willow River, MN. Draping the lawn with texture, it looks prickly, spiky, a place to be avoided, but it's actually soft and kind of spongy. I find mosses so intriguing and mysterious, reminding me of a lush fairytale land from another place in time.

Brilliant And Cheerful

taken:
day sixty six
08.24.12

One of the brilliant and cheerful sunflowers growing in our garden. A sure sign that the last half of summer was in full swing.

Sunup To Sundown

taken:
day sixty five
08.23.12

We look forward to it all year, the Minnesota State Fair! My mom, my boys and I go every year together. 

We got there just after sunup this year, and we were there until just after sundown. The street lights were still shining as we started our State Fair adventure. 

After a long and full day, the sun set through the storm clouds that were approaching, filling the sky with rays of fading sunlight. Luckily we left just before the rain began to fall.

It was a great day, filled with indulgent fair food, Kidway rides, Midway games, people watching, lots and lots of walking and more. A truly fun day!

Along The Swamp

taken:
day sixty four
08.22.12

On a walk down our newly found nature trail these are the grasses that grow along the swampy portion of the path.

Golden Glow

taken:
day sixty three
08.21.12

I love how these golden native grasses glow in the evening sunshine.

Cosmo And The Sky

taken:
day sixty two
08.20.12

Just a simple 'Bright Lights' Cosmo towering over the garden, cloaked by the happy summer sky.

Small And Sweet

taken:
day sixty one
08.19.12

A small and sweet moth, with bunny-rabbit-like fur and big bright eyes, hanging out on a cheerful marigold. What a cuddly little guy!

Wispy

taken:
day sixty
08.18.12

The fluffy and wispy tips of a dandelion seed head. It's natures beauty and annoyance all in one, since most people see these dainty seeds as lawn invaders.

I took this shot using the Reverse Lens Technique. It's a way to get a macro shot without having a macro lens. I used my Canon 35mm f/2.0 by simply removing the lens from my camera and reversing it {holding it up to the lens opening backwards}. You have to hold it in place the entire time {unless you have a fancy adapter} and be careful because you are exposing the back of your lens. Also, it's super super hard to get a focus because you focus by moving forward and backward. It's tricky but a fun challenge! If you have the patience it's definitely an exciting way get some interesting macro shots.

Unfolding

taken:
day fifty nine
08.17.12

My mom grew the most big and beautiful Zinnias this summer. Here is one of them, brilliant red, still unfolding it's delicate petals.

Hazy Escape

taken:
day fifty eight
08.16.12

"I remember a hundred lovely lakes, and recall the fragrant breath of pine and fir and cedar and poplar trees. The trail has strung upon it, as upon a thread of silk, opalescent dawns and saffron sunsets. It has given me blessed release from care and worry and the troubled thinking of our modern day. It has been a return to the primitive and the peaceful. Whenever the pressure of our complex city life thins my blood and benumbs my brain, I seek relief in the trail; and when I hear the coyote wailing to the yellow dawn, my cares fall from me - I am happy."  

~Hamlin Garland, McClure's, February 1899

This is exactly why nature trails have become a love of mine. I always feel myself relaxing in the escape of a nature walk. Just getting away with a brief stroll through nature is sure to rejuvenate the soul.

On a hazy and steamy summer afternoon, being sheltered by the wooded and shaded area of this trail felt heavenly. I was excited when we discovered this new trail only a few miles away! This one is so nice, it has a swampy area, a wooded area and a grassland area. Definitely a place I'd like to visit often.

Day Dreamy

taken:
day fifty seven
08.15.12

As the sun came out after a morning rain shower these dreamy Coral Bells dazzle in the early daylight.

Delicate Purple

taken:
day fifty six
08.14.12

I believe this is Russian Sage? I love the delicate purple flowers, and the bees were going crazy over it too. My boys and I found it growing at the Coon Rapids Dam Regional Park near the Visitors Center on a summer morning adventure there.

Mid Season Harvest

taken:
day fifty five
08.13.12

I was an unlucky veggie gardener this summer. Between the rabbits and deer {and probably a few other critters too}, I was left with a very small crop. Here's a few tomatoes I was able to harvest mid season. I'm vowing to do better next year...and it's all beginning with a fence!

Golden Center

taken:
day fifty four
08.12.12

This is the soft and sunken, golden center of a 'Pretty Pink Mandevilla' blossom. A tropical plant that is in a pot on our front porch, it's loaded with bright blooms. I'll overwinter it inside the house along with my Hibiscus that I wrote about the other day. 

Delicate And White

taken:
day fifty three
08.11.12

Just another delicate Comso, this one, white.

Whisper Of An Image

taken:
day fifty two
08.10.12

On another nature walk with my boys the wind was blowing gently. 

This is an abstract shot of some native grasses flowing in the hot summer breeze. 

I love photos that are almost ambiguous. 

Where colors blend and only tiny bits are in focus. 

The kind of photo that leaves you using your imagination, 

leaves you with a whisper of an image and 

leaves your eyes dancing from lights to shadows. 

Here's a less ambiguous shot from that day. Both are interesting. 

Can you feel the movement of the breeze? 

Which photo style captures your interest more?

Tiny Bug

taken:
day fifty one
08.09.12

Just a tiny bug on a Marigold blossom.

Strawberry Vanilla Twist

taken:
day fifty
08.08.12

The swirl of a Morning Glory bud just before it's ready to burst open. 

Reminds me of a delicious little strawberry and vanilla twist ice cream cone.

Tropics In My Own Back Yard

taken:
day forty nine
08.07.12

I scored big time when I noticed that these gorgeous Tropic Escape Hibiscus were 50% off earlier this the summer at our neighborhood Lowe's. I brought home 3 Hibiscus and 1 Mandevilla. How fun to have a bit of the tropics right in my own back yard {especially at those prices!}. 

I put the 3 Hibiscus on the back deck and the Mandevilla on the front porch. They all make me smile every day! Their big beautiful blooms gleam with bright color and I swear radiate a warm tropical feeling too. 

I plan to overwinter them in the house, hope they survive and bring them outside again next spring so they can flourish in the sun. Maybe I'll get lucky and they'll brighten up the house with some of their brilliant blossoms this winter too???

Spring Up

taken:
day forty eight
08.06.12

Wild Cucumber Vines were busy making curly-q's midsummer. They seemed to {spring} up everywhere. 

I admit, a nerdy little play on words, but I couldn't resist...hee hee. :)

Precisely

taken:
day forty seven
08.05.12

A simple and sweet Zinnia blossom with precisely layered petals.

From Behind The Sunflower

taken:
day forty six
08.04.12

It was about 7:50 in the evening. I was in my garden taking some photos for the day when, literally, just as I snapped this photo I felt something dash by. When I looked up from my camera this is what I saw. 

A beautiful buck standing right in the middle of the yard. Good thing I had my camera with me so I could snap some quick photos of him before he trotted off into the grove. It was exciting to see him, he was healthy and perfect. His antlers, still fuzzy and soft.

I don't think he saw me but I'm pretty sure he had a feeling I was there since he didn't stick around for long. 

He looked well fed. I wondered, could he possibly be the culprit in devouring my veggie garden this summer and leaving us with nothing? 

Nothing, I say. Ok, maybe a few tomatoes were still around, but the rest...

Our green beans, gone.

Our lettuce, gone.

Our corn, gone.

Our mammoth sunflowers, gone.

Everything munched to bits. I'm sure rabbits had a part in it too, but I know rabbits aren't tall enough to reach corn stalks and mammoth sunflowers. Seeing deer in the yard is a thrill but when I know they ruin what I work so hard to create, grrrrr, it makes me a bit irritated. Aside from that though, I relish in this rare summer evening sighting!

Emerging

taken:
day forty five
08.03.12

Just a tiny leaf emerging from a wild vine in the wooded area behind our house.

Sunlit

taken:
day forty four
08.02.12

Beaming from behind, this Monarch fluttered from one bloom to the next in the hot evening sun. 

I love how the shadow of it's antennas subtly shines through the sunlit flower petals.

Striking From Every Angle

taken:
day forty three
08.01.12

It seems Cosmos are always ready to shine and pose for photos, they're striking from every angle. I love to plant these from seed every spring and watch them thrive through early fall. This is the 'Picotee' variety. The petals are so beautiful, variegated from rich pinks to pure white with some of these blooms towering on stems as tall as me.