Photo-Heart Connection: December

Does a branch ask itself how long it will be covered in snow?
Do the buds get impatient to open in the warming rays of the sun?

How is it that we sometimes put human emotions and limiting questions
onto things we observe around us?

Does nature plan the year ahead?`
Does it have goals?
Does it want to achieve something to obtain accolades?
Do the spring flowers plan on poking their way out of the earth
at such and such a date? Or else?

Does the sky expect applause for being blue?

Who are we without our plans?
Without our set dates,
without our firm and intrepid decisions about this or that?

Who am I
without all of that?

It is easy to cling to ideas that we have closed ourselves into
like a prison of thought forms
swirling around and creating little stories in our heads.

Who am I without these stories?
When I observe nature around me, whatever the season,
I see and feel a sense of beingness
I see an openness and creativity
I see freedom
I see me, just as I want to be.

Feeling a heart-connection with this snow-laden branch as it leads me
towards an attitude of creativity and endless possibilities
to be who I really am.



Thanking Kat Sloma of
kateyestudio.com
for organizing a second year of
Photo-Heart Connection.









Golden Bells and Snowflakes

Gold and silver for the season

Take a jar of golden bells

Tip them out and hear them tinkle

Find a bowl for your delight

Look how they all catch the light!

Take some snowflakes soft and fluffy

Add some bells and see the magic

Attach some thread to hang them up

against the light and watch them glow

or on the window like real snow!


HAPPY HOLIDAYS TO ONE AND ALL!











Grounding ourselves with red

Red
The colour of the base or root chakra.

What better time to feel grounded than during this time of the year
when all can seem frenzied and stressful.

Pause
just a moment
and contemplate the colour we call red.
This is the colour of  warmth and energy and enthusiasm.

Red
encourages action and confidence
and provides a sense of protection from fears and anxiety.

Looking at the way things flow
and letting ourselves
go with this natural movement
and enjoying the peaceful state of effortlessness.

Red Jasper
is a strong securing gemstone
that gives stability
and is said to promote physical energy
and balance the emotional energy in the body.
Take a pause
and take in some red!





The Earth's Slumber

Winter,
dressed in muted tones 
prepares for the earth's slumber


Harmoniously hanging seed-pods
gather together like a flock of birds to keep warm.
Twittering secretly 
to harmonize their twirling flight.

Autumn leaves have surrendered
to the snow and ice
creating beauty in the process.

Icy sculptures form along the branches

and the wind creates little plant people
rushing to an unknown destination.

The birds  will soon be happy
 with these red beauties
as the earth is gradually covered in a blanket of  falling snow.





Photo-Heart Connection: November

The sun was already low in the sky
which was taking on that beautiful blue that happens at this time of day.
The fresh outdoors was waiting for me
and on the path I had chosen
grows a beautiful cedar tree.
A fluttering sound of beating wings and cooing
pulled my eyes upwards to dozens of pigeons
seeking their place on the outstretched boughs.
I stopped and observed their behaviour and saw that each 
had found a place on the chosen branch.

I watched them for a long time
as they fluttered and landed and then settled in.
Some were preening their feathers,
some hunched up a little as if preparing for the night
and others sat perkily looking around them.

Why do I feel connected to this scene?
Because it gives me peace
It gives me a feeling of contentment
A feeling that all is in its proper place.
I love the unquestioning simplicity
of birds settling down for the night
in this lovely cedar tree.

May I also go through life
with unquestioning simplicity knowing that 
 where I am
is where I am meant to be.

Unquestionably simple!




In the Picture: November


This month's theme for our November self-portrait linky party is:
"I am grateful"
There are so many things
that I am grateful for
but
one thing which comes instantly to my mind is this:
I am grateful for clean and plentiful water
to drink
to wash in
to cook with
to brush my teeth.

I am grateful that I do not have to walk for hours
with a heavy container balanced on my head
to fetch water from a distant well.




In The Picture









Chiaroscuro

Chiaroscoro
which means light/dark contrast.

This month's exercise in
"Exploring with a Camera"
is to try and capture the artistic technique of using light and dark
to render an object as three dimensional in two dimensional art.

Kat Sloma of kateyestudio.com
says:
'In photography, the concept of chiaroscuro can be used to create dramatic images.'

Coming out of the mist

Sunrays against the mist

I can feel the surface of the wooden fence thanks to the black backdrop which seems to bring it forward.

Walking towards the light from the depths of the woods

Leaving the wooded area

Catching the light in a backroom of the local baker's
walking in my neighbourhood before 7 a.m. this morning!











Petal poetry

Orange and yellow

Fold after fold of satin

Ruffles and perfume

Cascading

Sublime.






Catching the light

The weathercock points its beak in a mottled blue sky

and tones of yellow and gold and rich brown fill the woods

a lone leaf rests its golden head on the fence

and the beech leaves glint in the afternoon sun

The green grass receives an eiderdown of copper 

and the wooden bench beckons as I turn back to go home

Down the hill, back to my neighbourhood and admiring the colourful Larch trees on the way.
I'm so fortunate and grateful to have all these lovely areas
within easy walking distance of the town in which I live.