Shamrocks...

...through a sunny kitchen window...

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Window Magic...

There is always something fun to photograph at the Children's Museum...This time I was struck by the beauty shining through simple colored squares applied to the windows along the ramp...

Hands Down...

The latest assignment for my photography class was "Hands"...

Our instructor assured us it was a difficult subject to photograph...

The photo above was one of my instructor's favorites ...

...dirty baby hands he couldn't relate to ...but I can...

This one and the next were taken for fun...

The last is my favorite...

The next assignment is "Feet"...I am not very inspired...

Signs of Spring...

The first sign of spring I notice in my part of the world is skunk cabbage...

The picture in my header was taken last year but these pictures are recent and spring is surely on it's way!...

...before long I will hear the red-winged blackbirds calling ...the next sign of spring...

Beach Message...

Beach Message 33
by William Torphy

So when
the sun
runs completely
through your body
and there is left
nothing but laughter
and when the sky
has become
your pleasure-dome
and there is nothing
but infinity of blueness.
So when this water
has washed your mind
completely clean
and the ocean
becomes your Mother
and when the hot sand
turns a pallet
under your soul
a warm embrace
of earth and ground.
Then when the air
surrounds your being
and the atmosphere
of allness echoes within
then do you know
why you came here
to love, feel, marvel
fold within yourself
your own truest nature.
-Mazatlan

from Love Never Always

Rays and Gulls...

I've been saving my ray and gull pictures for Theme Thursday...

At least half of my Florida vacation pictures are of seagulls...but just before heading home this pod of rays swam up the beach...close enough to touch...

The seagulls seem to enjoy posing for cameras...

Garden of Dishes...

How could I not fall in love with this garden found near the house we rented in Florida?

I should mention that I have a tendency to buy lots of dishes at flea markets...

Beach Sand...

There is nothing quite like playing in nature's sand box...

The sand on Anna Maria Island is hard packed, fine, and white...

...carved by the wind...



...and the waves...





..to look like dunes...




...and dessert sand castles...

Or carved by human hand...

...to resemble entire castle towns...


...in a beachy paradise...

Florida...

From sunrise...

to sunset....

each day of our stay at the beach was a gift to enjoy...Our first day in Florida was chilly but it wasn't the 10 inches of snow we were getting at home!

Winter Interlude...

For the next week I will be vacationing in Florida...not sure if there will be any internet access in the house we are renting but I doubt if I will be able to post until I get back...I do plan on taking lots of photos and even bought a back-up battery just for the trip...other than taking pictures I plan to just do what I did on the vacation pictured above...

Toy Texture...

I toyed with idea of joining Theme Thursday yesterday but I still needed some photos for my class...Here the story is not only of texture but of time and memories as the bulldozer is a toy from my daughters' childhood and the dump truck was bought for my grandson...He and his sister enjoy both...

That was fun...I think I may try to participate with Theme Thursday regularly.