Let Love Grow Slowly

Slow down!

As they say - smell the roses.

Yes love can be a "burning ring of fire" as June Carter & Merle Kilgore co-wrote in the song made famous by Johnny Cash, but sometimes you have to be careful to not "burn out." So let it grow. Let it grow slow. Take time, rest, enjoy and contemplate. And as that snail is working up its way, keep on working on it. Life is not a race, we all get to the end. Sooner or better later.

I prefer being late to my funeral. There is a lot I want to cherish before that. Love is one thing!

Abre Los Ojos - Open Your Eyes

Playing around with the camera yesterday afternoon, I walked back into the house and saw "Pancho" (well my wife says it's Pancho) staring at me. We do have a slight problem of keeping the two brothers apart - Lefty looks exactly like him, with a tad smaller head. But how can you tell if you can't compare. And as he sat there, he was not purring or meowing either - that's two of the differences between them.

And yes "Pancho And Lefty" got named after the Townes Van Zandt song, recorded by many, but made famous by Willie Nelson and Merle Haggard. And thanks to Alejandro Amenábar for the inspiring title to this post.

Tip Toeing (Thru) The Tulips

A Dutchman came to Texas and missed his tulips so much, that he decided to grow his own and start the Texas Tulip Farm. Situated in North Texas near Pilot Point (about an hour north of the DFW area) if offers an amazing sight of a huge variety of the flowers not native to the Lonestar State.

During blooming season, late February to end of March, try to make it out on a weekday if you can. Saturday and Sundays can be quite populated and you may have to wait in line to park and get in. They charge $ 2.50 a head to get and then you can stroll for hours between the different beds.

It's also a great opportunity to take family pictures, put please don't put your children in the middle of the tulip beds and therefore crushing the flowers. Actually this is not an amusement park and children should be kept on a "leash." Also don't show up in your stilettos, it's a farm, so the ground is uneven, wear rugged pants so you can actually kneel down in the dirt if you want to take close up shots.

You can take (cut, or hand pick) tulips home, but at a rather steep price. To make your tulips last, pick them while they are still closed, they will last much longer at home and  will give you enjoyment for a couple of weeks.

This was the first year we went there and I know I want to go back next spring, tip toeing not thru but next to the tulips.

Sources: texas-tulips.com
This shot and others are available for publication through photo agency, Dispatch Press Images, DPI. It is also featured in my ClickASnap portfolio and in my Niume photo sphere blog.

What Are You Looking At?

Differential Grasshopper (melanoplus differentialis), outside of the US also known as American Grasshopper. In swarms deadly to new crops and therefore considered a pest to agriculture.

This female subject (you can see the ovipositor) can grow upto 5cm (2inches) and can lay up to six egg masses in soft soil, each of which can contain 40–200 eggs . The nymphs will hatch early the next summer and will reach adulthood in 32 days.

They are not uncommon even in urban areas, where you may find them on a vacant lot. But normally they prefer grasslands, corn, fruits, forbs and sunflowers.

Sources: http://www.insectidentification.org, wikipedia,
This shot is also featured in my ClickASnap portfolio, and as a blog in the photography sphere on Niume.

Beauty In Decay

I have always looked upon decay as being just as wonderful and rich an expression of life as growth. Henry Miller

Couple of years ago, while taking care of yard, I ran across these decaying Canna leaves. The subtlety in color, texture and the state were in, blew my mind. As death is always portrayed as a heavy burden, look at the lightness of being and leaving. Nature taunting us with abstract art.

Some people may not agree with me and that's absolutely fine, but their is beauty in death and decay.

Squirrel Study I

During a smoke break this tree squirrel showed up, I guess to give me some company.

I got my camera, sat down or even laid flat on my stomach and let the little feller do what he does best. Digging up roots, looking for a nut and checking out the neighbourhood. All these pictures (a study II) will follow were shot during the same break.

Keepin' Balance

Not sure what kinda Dragonfly this is - but hoping that one of the readers may actually be able to help me out here. I tried to find out, but simply googling blue eyes and black/yellow body did not bring any closer information where this Odonata needs to be placed.
Maybe some extra info may help - shot in July of last year (2015), outside of Austin, Texas.

This was originally published in the Photography Sphere of Niume account on September 15th, 2016 - I really love who big the pictures show there.

Lookin' In