It’s almost November. Blooming season is long gone in Alaska, but wouldn’t you believe it, once in a while I still find a flower in full bloom, even wildflowers. My neighbor has a healthy bushel of poppies growing in front of his house, all gone to seeds, except one late bloomer. What made its clock tick so slowly?
“Earth laughs in flowers.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson
Summer’s gone
Gone like yesterday
The nights grow cold
It’s time to go
I’m thinking maybe I’ll just stayThe Beach Boys
Like a horse thief, without announcement, summer has gone, opening the door for the colder and darker fellows of the year. Poppies have dropped their vibrant, fragile petals.
Fireweed, long gone. Their seed pods are exploding.
Cruise ships decided to stay at sea, rather than attempting to dock in high winds.
And at night it is getting dark, really dark.
I know all this is accelerating now. Turkeys beware, time for Christmas gifts and New Years resolutions. Tell me it ain’t so.
Just when I got used to it, my good friend summer goes on vacation.
Well, you have been good to us this year. Don’t be a stranger. See you next year.
On second thought, it’s spring time somewhere in the Southern hemisphere…
Red poppies, Garden City of Alaska, Skagway
“People from a planet without flowers
would think we must be mad
with joy the whole time
to have such beauty around us.”
Iris Murdoch
Red is the color of my soul according to a silly fun quiz. After a few days without internet I googled for a few hours, rode around town with this incredible manual f/2 135mm lens and found a marvelous garden. The red poppies called at me… And then I found out that the color of my soul is red.
“Red is the color of fire and blood, so it is associated with energy, war, danger, strength, power, determination as well as passion, desire, and love. You are a fireball! Fiesty but warm, you are friendly when handled with care. But the moment someone screws up… Watch out! They might just get burned.”
I might have to retake that test…
What color is your soul?
Monochrome poppies, Skagway, Alaska
Believe it or not, a flower shot won the 2014-2015 Nikon Photo Contest! “Fukushima Flowers” by Katsuhiro Noguchi to be exact took the Grand Prize.
“Fukushima Flowers”, © Katsuhiro Noguchi
“Flowers are the sweet children of nature, they make us smile.”
Mehmet Murat ildan
I find it very difficult to take pictures of flowers that go beyond pretty. Some of the judges must have had the same feeling, when they saw the winning photographs. Once they read the title and understood the background of the photographs they found praise and merit in the 3 photographs submitted.
I still find it very difficult to see beyond pretty. My story goes like this. After a long winter I was craving for color. Then came spring and now summer is here. Today the colors are vibrant, tomorrow…?
Can I get a prize, too?
Poppies, Jewell Garden, Skagway, AK
Bearly 