I walked to the store today, an exercise in frustration.
Ten years or so ago our area was designated an “Urban Village.” That means that they are building like crazy, lots of new residential units that are not required to have parking…everyone is supposed to walk and use public transit.
They startedby reducing bus service. Now they are building on every corner.
Apparently we aren’t supposed to walk until they are done.
Here are a series of pictures playing with desert wildflowers, landscapes, scale and observation. The flowers are quite small, the dandelions were the largest, so it was difficult to get a viewpoint that has both the flower and the overall sense of the desert that I wanted, to show the flowers as a frail and fleeting bit of color in a harsh environment.
These two are both taken with the same stand of dandelions at approximately the lower right rule of thirds intersection point:
Desert landscape with dandelions.
Desert landscape with dandelions.
These flowers are shown first looking down from above, neither is particularly obvious in the shot of the desert floor. But they are pretty and colorful when I put the camera on the ground beside them.
Desert floor.
Verbena?
Desert floor.
Flower.
This blue flower was more noticeable from a distance. I deliberately did not try to exclude the piece of debris as the desert is full of it after being used as an informal garbage dump for so long.
Blue bell shaped flowers and trash on the desert floor.
Weifang, where my son lives has one major claim to fame: the International Kite Festival. They love their kites.
You can buy your own set of wings:
You can buy your own set of wings. Kite shop in Weifang, China.
I had a serendipitous backwater experience in Weifang last spring…I got to fly a kite with an older Chinese man who did so as a hobby. Even though we could not “understand” each other we somehow understood each other.
Meet Mr. Xu Xue Lian and his butterfly kite:
With your feet on the ground you’re a butterfly in flight, with your fist holding tight to the string of your kite.
With your feet on the ground you’re a butterfly in flight.
Send it soaring up through the atmosphere:
Soaring up in the atmosphere.
(it is a Chinese city so the air isn’t clear!)
Oh, let’s go…fly a kite!
I couldn’t believe it when he handed me the controls ! I think he wanted to share with me the exhilarating feeling of controlling the kite so high up in the air. I have never experienced anything like it. And he had a really good time playing with the camera (one more advantage to having an inexpensive easy to use camera!)
I learned his name because a young woman who spoke a little English and worked in a nearby coffee shop was out walking in the park during her lunch hour and stopped to chat.
This was harder than I thought. I didn’t know what the word really meant and had to look it up. Going through my pictures I realized that I have some serene baggage.
My five elements of serenity:
It needs light, but also an edge of darkness.
It needs to have sky in it, but not perfectly clear.
It needs water in it, unruffled water.
It needs to have land in it.
It needs life in it.
Forbidden courtyard
I am not sure why I like my sky cloudy and my water smooth. But for every rule there is an exception:
Then of course there is his Serene Highness:
His Serene Highness.
Aren’t dictionaries great?
In response to The Daily Post’s writing prompt: “Serenity.”
For the first time ever I went to see the Gingerbread Villages displayed at the Sheraton in downtown Seattle each holiday season. It made me sorry I haven’t got there till now. I almost didn’t make it this year. Saturday I went downtown to do it and the line and crowds overwhelmed me and I left. Today it wasn’t crowded and most of the people there seemed to be from preschools and daycare centers. The young children added to the sense of fun, and it was easy to see over their heads for a good view.
Each “village” is based on a song. The details in each were both fun and amazing.
I’ll Be Home for Christmas
Home for Christmas-Seattle
Lake Union Detail
Seattle Underground-Money going down the drain.
Home, Sweet Home for the Holidays.
O Little Town of Bethlehem
Star of Wonder
No Room at the Inn
O Little Town of Bethlehem-how sweet we see thee lie!