Tag: Nature
October 28
Light rain falls all day.
Birds feed all day.
Leaves reflect zinnias.
Nearly November
Drift roses still blooming.
Snow in forecast.
Trick or Treat?
Autumn Painting
Follow me. There is a path up ahead. I can see it. I have been here before.
Follow me across the stone bridge. It is beautiful.
Follow me. I have to finish painting.
And then I came home to paint.
A Garden Needs Weeding
Yellow Tiger Swallowtail
Ruby-throated Hummingbird
In my garden
I am
Weeding
I know not the names of the weeds
They surround my plants
I do know my back and leg muscles
Will ache the next day
I am on my knees
Two hours on my knees
I think this is a form of prayer
Man On Knees Weeding
There is
The smell of basil
The smell of tomatoes
The smell of mint
Parsley
Thyme
Oregano
This all happened
On Saturday, late morning
Cloudy and breezy
I am filling a pail with weeds
My heart fills with Joy
I sing a new song
“You will be like a well-watered garden,
Like a spring whose waters never fail”
My hands are full of weeds
The garden grows more beautiful
This is why I worked
In the garden, to see
Myself weeding, letting go
Letting God direct me
This is a story about love
This is a story about growth
This is a story about beauty
Stay a bit longer
Listen
To wings of the butterfly flapping
The wings of the hummingbird whirling
Do you hear
Do you see
This all happened
On Saturday
On Sunday I rested
I believe I am making the world a better place with beautiful photography. If you are looking for beautiful portrait, nature, or documentary photography, or someone you know is looking for photography that helps to create a more artful and beautiful life, please contact me.
God’s Tiny Flying Ballerinas
Thursday morning
A hummingbird
At the feeder
I imagine
It is God’s
Tiny flying ballerina
Dancing from feeder to flower
The garden of zinnias
Pink and yellow and red and orange
I must hurry
To photograph
The tiny ballerina
The tiny dancer
Moves so quickly
Here then gone
Not like the swallowtail
Spending all morning
In the garden
At the purple butterfly bush
And hovering at a zinnia
Gifts this morning
Beauty
I wait
In the garden
To see
To contemplate
New ways
To extend my voice
And bring beauty to the world
I believe I am making the world a better place with beautiful photography. If you are looking for beautiful portrait, nature, or documentary photography, or someone you know is looking for photography that helps to create a more artful and beautiful life, please contact me.
About October
I began the month with great expectations. Read the Bible daily. Practice yoga daily. Write daily. This I didn’t accomplish.
But Susan and I did begin a new season of volunteering in the Bridges Together Program .
Here are two of our students–4th graders.
I made some delicious food.
Here is a meatloaf with mushroom gravy.
Blueberry Scones.
Cranberry-Walnut Scones.
A Berry Galette.
Fig Chutney, which was so good served with chicken and oven-roasted Gen Tso’s cauliflower.
And since we have both fighting colds this past week, chicken soup.
Susan made a wonderful white chocolate cake. YUM!
One night we went out for dinner at 99 Restaurant and I had a sweet potato crusted haddock. I tried to replicate it at home with cod. Not as good, but still special.
Our garden continued to bring us great joy.
As did our Freddy. And Susan continued to sponsor the Nepali children in soccer.
I also had the opportunity to photograph my friend Beth and her family. I photographed her family last winter and I photographed her wedding a number of years ago.
And my friend Hajer.
And here is your humble author and friend. A self-portrait with my better half from October 3. She is my rock and inspiration. She is helping me get through some medical issues; this week I am having the first of two or three operations to remove kidney stones. Earlier in the month I thought I might have one as I have had them before; my back hurt and there was some blood in my urine. A CT Scan and Cystoscopy this month revealed two large stones and numerous small ones.
The long and short of all this is I AM reading the Bible, practicing yoga, praying, writing every day for now on. Thank You Susan for your continued inspiration. I love you. Keep smiling.
I believe I am making the world a better place with beautiful photography. If you are looking for beautiful portrait, nature, or documentary photography, or someone you know is looking for photography that helps to create a more artful and beautiful life, please contact me.
Welcome October
I love October!
“I’m so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers,” wrote L.M. Montgomery in Anne of Green Gables.
Me, too!!!
Picture-perfect evidence of God’s majesty surround us.
Magnificent autumn leaves invite us to see the beauty that envelops us.
At Mittineague Park, the park down the street from where we live.
Or at Blair Lake on the outskirts of the Berkshires.
Of course, there are all those pumpkins!
Sometimes, we receive a surprise snow storm in October.
October light helps me create beautiful portraits, too.
Here are a few dinner and deserts I have made in October (Lentil Soup, Beef Stew, Butternut Squash with Scallops, North African Meatballs, Apple Pie and Cherry Cobler):
Yes, my friends, I made pasta and pizza, too. And fish–like these Panko Coconut Crusted Scallops:
October brings cooler nights; sweater and sweatshirt weather (Pictured here yours truly and my beloved wife, Susan.).
Our dog, Freddy, a mini-labradoodle loves playing amongst the autumn leaves.
A few final thoughts. One of my favorite poems, “Kicking Leaves,” by Donald Hall begins:
Kicking the leaves, October, as we walk home together
from the game, in Ann Arbor,
on a day the color of soot, rain in the air;
I kick at the leaves of maples,
reds of seventy different shades, yellows
like old paper; and poplar leaves, fragile and pale;
and elm leaves, flags of a doomed race.
I kick at the leaves, making a sound I remember
as the leaves swirl upward from my boot,
and flutter; and I remember
Octobers walking to school in Connecticut,
wearing corduroy trousers that swished
with a sound like leaves; and a Sunday buying
a cup of cider at a roadside stand
on a dirt road in New Hampshire………
One last thought. Music. A favorite album/CD of ours is “When October Goes, Autumn Love Songs.” Music by Christine Lavin, John Gorka, Patty Larkin, Cheryl Wheeler and others. You can get your copy here.
I believe I am making the world a better place with beautiful photography. If you are looking for beautiful portrait, nature, or documentary photography, or someone you know is looking for photography that helps to create a more artful and beautiful life, please contact me.
The Last Day of Summer
Today, Sunday, September 22, is the last day of summer. I am not sorry to say goodbye to summer. Oh, there were many great times. The time Susan, Freddy and I went to Art in the Orchard.
And a trip to Lost Acres Vineyard and Lost Acres Orchard last week for the town’s annual Farm Day. Afterwards (We really made a day of it!) we stopped at Black Rabbit Farm for a beer and food for dinner.
Susan and Freddy at Lost Acres Vineyard.
The field at Black Rabbit Farm. We let Freddy off leash and he had such a blast running around as we enjoyed out beer.
The garden looked beautiful throughout the summer, especially the zinnias, but my tomato and eggplant harvest was a great disappointment.
Early in the summer the clematis plants on the arbor brought great beauty and joy to us.
One of my favorite butterfly photos (It is so hard to choose a favorite! I photographed them every day—even today!) is this one from July:
A highlight, for me, was practicing yoga every morning near the arbor.
Of course, Freddy brings us great joy every day. He’s such a good boy!
One day when I was playing catch with Freddy with a small black ball and it rolled through the garden. It took me a long time to find it and as I was looking for it I found a butterfly I had never seen before, a Black and Blue Swallowtail, I believe. I wondered, for a brief second or two, if the black ball had magically turned into a butterfly.
Susan made many delicious deserts, like this Berry Cake:
Some of my food favorites from the summer include Cucumber Gazpacho, Tomato Soup, Grilled Scallops with White Beans and Spinach, and Shrimp and Rice:
I was thankful to be asked to photograph a mom, Bana, and her baby, Rosey, every month for 12 months.
Here is a photo from July that I just love because it illustrates the beauty Susan and I have created in our home. Plus, it shows two of my favorite photos.
Probably the highlight of our summer was winning the Western Mass News / Big Y Backyard BBQ. Susan had been trying and trying and trying to win and one Friday night we got a phone call from a reporter and he said “Susan, you just won the Backyard BBQ.” We invited 20+ plus people over—neighbors and friends. We had such a wonderful time and the people from Big Y and Western Mass News were awesome! Big Y supplied the food and did the cooking!
And now I give thanks for the times Susan and I spend in our backyard enjoying a glass of wine or cocktail before dinner.
There were a number of family get-togethers, too. A visit from our son and his girlfriend, a BBQ at our niece and nephews house (I always enjoy the opportunity to photograph their daughter, Lauren), and our grandson’s 4th birthday party!
I would be remiss not to say something about Susan. My wife. My best friend. My guide. My inspiration. Every day I give thanks that she is in my life. She is an amazing person.
I believe I am making the world a better place with beautiful photography. If you are looking for beautiful portrait, nature, or documentary photography, or someone you know is looking for photography that helps to create a more artful and beautiful life, please contact me.
Beauty
I went looking for beauty and I found it in my garden.
I believe I am making the world a better place with beautiful photography. If you are looking for beautiful portrait, nature, or documentary photography, or someone you know is looking for photography that helps to create a more artful and beautiful life, please contact me.
A Hummingbird in My Garden
Friday. Mid-afternoon. Susan and Freddy were napping. I was sitting at my desk. I should have been editing photos of the baby I photographed on Sunday, Princess Rosey, but I was getting ready to go on a walk. I was putting a band aide on my heel, still sore from that first walk a few months ago. And then, out of the corner of my eye, my left eye, I saw a flash in the garden. A hummingbird.
If you are looking for beautiful portrait, nature, or documentary photography, or someone you know is looking for photography that helps to create a more artful and beautiful life, please contact me.
Spirit-Filled Life
Early every morning
I walk around our backyard
admiring the plants
and Freddy walks with me.
I find inspiration
in the beauty of the hydrangeas.
The clematis.
The dill.
The eggplant.
The jalapenos.
The tomatoes.
The lettuce.
The basil and cilantro.
The parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme.
The butterfly bush.
The blue thistle.
The zinnias.
The Russian Sage.
The coral bells.
The coneflowers.
Such beauty and
Abundance.
Thank You God.
If you are looking for beautiful portrait, nature, or documentary photography, or someone you know is looking for photography that helps to create a more artful and beautiful life, please contact me.
Bruce Barone 