Jez is a guest host this week for Lens-Artist Photo Challenge. Thank you, Jez, for this favorite theme of mine. He said, seeing double is all about reflections.
When I travel, I enjoy taking photos of reflections. There are reflections in the ocean, the lake, the pond, the fountain, the puddle, or the glass window. It’s delightful to take photos with the already perfect mirror images when the water in the pond or fountain is still. It’s equally intriguing to see the wavy reflections in the lake, the river, or the ocean.
I have a collection of reflection images from Spain, China, Hong Kong, Santa Barbara in California, Huntington Library in California, and Portland in Oregon.
Puente de Alcántara Bridge over the calm river, Toledo, SpainReed Flute Cave in Guilin, China, with different colored lights and reflections in the underground waterFlamingos in the Kowloon Park, Hong KongSanta Barbara Harbor, CaliforniaSanta Barbara Hoarbor, CaliforniaChinese Garden in Huntington Library and Art Museum and Botanical Garden, California
Oregon Zoo in Portland, Oregon
Granddaughter Autumn at the Oregon Zoo in Portland, Oregon
This week, Tina would like us to think about the various ways we create the images and show the same subject captured using different approaches.
I love visiting my daughter’s family in Portland, Oregon, especially during spring and autumn seasons. During my previous visit in May, my daughter and I went on walks once or twice a day. It was amazing to see the beautiful blooms in the neighborhood. I especially admired the rhododendrons and irises. The rhododendrons in my California neighborhood are bushes, whereas in Portland, they grow into trees as high as a two-story home.
The first photo is a close-up of the flower. As we walked further away from the plant, I took the view of the entire plant.
My other favorite flowers are irises of all kinds of colors. I gravitated toward darker purple and lilac colors. The name of this purple iris is Eleanor Roosevelt. The first photo is a single flower and the second shot is the patch of irises.
In my teaching days, I only went to the zoo on field trips for the students. My daughter and her friends have annual passes and take their kids to the zoo often. One of my favorite animals is giraffe. I took several shots following the giraffes as the three of them roamed around in their areas. I only captured the two that seemed to stay together.
There is an elementary school with a playground right across from my daughter’s house. Playgrounds are open to the public after school hours. Autumn’s favorite is climbing the net climber. It’s interesting to watch her trying to climb to the top and down when some ropes are close and some further apart. Autumn is an enthusiastic climber.
Nora is a good helper to her dad in gardening and mowing the lawn. She mowed the entire lawn by herself!
Ann-Christine’s Photo Challenge this week is Spots and Dots. She wants us to have fun with it! But, also recognize and enjoy the different interpretations, meanings and importance of these two little words. Spots and Dots. Because even if they are small…they can make a big difference.
I came back from a delightful Mother’s Day week visiting my daughter and the grandkids. My daughter Mercy talked with Autumn about Mother’s Day celebration and Autumn understood the relationship of mothers. She said, “My mommy is a mommy. You’re a mommy and you’re my mommy’s mommy. I’m not a mommy.”
Autumn loves to have the undivided attention of grandma. She has a huge appetite for books. On the days when she didn’t go to school, I read about ten books to her after breakfast. Then she played for a little while. Her latest favorite was building a fort with tunnels. She took out all the cushions from the couches to build the formation and covered them with blankets. She didn’t want my help but wanted me to watch (with attention).
Apparently, she has nap time at school, but she doesn’t take naps at home. Mercy wants her to have quiet time when Nora takes a nap. It’s also the time when Mercy takes a nap. It takes a lot of energy to care for a toddler and a baby.
There are boxes of books from my teaching days. I pick the age-appropriate books with me on each trip.
After the quiet time, I read another ten books to Autumn. She likes to listen to the same books over and over again, especially the books with longer text. She picks up more details of the stories from each repetition of reading.
The day is getting longer, and the sun doesn’t go down until about 8:00 p.m. We take the kids to a school playground across the street from the house. The neighbor next to the school has a home farm with chickens and six or seven goats. Many kids love to feed the goats.
After the walk or playground time, we read several more bedtime books to Autumn. She would ask to read “one more,” but we must be firm, otherwise, we’d be reading all night long.
In the afternoon on Mother’s Day, my daughter’s family, joined by another family went to the zoo. Autumn wanted to see the Polar Bear and carried the white stuffed bear with her. The Polar Bear was in the water under the cave for a long time but swam outside for a little while. I was glad that Autumn was not disappointed.
Nora turned one-year-old in March, so she is learning to climb the stairs and playing with different toys. She loves to follow her big sister and does the same thing. During the several days of my visit, she learned to do new things. It’s amazing to see the kids making so much progress at these ages.
There are many small dots of progress in the child development but in a long run there’s a huge impact in one’s life these small dots make. Research shows the first two years of a human life make the fastest and most growth within the shortest period compared to the remaining life span. As parents and careers, we could facilitate and make the small dots and spots colorful ones in the kids’ lives.
Mercy’s orchid plant
Poppies in Mercy’s neighborhood
Daisies in the neighborhood
Yellow daisies
Spots at the zoo
More spots at the zooThis gorgeous guy was in another garden showing off his spots and dots
This is Autumn at the zoo. How many dots and spots can you see?
Nora was fascinating to watch all the spots and dots flowing in different directions. She was trying to catch some of them.
Thank you for reading! Have a wonderful week ahead!
The Showers of Blessings 