Huntington Library | The Showers of Blessings

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Lens-Artists Photo Challenge #155 – On the Water

Posted on July 5, 2021 by Miriam Hurdle 60 comments

John Steiner is the guest host for Lens-Artists Photo Challenge #155. He says throughout history, people have gravitated to water for trade and for relaxation and he invited us to share the photos on the water.

This week, I have fun reflecting and finding the quotes and sayings about water and ocean. Please enjoy the scenes and the wisdom about Water throughout history.

“Nothing is softer or more flexible than water, yet nothing can resist it.” – Lao Tzu

“Water is soft and humble, but it is the most powerful and is the most endurable.” – Debasish Mridha

“There’s nothing more beautiful than the way the ocean refuses to stop kissing the shoreline, no matter how many times it’s sent away.” – Sarah Kay

“Dance with the waves, move with the sea, let the rhythm of the water set your soul free.” – Christy Ann Martine

“Water always goes where it wants to go, and nothing, in the end, can stand against it. Water is patient. Dripping water wears away a stone.” – Margaret Atwood

“Water is the driving force of all nature.” — Leonardo da Vinci

“Life is like the ocean; it goes up and down.” ― Vanessa Paradis

“To reach a port we must set sail. Sail, not tie at anchor. Sail, not drift.” – Franklin D. Roosevelt

**Pacific Ocean, Ensenada Cruise, Mexico**

“We ourselves feel what we are doing is just a drop in the ocean. But the ocean would be less because of that missing drop.” – Mother Teresa

“Individually, we are one drop. Together, we are an ocean.” ― Ryunosuke Satoro

Lens-Artists Photo Challenge #155 – On the Water

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Lens-Artists Challenge #57 – Taking A Break

Posted on August 7, 2019 by Miriam Hurdle 61 comments

The theme for Lens-Artists Challenge this week from Tina is: Taking A Break.

The Huntington Library is a great place to go when we want to take a break. I lived about 2 miles from The Huntington in the early 1980s when there was no admission fee. We are now living about 25 miles from it and it’s convenient to go to spend a day. Since I have been there many times, during the last visit, I took time to read some manuscripts in the library and read the descriptions of the art collection. Taking photos is not allowed in the library. It’s allowed in the art collection with no flash of the camera so I took photos of the famous Pink Lady and Blue Boy.

The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens is an educational and research institution established by Henry E. Huntington (1850–1927). It is in Los Angeles County in San Marino, California.

The library contains a substantial collection of rare books and manuscripts, concentrated in the fields of British and American history, literature, art, and the history of science. Spanning from the 11th century to the present, the library’s holdings contain 7 million manuscript items.

In addition to the library, it houses an extensive art collection of 18th- and 19th-century European art and 17th- to mid-20th-century American art. The 500 acres property includes 120 acres botanical gardens, the Japanese Garden, the Desert Garden, and the Chinese Garden, along with the Rose Garden, Australian Garden, Herb Garden, Shakespeare Garden. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Huntington_Library

Lens-Artists Challenge #57 – Taking A Break

Lens-Artists Challenge #52 – Serenity

Posted on July 3, 2019 by Miriam Hurdle 42 comments

The theme from Tina for this week’s Lens-Artists Photo Challenge is: Serenity.

These are a few of my favorite places of calmness, peacefulness and serenity.

Chinese Garden, The Huntington Library, Art Collections and Botanical Gardens. Los Angeles, California, USA

Learn silence. With the quiet serenity of a meditative mind, listen, absorb, transcribe, and transform. – Pythagoras

Moulton Falls Regional Park, Washington, USA

The waters are in motion, but the moon retains its serenity. – D.T. Suzuki

Maui, Hawaii, USA

Every breath we take, every step we make, can be filled with peace, joy and serenity. – Nhat Hanh

Newport Beach, California, USA

Peace is the simplicity of heart, serenity of mind, tranquility of soul, the bond of love. – Pio of Pietrelcina

Lens-Artists Challenge #52 – Serenity

Lens-Artists Challenge #44 – Harmony in Nature

Posted on May 6, 2019 by Miriam Hurdle 37 comments

This week, Tina has for us as the theme of Lens-Artists Challenge is: Harmony

I focused on nature in this post. Whenever I’m in nature, I have a sense of being part of it, being blended into it. I think that’s a sense of harmony with nature. When we travel, I feel at awe of what I see and wish the images stay with me forever, or I could stay with nature forever. That’s one of the reason I came home from a trip with thousands of photos. Every single one was precious except the ones I moved the camera and took photos of my feet or something else instead of the scene.

I searched for some quotes and was happy to find the ones regarding different aspects of harmony in nature.

“Conservation is a state of harmony between men and land.” – Aldo Leopold

My husband and I have been watching nature documentary every night before bedtime for more than two years. Conservation is a relatively new concept for only decades. We lost a big part of rain forest for new city development or agriculture. Yet Rainforests are often called the lungs of the planet for their role in absorbing carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas, and producing oxygen, upon which all animals depend for survival. Rainforests also stabilize climate, house incredible amounts of plants and wildlife, and produce nourishing rainfall all around the planet. When we traveled to Alaska, we heard so much about the climate change and global warming felt drastically in this region.

Denali National Park, Alaska

Denali National Park, Alaska

“He who is in harmony with nature hits the mark without effort and apprehends the truth without thinking.” – Confucius

This is such a great wisdom that when we are in harmony with nature, we just feel right and natural. When human being forces on nature to do what conceived as beneficial to us, we created discord against nature.

Port Douglas, Australia

Moulton Falls Regional Park, Washington

“The earth has music for those who listen.” – William Shakespeare

We can hear the wind, the running water of streams, the rain drops, the thunder, the sound of the ocean, the rustling of leaves, chirping of birds, howling of animals… to name just several. Together, they make great music.

Moulton Falls Regional Park, Washington

Rhododendron Garden, Oregon

“Art is a harmony parallel with nature.” – Paul Cezanne

Botanical gardens are just one form of art parallel with nature. I’m sure you can think of many art forms in perfect harmony with nature.

The Huntington Library, Art Collection and Botanical Garden

Rhododendron Garden, Oregon

Lens-Artists Challenge #44 – Harmony in Nature

Lens-Artists Photo Challenge #31: Landscape

Posted on February 4, 2019 by Miriam Hurdle 41 comments

Amy‘s theme this week for Lens-Artists Photo Challenge #31 is Landscapes. I included some photos of natural landscape and architecturally designed landscape.

I took this photo on the Alaska trip when our train passed by Hurricane Gorge, Alaska. They named it because the wind could go 150 miles per hour. The train slowed down for passengers to take photos from the bridge. The Hurricane Gulch Bridge is a 918 feet long steel arch railroad bridge and is 296 feet above the Hurricane creek. It is both the longest and tallest bridge on the entire Alaska Railroad.

Alaska 7 Read more