Maui | The Showers of Blessings

Tag Archives: Maui

Lens-Artists Photo Challenge – Summer Vibes

Posted on July 19, 2022 by Miriam Hurdle 66 comments

Andre is the guest host for the Lens-Artists Photo Challenge this week. His theme is Summer Vibes. He posted some biking, mountain climbing, hiking, swimming, diving, sailing, surfing, kitesurfing, and beach sailing photos.

He said, when it comes to the style of spending this most valuable time of the year, wishes would differ following their personal preferences.

I spend a lot of my summer in my garden

I love the cheerful sunflowers. The bees like them as well.

This baby grasshopper stayed on the African lily long enough for me to take a few photos. It’s the size of a grain of rice.

The monarchs have been doing very well this summer. I’ve raised about 50. There are still two chrysalises and one caterpillar. Then I’ll be done for this year because I’ll be away quite a bit the rest of the summer.

I also take summer trips with my husband and family

Hubby Lynton dived in Great Barrier Reef, Australia.

Our family went on a whale-watching trip at Huntington Beach.

Photo on the left, Lynton and I went hiking at Waimoku Falls in Haleakala National Park. Photo on the right, we watched the crashing waves on Makena Beach, Maui, Hawaii

I love to watch my granddaughters having fun in the summer

Autumn and Nora were building sandcastles at the beach in Three Creek Lake Campground, Deschutes National Forest, Oregon.

Autumn is getting good at paddle boarding at Three Creek Lake, Deschutes National Forest, Oregon.

Lens-Artists Photo Challenge – Summer Vibes

What are your favorite summer activities?

Lens-Artists Challenge #197 – The Rule of Thirds

Posted on May 3, 2022 by Miriam Hurdle 84 comments

This week, the theme from Tina Schell, for the Lens-Artists Photo Challenge is focused on one of the most well-known and widely used rules of photography, the Rule of Thirds. She said, “For those who would like to study the concept further, there are many online descriptions and examples. Adobe offers an excellent summary here. Basically, the rule is a compositional guideline that encourages placement of your primary subject on at least part of three equal rows and three equal columns as illustrated below.”

The Adobe article entitled: How to use, and break, the rule of thirds

Rule of Thirds Grid

The idea is to place your subject on one (or more) of the grid lines, or even better on the dots, theoretically making the image more pleasing to the eye.

I’ve been taking photos since I was a teenager when there were only Black & White photos. As indicated in the Adobe article, “The more you do it, the more it gets ingrained into your head.” I apply the Rule of Thirds most of the time in my photo compositions.

I learned drawing and painting at a young age, the Rule of Thirds also applies to the composition of drawing, painting, and some other forms of art. I’ll post my photos and two of my paintings in this post.

There are many kinds of butterflies in my garden, Swallowtail, Monarch, Mourning Cloak, and Cabbage butterflies. A Monarch came back from the south early this year and is busy laying eggs. I collected 10 eggs so far. Three are in the chrysalis form, two are growing strong, and five are 1/8″ babies. I’ll post some Monarch photos later. I saw a Nymphalis antiopa, known as Mourning Cloak, a few days ago but didn’t take good photos. I took the following one a while ago.

There are many turtles in the lake within walking distance from home. This colorful turtle was sunbathing when I walked around the lake one day. The entire colorful body is attractive. The reflection of the sunlight made part of his body draw more attention.

I took the following photo in Maui, Hawaii. The crashing waves evoke my imagination. I strive to take photos with droplets dancing in the air as the waves splash the rocks.

The following are my two paintings. Naturally, the tree is the focus of the first painting and the butterfly is in the second painting.

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Lens-Artists Challenge #197 – The Rule of Thirds

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

Thank you for your visit. I welcome your generous comment.

Lens Artists Photo Challenge #137 – Soft

Posted on March 3, 2021 by Miriam Hurdle 78 comments

This week for the Lens Artists Photo Challenge #137, Ann-Christine wanted to continue with another S – Soft. This is all about how we interpret Soft.

I see soft Physical appearances, softness of characteristics, and hear soft sounds everywhere. The photos included here represent the several things that are soft in sight and in touch.

“Perfect happiness is a beautiful sunset, the giggle of a grandchild, the first snowfall. It’s the little things that make happy moments, not the grand events.” – Sharon Draper

This photo was taken from the ship of the Ensenada Cruise. It was my first time watching the soft glow of sunset in the middle of the ocean, even though we were not too far from land.

“Nature is a mutable cloud which is always and never the same.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

We saw the fluffy clouds all the time when we were in Maui, Hawaii. They don’t seem to bring any rain except on one trip among our multiple trips.

“Water is the softest thing, yet it can penetrate mountains and earth. This clearly shows the principle of softness overcoming hardness. ” Lao Tzu

Water is soft, but when it combines with other natural phenomena, it can be powerful. The tide was coming in this sunny afternoon on the Makena Beach, Maui.

“The red rose whispers of passion, and the white rose breathes of love; O, the red rose is a falcon, and the white rose is a dove. ” – John Boyle O’Reilly

I love the softness of the Iceberg Roses. The innocent color brings me refreshing calmness.

“The only escape from the miseries of life are music and cats…” – Albert Einstein

This was my daughter’s neighbor’s cat. She had such an unusual combination of soft fur colors and soft blue eyes, and I wondered if it was a kitten. I would love to have a kitten like this one.

“A wee bit of Heaven drifted down from above, a handful of happiness, a heartful of love.When the baby laughed for the first time, the laugh broke into thousands of pieces and they all went skipping about, and that was the beginning of fairies.” From Peter Pan

Thank you for Balroop Singh‘s comment on the softness of a newborn baby. I added this photo of my younger granddaughter Nora. My daughter Mercy did a photoshoot of her when she was three weeks’ old. Nora will be one-year-old on March 22! I look forward to going to her birthday party.

Lens Artists Photo Challenge #137 – Soft

Weekend Sky #19 – March 6th

Lens-Artists Challenge #132 – Striped & Checked

Posted on January 27, 2021 by Miriam Hurdle 85 comments

This week, Ann-Christine invited us to look at striped and checked images.

I started looking around the house both indoor and outdoor and noticed things I hadn’t noticed before. There is a striped area rug in front of the fireplace. There are horizontal blinds for the windows, vertical blinds for the patio door, and the striped fabrics on the couches. Going outside the patio, I could see the stripes of the patio cover and the beach chair.

I looked in the closet next. Twenty-five percent of my husband’s shirts have stripes or plaid. I think it’s true in general that most of the men wear stripes or plaid dressed shirts. On the contrary, I only have one pair of pants and one sweater with stripes, and one plaid sweater. If my office had a stripe and check day in the summer, I would have to buy a new top.

When I investigated the archives, there are several of my favorite images have stripes and checks on the indoor structures, outdoor structures as well as in the nature.