Front yard, back yard, down the street . . .

There's always so much to shoot in and around our friends' house in San Diego that I never get bored. And last month's visit was no exception.

This ranunculus, gleaming pink in shady light, was right there on the front porch, screaming to be photographed.

And on the wall just above it, a rustic straw wreath featured a cute little bunny face peeking out.

I wandered around the back yard and found a wonky wooden birdhouse (that nicely echoes the colors of the bunny wreath). My friend was aghast that they hadn't "fixed" the birdhouse before our arrival; I was so happy they hadn't!

And then up the street I found some decorative tilework on a stucco wall that I liked for its combination of warm/cold colors and for its simplicity.

So much to see if we just look a little closer!

All text, photographs, and other media are ©Copyright Carol Leigh (or others when indicated) and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from Carol Leigh. Thank you for your understanding and kindness.

Overheard at the airport . . .

These lovely young women sat down, took out their devices, and began talking to one another.

Verbatim:

"I'm, like, literally in there now!"
"I, like, opened it yesterday?"
"I, like, purposely downloaded everything?"
"This is, like, April 22nd?"

I know I'm growing older. Much older. And I majored in English. And yet, and yet . . . I have a difficult time respecting anyone, no matter how intelligent they are, who speaks like this.

I, like, had to totally ignore them? SMH.

All text, photographs, and other media are ©Copyright Carol Leigh (or others when indicated) and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from Carol Leigh. Thank you for your understanding and kindness.

Rabbits, hawks, and deer . . .

When Abby goes on "alert," we pay attention. What do her cat ears hear that ours don't?

It was late afternoon a couple days ago when she suddenly sat up, listening, and so I went to the windows to see five (five!) Columbia black-tailed deer chasing each other around the yard, kicking up their heels, jumping (straight up), leaping, zooming out of sight and then zooming back.

And it's not like they were fawns -- maybe teenagers, young adults. And it went on for a couple of minutes. Just the most entertaining, fun, crazy thing to see.

Then yesterday afternoon, I saw a large-ish bird fly across the yard -- fast -- and disappear behind some rhododendron bushes. Simultaneous with his landing, a cottontail rabbit zoomed from the rhody bush and disappeared into deeper brush nearby. The hawk flew to a tree branch, shook out his feathers, and then flew off -- empty talon-ed.

Bunny 1
Hawk 0

Works for me.

Happy Easter. Happy spring. Happiness all 'round!

All text, photographs, and other media are ©Copyright Carol Leigh (or others when indicated) and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from Carol Leigh. Thank you for your understanding and kindness.

It's a good day to . . .

. . . compare and contrast.

It's interesting to go back and suddenly notice similarities and differences in one's photos over the years.

These two have similar compositions and forms.

The color photo of palm trees against a green- and white-painted building were taken in Florida in 2011.

The black and white photo of strips of paper was taken in the city of Orange, California in 2013.

Both are abstracts. Both have no real focal point. Both consist of similar vertical objects. Blah, blah, blah.

I like them both because they're clean, simple, strong, and mysterious.

But I can understand why YOU might not like them at all!

All text, photographs, and other media are ©Copyright Carol Leigh (or others when indicated) and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from Carol Leigh. Thank you for your understanding and kindness.

The blues in Leadville, Colorado

In 2007 I apparently was in Leadville, Colorado. I say "apparently" because I have no concept of time. It could have been 2004 or 2009 for all I know, but the digital file says 2007, so I'm sticking with that.

The town contains an interesting combination of buildings, and of course this one, painted bright blue and in some stage of restoration, seduced me.

I'd like to see the place now, to see what they did to the building. Frankly, I hope it still looks sorta like this.

(Hello to Shirley. You guys should go there!)

All text, photographs, and other media are ©Copyright Carol Leigh (or others when indicated) and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from Carol Leigh. Thank you for your understanding and kindness.