One must stay at the edge when photographing morning frost. There is a moving line.
Crossing the Line - February 2012
On one side of the line the frost crystals are pristine, sharp and clear. But they have no sparkle. On the other side of the line, they sparkle, flare… and melt.
In early February our pasture is a wasteland. The drought, severe heat, and hungry horses reduced a formerly lush, green meadow to dry dirt. There is hope, however. A lone survivor stands amidst the brown dust.
Survivor Photographed February 2012
It may be short – stunted even – but it has produced seeds! May it reproduce wildly all over the pasture!
Meanwhile, I admire the sunlight glinting off its seed fluffs.
Fashion and nature: beaded and fringed dress, spiraling around the body. 
It was actually this morning, when attempting to photograph frost crystals, that I started to think about nature and fashion. I will post one of this morning’s photos later, I hope, after my battery has recharged (and my camera’s battery, lol) and I have examined the photos.
Still, turn this upside down and I can imagine a flapper’s dress, can’t you?
Today is bright and sunny, triggering today’s afternoon flashback. It is quite a cheerful looking day. But step outside and your mood may change; it is brisk, to put a nice spin on it. Cold, frigid compared to recent days in the 60s.
Does this summer sight help you smell and hear echoes of summer? 2011
Looking out the window, feeling the heat through the windows, called to mind this summer afternoon in Harlan, Iowa, 2011. Warm in the sun, slightly less warm in the shade. Humming insects, gentle lapping of waves, soft susurating breeze…
I started out focusing on a patch of lavender-pink Bee Balm (I think that’s what the flowers are), seeking to capture the glow of sunlight through their translucent petals. Then I noticed perfectly camouflaged little insects, their green the color of the leaves, their pink matching the petals, and their graceful black-and-white striped antennae seeming extensions of the flowers’ own reaching stamens.
This secret world is why I like to leave large swathes of our 40 acres UN-mown.
I caught a focused shot of one, but I didn’t want to lose the whole image of the flower with the insect hidden in its petals, so I enlarged just the insect and super-imposed it over the image of itself on the flower. So you can see both the enlargement and the original image combined into one photoshopped image.
I hope you enjoy your glimpse into this tiny, hidden world as much as I enjoyed discovering and recording it!
Tiger stares at Zookie. Is he daring her to just try and chase him? Or is he measuring the distance between them, estimating her rate of speed, and calculating how long it will take him to get to a tree? Actually, they get along great, and Zookie only chases Tiger if he runs. And he rarely runs.
On the Left, Zookie. To the Right, Tiger. Autumn - 2010
Yes, this is the same flower as yesterday’s post. As I moved, my eye caught the flash of the sun flare through the frost crystals, so I took another image.
Just a little shift in camera position caught this sun flare - February 2012
It is also slightly darker, showing the detail a little more clearly in the white frost.
I am always of two minds when I have several photos I like of the same subject; should I show more than one? Or should I choose one and show only the one? What do you think?
This afternoon’s flashback was triggered by memories of taking photos of flowers like this morning’s frost-covered blossom nearly one year ago. This is a clearer view of the details, unobscured by the sugary-looking frost crystals of this morning’s shot.
Sweet Little Candy Striped Flowers - March 19, 2011
Are these flowers blooming earlier this year? Or did I simply not see them last year under the 16 inches of snow we had the first week of February?!
This tiny flower appeared to have been coated in sugar crystals.
Sweet Little Crystallized Flower - February 6, 2012
I loved the colorful spots of sunlight refracted through the ice crystals!
I also remembered why I usually go out before I am showered and dressed for work… I went back in the house with wet, muddy elbows and knees, having only just remembered not to flop down flat on my belly to get the best angle.
Afternoon flashback: I was thinking how the sounds of summer are different than the sounds of winter. The symphony starts with spring peepers, early in the year, then builds through the months, finally reaching a crescendo near summer’s end, when the cicadas add their insistent hum to the sounds around.
The Shell Out of Which a Cicada Hatched - Summer 2011
Growing up in New York State, I don’t recall ever hearing (or at least noticing) cicadas. I was in Japan when I first noticed the 蝉（せみ）- cicada. Since that is where I first became aware of that hum of late summer, I always think of them first by their Japanese name. It is pronounced “semi,” the e is a short e, the i is pronounced as in Latin, with a long e sound. The call of the cicada seems to herald the onset of Autumn.
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