Make a Wish!

We all are familiar with these whispy dandelion seeds.  I am betting that as a child you picked one of the bulbous flowers, squeezed your eyes tight, as your mind formulated a wish that contained your heart’s desire, then lightly blew the transparent seeds, sending them scattering on the wind’s currents.  Sound familiar?  Sure it does!  There is just something enticing about these starry shaped seeds that seems to exude magic!

These dandelion seeds wished upon carried our childhood hopes and dreams entwined within their silky fibers.  Their presence today, even as adults, still holds a whimsical wonderment reminding us of the joyful moments spent believing in the magic found in nature.  This magic has not deserted us.  It lies deep within us waiting to be rediscovered.  Nature provides magnificent moments for us.  It is up to you to allow the magic found in nature, permission to become part of your world again.  As children we had no problem noticing the most minute details that encircled our environment.   We could haphazardly wish upon dandelion seed flowers, sending our wishes off into the atmosphere, secure in the knowledge that our wishes would be heard and materialize somehow in our lives.  Life was simple then.  Although we may have grown into adults, magic never ages,  waiting patiently for us to uncover it.  Delight in special aspects of nature, enhancing the magic moments found in something as simple as making a wish upon a dandelion seed flower! Allow the Earth’s wonder to rekindle the flame of childhood memories once more!

Photography taken by the writer and may not be reused, copied, or altered in any manner without written consent from the writer. Thank you! 🙂

Celebrate the Earth Today!

                   Happy Earth Day!

     Happy Earth Day Birthday to all! I wanted to showcase the beauty the Earth provides for us in this post!  It seems fitting that Earth Day is in spring when the world is lush with vivid colored blooms, the grass is a vibrant shade of green, and the trees start to grow buds again.  The Earth puts on a brilliant display of beauty found everywhere you turn!
     As a former teacher I always felt it was important to teach even my youngest students about ways to save the Earth’s resources so they would always remain plentiful.  If we educate the children of the world on recycling, reducing, and reusing resources, then they in turn can educate their children creating a cycle of wisely caring for the Earth, trees, plants, and animals for generations to come.  So today as we celebrate Earth Day, consider what you do already or can start doing to keep this beautiful planet of our healthy!

     If you already recycle, then that’s one step towards helping the planet.  What are some other ways to keep Earth healthy you might wonder?  I’ve compiled a brief list of ways to ensure that our Earth is around for a long time.  Ways to Improve the Earth
– Plant new trees to improve the flow of oxygen and beautify the land.
– Plant vibrantly hued flowers to add color.  This is prime planting time for various varieties of flowers!
– Create a compost pile so certain types of biodegradable foods break down naturally! DO NOT PUT DAIRY OR MEAT PRODUCTS IN YOUR COMPOST PILE!
– Plant a garden to grow your own vegtables.  The churning of the soil helps to spread nutrients.
– If you’re not already doing so recycle bottles, cans, newspapers, junk mail, and glass.

There are many small ways to help improve the Earth that will result in a positive impact! The animals, trees, and plants will thank you and future generations will be grateful as well!  So celebrate Earth Day by giving back to the Earth that has given humanity so much of itself over the decades!

Happy Earth Day All!

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Spring Shows of Splendor!

Spring is my absolute favorite season! The world is renewed and reborn awaking from its long winter nap.  The colors seen bursting forth from the various different flowers carpet the Earth in a rainbow of colors! The grass takes on a lush, vibrant green hue and songbirds sing sweetly.  Beautiful elements of nature are found at ever turn. 

The flowers are my favorite thing about spring.  The magnificence seen through their brilliant colors and varying shapes is stunning to witness!  The singular beauty found in an emerging blossom is breathtaking!

Spring makes us grateful for each vividly hued petal, the feel of cool grass under our toes, and the realization that another segment in the cycle of nature has begun!

HAPPY SPRING TO ALL!!

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Phenomenal Sunset Shades

Nature amazes me consistently with its beauty.  The other night I was photographing the sunset and the vivid colors displayed in the sky took my breath away! See for yourself on my link to the album volume 2 how magnificent nature can be!  Enjoy my friends! 🙂

https://plus.google.com/photos/101639416971452460690/albums/5990335462148609265

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Weekly Photo Challenge Juxtaposition

 

     Juxtaposition is the depiction of two objects that seem completely out of place when placed side by side.  Here I chose this photograph of a freely growing amongst the weeds and dead leaves of late fall.  It offers a spot of hope of brightness in an otherwise muted landscape devoid of color.  A special symbol of inspiration for a world in need of something to cling to as a sign that things will get better. That’s the interpretation I get from this photograph.  What do you think the buttercup depicts here?

 

Stages of a Snowstorm

The first flakes of snow always bring to mind a sense of hope, happiness, and anticipation for what’s to come.  Will those crystallized flakes amount to anything?  Will they be the sole members of a requited blanket of white,  making not enough of an impact to affect your daily routine? Or maybe they are the beginning of what will be a magnificent winterscape! Below details the rapid accumulation of snowflakes experienced today in my neck of the woods.

A few sparse flakes are visible.

A few sparse flakes float through the sky.

The amount of snowflakes greatly increases within seconds!

The ground starts to become blanketed with a light dusting.

Continuous snowfall quickly accumulates, covering the ground with several inches.

Several inches of snow have gathered blanketing the ground in white beauty!

Do you have a wonderful photograph of today’s snowstorm? Please share it with our community of followers! Send a link to your post to this site to share beautiful winter wonderland photography and be sure to stay warm and cozy today! 🙂

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Weekly Photo Challenge Family

Families can mean different things to each person.  Some people come from small families, while other people have families comprising large groups of people.  Then there are friends who have always been in your life and would give you the shirt off their backs.  They grow so close to you, you couldn’t imagine life without them.  These are your adopted family members that while not blood, are family nonetheless! 
We tend to immediately picture people when we hear the word family, but animals also have their own sense of family.  Here in the picture above I was lucky to capture a family of six deer coming out of the forest to search for food together as the sun was setting.  The larger deer protected the smaller deer by keeping them in the middle of their line, just as parents protect their children.  The larger deer also kept a watchful eye for signs of danger as their young ate.  It was amazing to witness the similarities between how the mother and father deer cared for their young,  compared to how a human mother and father care for their children.  It was a truly beautiful experience!

http://wp.me/p23sd-hrN

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Sonel’s Photo Editing Challenge (Shadows and Reflections)

Having begun a new photo challenge that aims to show the same photograph only digitally remastered, I chose the first colored photograph because the sun above created brilliant shadows of the trees on the newly fallen snow.  To remaster this capture, I first cropped it to center more on the shadows created from the glowing sun.  Next I used a picture changing filter from the paper artist app, called comic book, to create the black and white effect for the same picture, which helped to enhance the shadows created from the trees, and finally framed the entire image to give it a finished look.  Would you believe that this is the same picture as the first one shown above?  Well it is! 🙂
http://sonelcornerphotochallenge.wordpress.com/2014/01/09/sonels-photo-editing-challenge-shadows-and-reflections/

http://momentscapturedthroughthelens.wordpress.com/2014/01/09/sonels-photo-editing-challenge-shadows-and-reflections/

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The Reason for Rainbows! Daily Prompt-Colors

     The daily prompt today couldn’t be more tailored to my personality.  It says to show colors.  The post written about colors must incorporate every color found in the rainbow.  Well hold onto you hats fellow bloggers, because photographing rainbows and researching their meaning is my specialty!
     The rainbow is one of mankinds’ oldest known symbols of hope and eternal life.  This arc of colors is the product of perfect harmony within the vibrant shades. Beginning with a passionate red, then fading seamlessly into each different color until reaching its end in a deep purple. The seven colors of the rainbow mirror the seven chakras found in the human body.  Each color in the rainbow is associated with a different chakra and has its own unique meaning. Whether you choose to believe in the power and the energy produced from the rainbow’s individual colors is your choice.  I personally feel that the magnificence created by the formation of a rainbow is something to take notice of!  It has been said  the violet/purple shade seen in the rainbow can be linked to our crown chakra, and offers spiritual power. The indigo shade is associated with the human mid-brow chakra eliciting third eye intuition.  The blue coloring  is symbolic of the throat chakra, creating inspiration.  Green represents our heart chakra, creating will and feeling.  Yellow links to our solar chakra and thus links to our mind. Orange is attached to the spleen chakra, aiding in digestion and personal sociability.  Finally, that vibrant red topping the rainbow, is connected to the human root chakra, providing us with spirituality, ability to take action, and our vitality for life!  There is more to the 7 colors in the rainbow’s arc than you realized!
     I personally feel that the rainbow serves as a link between Earth and sky, uniting us with those loved ones above that have passed on.  When I see a rainbow, they tend to appear at moments in my life when I am in need of personal reassurance, or feeling extremely low.  Therefore, I feel these vibrant colors serve as a symbol from our loved ones passed to reassure us that all will be well, and to continue to persevere in life.  The rainbow appears to serve as a promise that there is still hope to be found even in the toughest of times.  A magnificent gift of nature found in an arc of colors, letting us know our lost loved ones are never far away.  They are always watching over us from above.  The rainbow with its seven glorious colors of red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet/purple, is a visual reminder to be grateful for nature’s beauty, present throughout our world. A beautiful sign to remind us to be thankful for all the things present in our lives! 🙂

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Day 3 – Write a Post Zero to Hero Challenge

Snow Covered Silence

Blanket of white consumes fields once green,
muffling, suppressing hints of sound.
Untrodden by man, surface pristine,
glistening beauty reflecting sun’s light.
Numerous shining, sparkling flecks,
bright as stars, these crystallized diamonds twinkle.
Breathtaking view, remnants of a  snowfall,
magical, enchanting, feast for the eyes!
Transparent icicles, dangle precariously,
soundlessly releasing droplets one by one, as a golden sun reigns above.
Tree branches bow towards the ground,
burdened with piles of white powder.
Silence enshrouds everything,
snowfall creating a natural buffer.
Earth sighs, full of contented pleasure,
relishing stillness prevalent throughout the land.

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