The wonderful thing about planting zinnias from seed is that I never know what to expect. Each new bloom is a surprise. Will it be purple, or red, or white, or in this case, a combination of peach and pale peach?
They are my later-in-the-summer delight. This year’s crop is especially prolific. When you plant seeds, you are often told to ‘thin’ them once the seedlings appear. I never do that. I just let them be. What could be bad about lots of zinnias?
One thing I miss at this time of year: the lack of bird song in the morning. I used to sit on the glider on the porch each morning listening to a veritable symphony of birds singing and calling. Now? It’s pretty quiet. Yes, there is occasional bird song, but nothing like it was. I feel a bit melancholy about that. It’s too quiet first thing in the morning.
I know that autumn is coming. And I’m never ready for it.
One sound that does kick in at this time of year is the chorus of cicadas. Wave after wave of sound. Don and I listen to them as we drink coffee in the Secret Garden. They really are amazing.
The constant? The bullfrog that lives in our neighbor’s pond.
The hydrangea in the memorial garden is particularly pink this year.
And the limelights are doing their later-in-the-summer thing.
Don has been working every day with his new camera. Now, he goes to some local spot – in town, at the farm stand, outside a bookshop – and talks to people, who are, of course, fascinated by his camera. He then tells them that he’s a student who is learning to use the Crown Graphic and asks if he can take their picture. Most people are more than happy to help out. Each day, he is learning more and more about light and framing and apertures and F-stops and the adjustments he has been making are paying off.
This is from yesterday’s session and I think it’s my favorite so far:
Of course, this is a picture of a picture of a picture, so you’re not getting the texture and the sheen of the polaroid, but it’s everything you want in street photography; an interesting background with cars, buildings and people and a great subject, in this case, two very cool young people.
He captured the light beautifully. I’m so proud of his work ethic, his determination.
I love hearing him say, “I love this camera. I love it.”
He’s the bees knees.
One last thing: Happy Birthday, Mom.
Happy Tuesday.
Both you and Don are genius at capturing life with your cameras.
That hydrangea is gorgeous! What a shade of pink!
Have a wonderful day!
It’s the prettiest this year! It’s like it’s finally come into its own.
i agree with debbie price … you and don take great photos! i am glad that you’re both having fun with it.
sorry to hear even more rain is in your forecast. glad you have a nice cozy place to be!
i love to hear and see the birds, too, but am ready for fall’s cooler temperatures. how far away is that pond that you can hear your neighbor’s bullfrog?!?
happy tuesday to you two. and happy birthday to your mother.
kathy in iowa
Rain through Sunday. Yuck!
I’m not ready for fall yet, even with the high temperatures. As a gardener, this season is already too short.
The pond is about 100 ft away. Just across the driveway.
so either that frog is loud or you have great hearing! or both. :)
hope your weather improves from that forecast.
Oh my gosh, yesterday would have been MY mom’s 93rd. One day apart. This is the first year I’m not taking mom out somewhere for lunch. Since I’m up everyday (4 more days and counting) at 5:15, I was noticing the lack of birdsong as well. Next week when I’m no longer on the freeway at 6:30 a.m. to downtown I hope to be sitting outside enjoying the birds who are still around. We hard a Cardinal couple who stay year round and serenade us all the time.
Last night I sat outside for as long as I possibly could and was astonished to see how often the hummingbird returned to our yard, even at dusk. He’s very territorial and constantly chased off a colleague who wanted in on the trumpet vine blooms. I know these summer nights are winding down and it makes me wistful and sad too. It was hard to go in the house. That is such a terrific picture (love the pose) – Don for sure has a talent for this new hobby.
Today would have been my mom’s 91st birthday, Kay.
We have a year-round cardinal couple as well. I love seeing that splash of red in the wintertime!
I didn’t realize that the birds aren’t singing as much in the morning now until you just mentioned it. Waah! And oh, the cicadas…definitely a sound of late summer, which I love. I was sitting on the front porch last night as the sun set, listening to the cicadas and the crickets. Wish I could bottle that sound to keep with me through the winter! I can’t believe it is almost August already…makes me kind of melancholy to know that the fall isn’t too far off.
I love that photograph that Don took. I think it’s so cool how he’s doing this street photography, especially with the kind of camera he has. I like following his photo adventures on IG.
Hope both of you have a good day! I’m off now to run errands. Not my favorite thing to do, but necessary. I’m meeting up with some former coworkers that I haven’t seen in years for dinner, so I’ll just look forward to that. ;-)
Just re-read my comment…didn’t mean to write “the fall”. Just fall. Strike out “the”. ;-)
xo
It definitely makes me melancholy! The season, so long looked forward to, is all too short.
Have a good dinner with your friends, Melanie!
What a great photo. It’s fun seeing Don’s progress. You are right…it is quieter in the mornings…not much birdsong. But…the birds are still out there…I can see them.
Sorry to say…I am at the point where I’m looking forward to Fall. Perhaps an end for most everyone to this heat and humidity? I’ve been enjoying our cooler mornings…that’s my reward for getting up early! ;)
I can see them, too, but I sure miss their beautiful voices filling the air every morning.
Can’t get there yet. Summer is too precious, even with the heat!
Great photos from you and Don. Love the zinnias. I am going to try them in a tangle. The shape is perfect. Nidia
Yes, do! They’re awfully pretty!
I wonder if indeed we’ll have an early autumn although you and I are on opposite coasts. I’ve noticed an absence of the blue jays the past few weeks; didn’t stop to think that they have already moved on. I have an African succulent the name of which I can never recall; rescued it from a foreclosed/empty house (with permission from the bank) about 20 years ago; it stays gray-green but dormant all year in a big galvanized tub in all our weird weather outside. Until it explodes in red flower with yellow centers (perfection!), sometimes not until late September. And I guess that’s when we have a cooler summer, since it loves heat and sun. (We get the hot, dry Santa Anas so often in Sept-Oct.) Went to water it yesterday, which I do only infrequently, and it is bursting with ‘buds’, soon to flower, and it’s still July? I think it’s a first for that plant; maybe I’m just forgetting. But what does the succulent know that I don’t? Oh man, if we could have a year like we did one time when we already got rain at the end of September, we cooled off and didn’t get too hot again for the rest of autumn/winter, I’d be one happy girl. It ticks me off that with all this humidity, we of course in SoCalif NEVER get any rain. Exaggeration, but you know what I mean; you’ve lived here. Anyway, CRRAAAZZZYYY year, with the very late-blooming jacarandas yet a very EARLY bloom on my succulent. So, what’s up…
This is beautiful writing from you this morning, Claudia. I could get a real sense of your mood and the setting, the subtle change in season, the awareness, the moment. I enjoyed reading the post.
I wonder, too. I don’t know if it will be an early autumn – bird sounds usually die down in August and tomorrow is August. But the seasons have been so irregular this year, it might well be an early autumn. We’re headed into 5 more days of rain and storms. I’ve sort of had my fill. My big garden isn’t as pretty as it usually is – a groundhog (not Henry, I think it’s Nigel) has been munching on things, so my phlox, which should be very tall and blooming by now, is very short because it’s had to come back from being chomped on. Not sure what to do. Rehome him? Almost too late for that this season, but we may have to do it next year. Nigel’s burrow is under a tree very near the garden, so he thinks that the vegetation is there for him!
Thank you for your kind words.
You could definitely rehome Nigel at the start of the season next year. When I had that turtle in my yard recently, the Animal Control Officer had just rehomed a skunk, hoping he wouldn’t get sprayed.
Poor phlox. I know it’s disappointing but, for now, Nigel’s tummy is growling and he’s got winter bearing down on him soon.
I saw a PBS segment/cooking show with Lidia Bastianich (cooks Italian, speaks Italian, born in Croatia) and she spoke of how she brings 400(? – – I think it was 400) ladybugs into her veggie garden, releasing them close to the base/ground of her tomato plants and they do the job of keeping out other pests. Maybe down the road, you’ll find some research online on any way to gently deter/safely repel Nigel & Friends from the phlox, which could be another alternative to rehoming.
Meant to say on another part of your post, a certain someone in your house, who your readers have come to ‘know’, is absolutely the bees knees!
I’ve already researched it and nothing that I tried worked.
There are no songbirds where I live. But I do hear the brown towhees, the mourning doves and the chickadees talk. I love being outside working in the garden when a hummingbird comes by, and I hear the rapid beating of those tiny wings. Continue to have fun with your cameras! Love the street photograph. I have a street photo taken by a roaming photographer of my Dad and me walking in downtown San Francisco. I was about three. Dad told me shortly after the photo was taken, I refused to walk another step and he had to carry me home…uphill!
Thank goodness, I’m still hearing the mourning doves. I rarely see hummingbirds, though I’ve seen one or two lately. Never have a camera with me, of course!
Love the story about you and your dad!
It is so great to follow Don’s progress with his camera . This is a great photo and I can see he is improving. He has a great eye already. I love Zinnia’s!! I didn’t plant anything this year and now I’m sorry. I feel like reading again so I’m going to jump into a book I won in a giveaway. It’s rainy so always a good time to curl up and read!
He is really improving. His challenge is to be able to adapt to changes in light and only experience will help with that.
Enjoy your book my friend. It’s always so great when we feel like reading again!
Love zinnias! I never thin them either; I think they look much better full and lush. I picked a vase just this morning for the house. I’m not ready for fall yet either. Seems like winter drags on while summer is over far too soon. Don’s picture is great! Glad he is enjoying his camera!
I agree. I want to hang onto summer. I love this time of the year, even if the weather has been crazy!
So glad Don is having so much fun with his “new” camera. Important – and smart – to have a distraction from the closing of “Margaritaville.” I’ve been watching Ken Burns’ series on the Roosevelts on Netflix, and evidently Teddy R was in reality a depressive all his life. But he knew that having things to do, ways to keep busy and distracted, was an important way to fight it. That’s what he always seemed to have so much energy & so much going on – he willed himself it. And it worked! Of course, at one point in the documentary they mention that Teddy ate 12 eggs for breakfast most days – and consumed a great deal of strong black coffee throughout his day as well. So that might have factored into the equation too! Anyways, it’s a smart move on Don’s part. And super fun for him too. Win-win! Looking forward to more of his photos – I’m going to check out his Instagram when I finish this comment. I bet a lot of your photo talent has seeped into him over the years! Peace.
#Resist
#ProtectMueller
I like that we concentrate on different subjects. I don’t do a lot of people (though I love taking pictures of my husband) and he doesn’t do a lot of flowers and animals. Works out well!
Don knows that he had to keep busy. He really came to terms with that a couple of years ago. And he felt a real passion for this kind of photography. I really do feel he was guided to his now mentor, Louis Mendes. And Don is completely into this new endeavor. xo
I, too, am enjoying Don’s journey on instagram and am seeing the progress with all that tedious technical stuff. Just wondering, what does he do with them? Will he sell a digital version? Seems because they are one of a kind, he’d keep the polaroids, no?
Fall happens early at the lake, so I’m feeling a bit of it in the air, too. If it is a long, warm Fall, I will love it, but those that start to feel like snow in October—not so much! It does make me wistful to feel autumn in the air. Reminds me of going back to school and being a year older.
But on a brighter note, what of the morning glories? (I’m sad, because I didn’t get any seeds to take off this year.)
No, the whole idea of one shot polaroid photos/street photography is to eventually give it to the subjects, with a donation, of course. Many photographers make their living this way. Don isn’t planning on that, but he will ask for a modest donation (the polaroid film is hard to get and expensive.) Right now, he is keeping the photos to gather together a portfolio, but eventually, he will do what you’ve seen me do in some photos: have the subject hold the finished Polaroid, so you can take a phone picture of the photo and the subject holding the photo. That will be the digital footprint. The actual photo will go to the subject, just like the ones Jean Andre did of us are now ours.
The flowers are beautiful. Happy that Don has found a new passion. Happy Birthday to your mom.
Marilyn
Thank you so much for your kind words about my mom, Marilyn.
For about a week now I have noticed the missing songs of the birds in the morning. Makes me so sad. The wrens fill the days of June and July, and now I hear one or two songs per day. I think they usually pack up and leave the first week of August. And, seriously, HOW can it be the first week of August??
I, too, don’t thin my seed flowers when I plant them. Survival of the fittest!! They are beautiful this year. I was just thinking when I was out there this morning that next year I am going to expand that area with more seeds. I don’t put markers or anything. I just plant rows and rows and then am surprised by what comes up, and where it comes up and blooms. So much fun!! I mixed in coreopsis & cosmos with the zinnias this year, and the birds contributed a few sunflowers to the mix! Along with some daisy fleabane {sp?} it, that bed is just a bit wild, but just beautiful.
Don’s photo is wonderful!! It was interesting what you told Shanna. So happy he has found something he loves to do. Hope you both had a good Tuesday!
Don’t you miss that sound? It’s such a loss. I still see them, but not as many. Nor are as many birds in the birdbath. Sigh.
Your garden sounds beautiful! I have a lot of fleabane growing wild on the property and I just love it.
I have to remember to plant cosmos next year!
Just One minute here!Claudia,you and I generally see eye to eye,on pretty much everything,
HOW EVER, I will fight to the bitter end the The Late Summer Idea, I don’t know where it has gone but, I have to hang on for dear life! Seems first day of summer was June 21st, so my calendar says, I have two thirds of Summer left and I’m Sticking to it .
Even though I know it doesn’t usual work out that way. I have to think that way, or else
I’m pretty sure I can’t make the whole long cycle again until another short spring and tiny little Summer!. Your a Great Sport, Thank You for letting me put it out to the universe! OXO
Judy A
I didn’t make you mad did I? lol Judy A-
Beautiful flowers!
Oh gosh no! I just forgot to reply! xoxoxo
I love looking at Don’s photos…street or otherwise!….Oh Claudia…I can’t bare thinking of Summer ending…I have outdone myself this year with planting flowers!…to think of them all gone is heartbreaking!…I also miss seeing your gardens every Winter!…The older I get the more I hate Winter…this year I feel like I absolutely detest the thought of it…Oh please Mother Earth make it a mild one this year!…
I can’t either. I get really down at the prospect of the end of summer. I used to think fall was my favorite season, but it’s not. It’s summer.
Love love love the photo
Siobhan
Thank you, Siobhan. I’ll pass that on to Don!