Bees and Blooms

Remember the pregnant girl who picked stole flowers from our local arboretum? To answer those that asked, yes there was a sign. More than one.

Anywho...enough of the flower thief. Onto prettier things.

Out of focus, but I love the way he pulled the petals around his head.

Enjoy the weekend, y'all! See you on Monday. I'll leave you with this:

"If you love a flower, don't pick it up.

Because if you pick it up it dies and it ceases to be what you love.

So if you love a flower, let it be.

Love is not about possession.

Love is about appreciation."

Osho

Weekend in Review

Howdy y'all! This post should have gone up on Monday, but I'm having quite the time getting my rear in gear. These are some things I saw last weekend. Hope you enjoy!

Port Allen, LA⎯Friday, Nov 7th

"Friday Night Lights" with my friend, Bridget. We (she) drove across the river to Port Allen where we watched tugboats
and ships go by. B taught me a few tricks I didn't know and I think it has reignited my love for photography.
The State Capitol is on the left. I kept seven photos out of 103, so I might post a few more at a later date.

 Capitol Lakes⎯Saturday, Nov 8th

American Coot.
Out of 200+ shots, I kept this one and the one below. I have gotten very cut-throat on what I toss and what I keep.

A little fall color, finally.

 Madisonville, LA⎯Sunday, Nov 9th

Brown Pelican, Louisiana State Bird

I first shot this couple surreptitiously from the back. Ha! Then I got the nerve to ask permission.

They were so cool about me shooting them. The girl reminded me of my good friend, Jo, from high school.
The vocals and guitar work were really good.

 Mandeville, LA⎯Sunday, Nov 9th

Small beach on Lake Pontchartrain at Fountainebleau State Park.
Debbie from It's All About Purple inspired me to take some timed couple shots!

I hope to post again on Friday to get back into my Monday, Wednesday, Friday routine.

Linking with

Thanks, Anni!

The Lodge and an Oopsie!

Our time at Hickory Hills Hunting Preserve was absolutely glorious. Our stay was very pleasant. The lodge owners prepared three meals a day and their son took us around to three different ponds on their 12,000 acre estate. I did learn something that made me feel better about this type of hunting: each hunter is accompanied by one of the family members. Deer under a certain age or size are not allowed to be killed, so they all live longer lives at Hickory Hills than they would in the wild. They are well taken care of with plenty of acreage to make the hunt a challenge.

This was my favorite photo. This is Chief. He's an 11-year-old Rhodesian Ridgeback.
He insisted on accompanying me while I ate and got a big slurp of my soup!

The lodge was decked out like Cabella's. All of the animals had been hunted by the owners
at different places around the world.

This was the view off the large, covered patio.

Dining area where Chief licked my soup, that corner table to the left.

An entrance gate to one of the properties named after a daughter, Linden.

Our fishing hole. I caught five bass and Daddy caught two. We threw them back because they were too small.

The lodge.

The biggest excitement took place after we left Hickory Hills. My dad was poking along I-55 in the left lane when suddenly a gigantic SUV came out of nowhere, right on our bumper. My dad moved over as soon as he could, but then he became really angry about it. So he flipped off the SUV making a mean face and shaking that middle finger violently at the driver. I swear; I do not lie. This is what my dad does. Next thing we know, blue lights and sirens come on. It was a Mississippi STATE TROOPER! Daddy pulled over and after rolling his window down, got the dressing down of his life. The only thing I could say in our defense was that the sudden appearance of the SUV scared me. The trooper was shouting at my dad like a drill sergeant, telling him to keep his butt out of the left lane, how dare he treat a fellow officer that way, blah blah blah. Mr. Trooper Man said he had a call to go to and had bigger fish to fry. Before that he threatened to throw my dad in jail. I had visions of how in Hades I would negotiate with these backwoods cops. Oh, Lawdy, my heart was beating 90-to-nothing. It's always an adventure with my dad. I have so many stories to share. But I'd have to have an R-rated blog to tell the whole truth.

Well, y'all have a great week! I'm doing laundry today and catching up on my blog reading.

Itchy

Hello gang! I hope the weather is as beautiful where you are as it is here. After enduring the sweltering heat for four months, the cool, crisp mornings and evenings are a welcome change.

I spotted this Great Egret in a pond outside of Bluebonnet Swamp Nature Center. I sat on the pond's edge and watched for an hour, clicking intermittently. My mind would occasionally (and rudely) interrupt and say, "Don't you think it's time to move on?" Each time I would respond with, "Why?" Why indeed! I'm tired of my life being ruled by the clock. It shouldn't be so difficult to just sit and be. Who is this tormentor robbing me of inner peace? I shouldn't feel like I'm missing something just because I am sitting still and enjoying that moment. It's a constant battle to just relax. Another one of my little rants...just ignore me!

I am leaving tomorrow for Mississippi to go fishing with my dad. We are staying at a beautiful hunting lodge; a grand home that sits on thousands of acres. I'm very excited to fish in such luxurious surroundings. Photos to come! Maybe this trip will reignite my love of blogging. I think I'm having a bit of blogging fatigue.

Linking to

Kayak Shooting

Our anniversary on Monday was absolutely glorious! When Double D suggested going kayaking, my face lit up like a Christmas tree. He also insisted I take my camera in the kayak. After giving it a lot of thought and imagining my gear hitting the water twelve ways to Sunday, I decided to trust myself. My biggest fear was a spider landing inside the kayak which would cause me to go berserk, thus overturning the kayak and everything in it. Thankfully, only a tiny, emerald green frog made its way inside. It was so cute. My lens was too big so I couldn't get a photo of the little jewel, darnit!

It's not easy to get super sharp shots from a floating vessel, but these came out pretty good.

Double D preparing to take his own shots.

Anhinga drying its wings against a wall of Spanish moss.

Double D took this picture of me taking the above photo.

I was able to get pretty close, so these next images are only slightly cropped.

Happy Halloween! Hope everyone has a wonderful and safe weekend! Catch up with y'all later.