A Reminder

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“Angels Unaware”
St. Peter’s Square, The Vatican

Across the world, refugees are streaming across borders from war-torn, crime-laden, and economic-deprived conditions. They are just looking for somewhere to live where they can earn a simple living free from fear and oppression.

Walking through St. Peter’s Basilica square in the Vatican, I gazed at this new (2019) monument created by Timothy P. Schmalz. The sad staring eyes of this one woman captured my attention. I couldn’t break away. I felt like she was seeking my help.

We live in an area that is dependent on migrant workers to harvest our valley’s crops. Without them, our local economy would not survive. We need them as much as they need us. Over time, they have integrated into our communities. We are all better for it!

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A Beam of Light

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“Sculpture”
St. Peter’s Basilica, The Vatican

A beam of light brushed across the head and hand of this unassuming sculpture in St. Peter’s Basilica. The image created by the light jumped out at me. For a short moment, this simple sculpture was the most prominent piece of art in the glorious Basilica.

I’ve looked through hundreds of St. Peter’s Basilica images on-line and haven’t been able to find this sculpture. It just has not captured a photographer’s eye. Be what it may, it is my favorite photograph of our visit to Rome.

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360 Degrees of Art

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“Ceiling in Vatican Museum”
The Vatican

It was extremely hard for me to walk through the Vatican Museum. Glorious art surrounded me from all angles; ceilings, wall, floors. I kept stumbling around and running into other touring visitors. “Mi scusi” was my most common phrase. I was glad that I was tall, so I could look over the other tourists. At times when I stopped to create a photo, I felt like I was a lone tower in the middle of a stream of wandering people.

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Change of Focus

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“The Dome in St. Peter’s Basilica”
The Vatican

I thought I would change my post’s focus today. It has been almost two months since our Italy trip. Time passes by so very, very fast!

This image is the main dome in St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican. I am looking straight up trying to create a steady image. My legs are wobbly and I am getting a little dizzy. Mary comes to my aid and places a steady hand on my back as I lean farther back. I am able to hold the camera still and push the shutter. Whew, I am glad that is over!

The first time I was in St. Peter’s was 16 years ago. We had only a little over a half hour to explore the Basilica during our tour. This time we were on our own and had as much time as we wanted. We spent almost two hours wandering in awe.

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Red & Pink

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“Cherokee Daybreak Dogwood”
Heatherwood Autumn

Several of our flowering dogwoods have transitioned to their full autumn glory. This species is one of my favorite. Its variegated leaves are gorgeous. In the spring breaks out in light pink with white edges. It transitions to green with white edges in the summer. Then in the fall it bursts out in deep magenta with pink edges. It is a brilliant star in Heatherwood’s Japanese garden.

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Changing Autumn Color

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“Hill of Learning”
Heatherwood Japanese Garden

The reds are coming out on our Japanese maples. It will be a couple more weeks before they are in their autumn prime. Each day I notice a little more color. Tonight it is forecasted to drop down into the low 30’s. More and more color will emerge.

Paths in our Japanese garden are becoming more pronounced as the ground covers continue to mature along the path edge. This past spring we added a lot of additional ground cover in the Japanese garden. Next year we are planning on adding a couple more Japanese maples in this area. The once grass covered hillside is gradually taking shape and evolving into our vision of a Japanese garden.

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Crisp Autumn Morning

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“Pond & Waterfall”
Heatherwood Japanese Garden

Our “Indian Summer” ended yesterday. We received our first rain since May and the temperature dropped 20 degrees. But we still had a beautiful crisp autumn morning today. We had nice patches of clouds that made the sky interesting while still letting in the beautiful sun rays to brighten the landscape.

Now that the temperatures have fallen and approach freezing at night, we should start to see the colors change more rapidly. I will have to be on my toes every morning and try to create images that reflect the rapid change in color.

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The Emerging Star

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“Purple Aster”
Heatherwood Meadow

The purple asters are at their peak. They are the emerging star in our Heatherwood meadow. Here they contrast with the golds and yellows of the daylilies, sedum, and yarrow. The bees have found them and are swarming all over. They are the last plants to bloom in the meadow. Soon, the bees will start their winter hibernation.

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Leading the Charge

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“Red Maple”
Heatherwood Woodland

This red maple is leading the charge into autumn in our Heatherwood woodland. It is one of the red maples that we planted a year ago. It is brilliant red while the other two are not showing any color change yet. Who knows why. I will record the changes in my garden notes and see if this behavior will remain the same in future years. I look forward to what next week will bring.

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Day By Day

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“Changing Colors”
Heatherwood Autumn

It is already the middle of October and the autumn colors are slowly turning. Most of the deciduous trees are still green. Day by day they are changing into their fall color. Patches of yellow, orange, and red are starting to appear throughout the garden. The color change this year seems to be about two to three weeks later than last year. We have been having a beautiful Indian Summer. We are still eating most of our meals outside to enjoy the beautiful warm weather. The lawn seems to be growing as fast or faster than it has any time of the year. I am still mowing it two times a week! From the tracks in the lawn, it looks like the guy driving the mower has had a beer or two too many.

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