Wordless Wednesday…let there be light

Lens-Artists Challenge: bokeh

Sophia has set us the task of sharing photos that show bokeh, a fancy way of saying that your background is out of focus which puts everyone’s attention on whatever you want to spotlight. 🙂 I use this often in nature shots and here are the first three I came across in one of my files featuring McDowell Forest Preserve in Naperville, Illinois, my spirit park when we lived there. 🙂 Hey, I’m sure “spirit park” must be a thing.

Oops! Sorry, I lied. This first shot is from the our backyard in Naperville where we were blessed with a whole raft of these in season.

Now to McDowell.

I find spider webs in particular benefit from bokeh, don’t you agree?

Thankful for so much!

Purple iris

Back on the road again, Chicago area to Oklahoma City somewhere between 12 and 13 hours, but it will make for two easy days after that. Since purple is still the color of the (last) month at Life in Colour, here’s one of the few purple wild irises I saw during my foray on the park.

I’m sorry if I missed you yesterday (very busy last day) and today will be a long one as well I’ll be back as soon as possible.

For Life in Colour: purple and FOTD

Friday flowers…wild iris

While walking one of the back paths of the park, I glanced towards the river to see three high, thick clumps of yellow irises. I waded through deep grass, over downed branches, around bushes, and then across what felt not like quicksand but quick mud. I could see where deer hooves had sunk in and my shoes were rimmed with mud when I reached the flowers but it was well worth it. I don’t know if they were wild or if someone for some reason went all that way to plant them but it was a stunning surprise especially with the sun behind them.

also for Cee’s FOTD

Simple

for One Word Sunday: simple

for Life in Colour: purple

If I get up at 5:30am

If I get up at 5 am  (my six words for Six-Word Saturday), I can get a LOT done before noon.  Here’s how it went on Wednesday.

I walked in the park on a beautifully cool, sunny morning, spotting cormorants in the “bird tree” (the dead tree where the birds like to congregate), wild irises amongst all the green, and a heron looking for breakfast…

did a weight workout at the health club, straightened up the house, did dishes, had breakfast, did two loads of laundry, stopped at WalMart for Consumer Reports highly-rated suntan lotion, then Costco for an outdoor carpet for the Wyoming cabin (plus a few impulse buys)…AND…went to Verizon, where I got everything on my old iPhone switched to my new 6s iPhone all before noon.

Then I had time to read, get a few more things done, fix quiche for dinner, and catch up on my blog reading, all without feeling in the least bit guilty.  Oh, yes, and had some tea.

Life is good when I get up at 5:30 am.

Happy Easter!