Large

for One Word Sunday: large/larger/largest

Lens-Artists Photo Challenge #127: Precious Moments

Amy at The World Is A Book sets us the challenge of recalling precious memories in a year that might have lack any or many. She’s shared lots of lovely photos of happy, mask-less people, something which probably features large in any of our precious memories. I’m going much further back to share the precious memory of family.

Memories, precious to me, of “my” park in Illinois and winter, which I do miss.

Wonderful memories of a memorable trip to Yosemite.

A beautiful welcome to Arizona!

And for the furthest back memory, a selfie of sorts with “my” first horse/pony. The owner brought the pony to our house during his trip around the neighborhoods and my parents paid for my photo to be taken. Happy? Oh, yeah! Much better than the ice cream truck!

Lens-Artists Challenge #125 – You Pick It!

My first thought for “You Pick It” was to share flowers from my recent visit to Descanso Gardens, but after seeing Tina’s marvelous flowers, I decided to go “white.”

On a two-day trip to Yosemite in March a few years ago, we left on a magical day where we saw clouds filled the marvelous landscape.

Who could resist a shot of this cutie on my first visit to Descanso Gardens? I’ve given it an edit to take out any other colors.

Egrets are the new white in my life.

Light + spider web= white.

And a final whiteout from my first visit to Descanso Gardens. If I lived anywhere near, I’d have a membership and be there at least once a week!

for Lens-Artists Challenge #125 – You Pick It!

Spectacle

for One Word Sunday…spectacle

One Word Sunday…celebrity

Not one, but two celebrities, unbeknownst to them, were captured in this shot:  Half Dome on the left and Bridal Veil Falls on the right, two of the stars of Yosemite National Park.

God’s handwriting

Six-Word Saturday…with faint overtones of Ansel Adams

This is my very humble attempt at an Ansel Adams look in one of the most beautiful national parks in the world.  This is for Day 2 of the B&W Challenge issued by Su and, finally, an entry in Six Word Saturday.  🙂

Weekly Photo Challenge: Unusual…shrouded

What?  Wednesday again?  I’m two and a half weeks into Tour de France watching and exhausted having just watched today’s mountain stage. What will I do with my morning’s after Sunday’s last stage?  Ahh, well, on to today’s challenge, the Weekly Photo Challenge.  Finding an apt photo can be as challenging as winning a Tour stage (well, maybe not) and today I’m searching for one that meets the challenge of “Unusual” posed to us by an excellent photographer, Lignum Draco.

I was blessed to be able to spend just a very, very short time in Yosemite in March.  During that stay, I had this unusual view of the park.  I also had an unusually hard time trying to get this photo ready to upload.  🙂

Weekly Photo Challenge: Wanderlust…Yosemite with a helping of clouds

Welcome to Wednesday AKA Over-the-hump Day.  I hope your week’s off to a great start.  We’ve had lovely weather, but that’s due to change today, with rain and much cooler temperatures in the forecast.  However, it was a lovely weekend and I got a walk in this morning, so I’m not complaining.  😉

This week’s Photo Challenge Theme is “Wanderlust.”  I know it because I have it.  🙂  When the tea shop where I was working went entirely online, I decided that I wouldn’t start a new job until September and in the interim (February-August), I’d do as much traveling as possible. Unfortunately, my husband can’t come because of lack of vacation days, but fortunately he doesn’t mind me going.  What a guy!

My most recent trip was to Southern California with a side helping of Yosemite.  I’ve shared many of the Yosemite photos on my blog since then.  The morning we left, the clouds created a most magical show, creating dazzling looks at scenery already stunning.  Here’s one of the last shots I took on the way out. To see what it looked like without the fog, just click here.

Weekly Photo Challenge: Earth..Yosemite with clouds

Happy Wednesday!  Spring has arrived in northern Illinois, bringing me much joy (and a fair bit of rain as well.)  Flowers, both wild and domestic, are blooming, trees are budding, birds are Tweeting…or maybe tweeting.

The Weekly Photo Challenge theme this week is “Earth“, in celebration of Earth Day. My recent trip to Yosemite National Park with our older daughter showed us some unbelievable views of one glorious section of earth. I shared this photo on my blog during my posts about Yosemite, but it’s the perfect vehicle to convey the stunning beauty of one tiny area of earth, so I hope those of you who have already seen it will enjoy it again.

It may be easy to think that we need to preserve areas such as these, but in truth, every bit of earth has the potential to be beautiful, whether through scenery, use, or both.  Let us each find the corners we can preserve and improve and work towards those ends.