Stop to BE STILL ...and SEE and then turn around and SEE more

I've been looking for crocus in our yard...nothing showing...until today!  I was on the way to the water (and wish I had a camera there today!!) when I looked to the right and the front yard rather than the garden.  Oh my - my wish had been granted - two tiny perfect crocus.  Put the car in park...go and sit and look at them and wait.  OK...the message was to take them together just as they were...later into the center as well!  I was filled with gratitude.

Then I turned around , preparing to stand and get back in the car but WAIT...look what I saw?!?  There was a drip from the tailpipe - and the pattern of the water on the driveway was explosive!!  I sat and looked at it - thankful for the vision and then looked through the camera to see what came forward.  Being contemplative...is about not labeling...just seeing...a challenging lesson to be learned - until then this reminded me of the iron filings in a Etch a Sketch!!  Just happy I turned around and just noticed...
We have started a group - Facebook page - BE STILL...and SEE Photography - inviting like minded spirits to join us and explore - more synchronicities - and what will evolve?  Hmmmmmmm

My Head's In the Clouds!!

It was 9:15 in the morning and I was sitting and waiting for my friend Martha so we could go to the Philadelphia Art Museum to see the Whitman Samplers.  You know them because most likely you have eaten from the yellow boxes with the sampler design on them.  I know I grew up with them - often received them as a gift from my mother-in-law for Christmas!  Anyhow - I was just gazing and my hand reached over to the seat next to me for the little red Fuji I am now carrying (fits in my pocket).  I just had to take some pictures of the clouds.  Once again they were totally awesome.  There was such diversity - seemed a turbulent sky but from another perspective, the sun was shining brightly!!  I posted this on Facebook and got some great comments about my ability as a photographer.  Ever humble and realistic, I said that "everyone can do this" but a new friend in Nebraska said, "No, not everyone can see this...nor do they take the time to stop and look!"  I totally appreciated Lisa's comments...and the gift of the clouds on that particular morning.  What they looked like...an impending storm, was not the truth nor was the day at all like that.  Martha and I are getting to know one another and this day we discovered so many similarities in our upbringing, our personalities and likes/dislikes.  Too bad that she is moving to Williamsburg,VA - but hey - a place to visit!!  Adventures await!!   And here is one of the Samplers... done in Scotland in the 1800s - well preserved.