the road needs to be traveled

I don't know where it's going to take me but I'm headed down the road. I may take a hard right and wander in the woods for awhile but I'll soon rediscover the worn treads of the path. The sun will warm my back and the shade will be a welcome relief from the intensity of the sun. I will become lost among the grasses before I disappear around the bend in the road.

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An angel!

Tully has a thought

David is my friend, he gave us this red thing. He loves me and Mom loves the red thing. She carries it around and takes pictures of it. This time she promised me a cookie if I would sit still. I'll do anything for a cookie so I sat still. I'm waiting for David to come back so I can sit still next to him, I like him better than this red thing.

I just had another thought, if I sit next to the front door I'll get a cookie from the big brown truck. This sitting stuff works really well, only problem is that I don't fit into my winter coat anymore.

playdate with myself

I have worked pretty hard preparing for Christmas and sometimes I forget to play.

So last night I sat in front of the fireplace and used my iPhone slow shutter app and lost myself in a flower arrangement.

a feathery couple

They are enjoying the view after breakfast at the feeder.

roses are red sky is blue

The last of the roses

pulling away

The tides have tugged the bay away from the shore leaving wet rocks and slippery footing. The sun is setting leaving a fleeting memory of itself on the reflective waters of Oyster Bay. Another day gone, did you spend it well?

busyness

Somedays are like this, especially at this time of year.

daily event

She is looking out over the bay while waiting for him to finish at the feeder. 

And he is waiting for me to take the dog inside so he can continue scouring the ground for sunflower seeds under the feeder.

I live here

I live in a garden where I'm loved. I spend time on the feeder and bathe in the water pools left for me in carved out rocks. We are a large diverse family, I share this space with so many others who look nothing like me. Many of us have feathers in common, we do love to fly. But some prefer to scoot along the ground nibbling on our fallen sunflower seeds. Next year a group of us have decided to grow our own crop of sunflowers, right here under the feeder. Good idea don't you think? We are good little farmers and we are happy here. I hope you're happy where you are. Chirp

on being

It is a busy time of year and this contemplative blue jay reminds me to stop and take in the view. He sat in the grass for a long time just looking around and being. I particularly like the just "being" part. You have to be present in order to do that.

Tully's view

This is what I saw the other night when we were walking around the point.

I always wonder what Tully sees, so I played with some filters and came up with this. Do you think she sees things that we don't see? I know that she smells more for sure!

sunrise over the nook

Time is of the essence. The light changes so fast and I see so many images contained in one sweeping vista. My 24-70mm lens is my first go to lens.

Then I love my 100-400 mm to create vignettes. The tripod is crucial in this low light.

The sky has fallen into the nook.

She left home

She deserves some kind of credit. 

I put the leash on her in the late part of the afternoon for a winter walk into the village. I wore sunglasses when we left and soon realized my mistake as the sun sunk lower and lower behind the town. She galloped along so happy to smell new smells, to sink her nose into the dried leaves, to stop and smell the roses, well maybe not the roses.... We wandered like two explorers peaking into lighted windows, wondering about their lives, well I was wondering, she was still smelling. We crossed streets and zig zagged in neighborhoods, I imagined their 

life behind closed doors and she, well she mostly smelled.  Smells are really good in other people's neighborhoods. Then we finished our trek by visiting great grandma in the assisted living home, Tully really loves the smells there. 

We woofed and hugged and called Brad to come get us, by now the sun had set and we were finished. I think she deserves some kind of credit don't you, for being willing to just go....

Squirrel time

I never cared about squirrels until a

mom decided to raise her six littles in the hole in one of the trees that frame our view. At dusk they would come out to play and I would watch them learn how to hop and fly among the branches. Often a comedic event as they crashed into each other and ran for cover with every passing feather sighting.

This is mom escaping the nest to come out to groom and otherwise have  a bit of quiet time.

Home

Good morning Oyster Bay. 

Happy Thanksgiving

He's strutting his stuff...

glad to be out there

Last night's sunset in Florida. The clouds were spectacular, almost more beautiful then the colors of the setting sun.

a novel idea

Looking at this photograph feels like reading a novel to me. At first glance I see the general reflective theme but I'm soon drawn into the side stories, the development of characters, the vignettes. Lily pads, dipping grasses, open flowers and heavy wet buds. Man's carved planter reflecting itself among the soft greens of the water garden. For a change the sky has taken a back seat to all this beauty. Do you think there's a frog in here somewhere?

A beautiful blue

I love this great blue heron against the blue of the water, so linear and strong. He has lived a full life, his beak tells the story. No flocks for him..

no fly zone

We all like being part of a flock, it's important to belong. They're leaving, I better go, they're landing I better land, but wait what happens if I stay. What happens if I let them go and I stay where I am, where I want to be? What happens then?

tweets

This was taken out my car window while driving out our driveway in LI a few weeks ago. He may be the mockingbird that sang to us all summer long. Isn't he beautiful sitting on his quilt of bright pink leaves?

The eyes have it

If you sit still they will come. I had my thermos of coffee and he had, well I have no idea what he had. We just enjoyed being together on the beach in the early morning light.

baa

Thank heavens he lives in Scotland and not in steamy Florida.

an in between morning

 The morning remained neutral with clouds dipped in peach but never saturated enough to fill the center while they floated down the beach. The terns and pelicans skimmed the water and disappeared as they left me standing there with my feet planted in the sand.

A Florida morning

It's once again time to get up in the dark and welcome the light.

A word from Tully

Every once in a while mom lets me blog. She has been so busy lately that I said I would yelp out, I mean help out. This is a dangerous season for me because I look just like everything around me. I could get lost out here. I took a rest on this pier while mom was photographing whatever she photographs. Anyway, the bags are packed by the front door and I hope they are taking me with them. We are trading in all these good smells of rotting leaves and dried out stuff in the garden and heading for the flat lands. (That's what I call Florida) I'm pretty woofed about it. I need to go sit by the front door now. 

falling in

This is a time for reflections. The colors are so intense, it's almost hard to grasp the beauty of it all. Every second the light changes and I find myself running after it. I know my time is limited and soon these oranges and yellows will trade places with browns and neutrals. But for now I love to sit at the edge of the pond and lose myself in the surface of the water. 

Extremes

The fuller moon certainly had it's way with us these last few days. Yesterday's rain and wind event left my garden with very wet salty feet. Even the play house was in water. We saw a sailboat float by on it's way to nowhere because the tides reached out and grabbed it from a neighbors beach.

Looking down from the house I felt as if we lived on an island. I put on boots and slushed my way along the lower field, the water came up almost to my knees. I left Tully in the house, she's not a big swimmer. If you look carefully there is a little foot bridge that is totally underwater. Thank heavens our kayaks were stored up high on the bank. Today the water has receded but my memory of it has not.

full moon

The full moon has a powerful tug on our tides. 

It just sucked the bay so far away from the shore that it left this anchor almost high and dry while it sat in the shallow water reflecting the fall leaves. 

Tully definitely needed a bath after this muddy walk.

branching out

We are always in transition but this time of year hits us over the head with it. Keep looking up, it's a spirit booster.

uninvited guest

We don't have deer, oh wait a minute maybe we do.

reflections

The sunrise was reflected in the nook. Tomorrow I'll share the uninvited guest that enjoyed it along with me.

flight patterns

This featherly creature has let go of what she knew and has taken flight alone. She wanders, floating in the breeze among the reeds and the heather, wandering in her new world with the sun at her back, shifting her sights as she rides the wild air currents. Until, finally exhausted from being brave, she lands with a full on hug, filling up her spirits before she takes off again.

The chase

This is a red tailed hawk. He is a beautiful flyer and I like him but I'm a bit conflicted. He likes to eat my bird friends and their families. I know he's hungry but still...

However this little songbird has taken matters into his own little feathers and is chasing this hawk away. By the way he left.

Pleasantries

Whaaaat? 

You left already! I'll just wait right here till you come back...

Scotland

I'm an outside girl it's as simple as that. When I'm in Scotland I'm drawn down the road to find my way among the heather and the hills. It's often best when you have good friends by your side because the joy is contagious.