On a Foggy Winter’s Morning

11 Friday Dec 2015

Posted by t - That's Me in Personal Musings, Photo, Photos, Pictures, Seasons, Uncategorized, winter

Tags

Construction Zone, December, Fog, Foggy, Hard Hats Required, Trees, winter

There is a field to the side of the road near my work destination that I knew would look way-cool this morning. I actually went a slightly different route, just for that reason, as I wanted to take some pictures. Unfortunately, due to the weather conditions, pulling off on the side of the road screamed of an accident waiting to happen and the only other way to get a vantage point was restricted, as I didn’t have a hard hat with me. (Yes, I actually have safety glasses in my car. I have a hard-hat, too, but alas, it was at home.)

I did find a little spot with a few trees that had to suffice.

My Little Oak Tree

13 Friday Nov 2015

Posted by t - That's Me in Gardening, Photos, Pictures, Seasons

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Aging, Autumn, Oak Tree

In the Fall of 2003 I bought my house where a small stick less than a foot high stuck out of the front yard. I was told it was an oak tree. (See the red arrow and red circle next to the garbage cans in the picture below? Yeah, I know you can’t see the stick, but that’s where it is.)

And the following summer, it remained a tiny stick, though it sprouted 3-4 leaves for the season. (If you look really hard, you can see it where the second arrow points.)

One of my neighbors, for the next several years would laugh at my stick.

Then one year, my little oak tree shot off like a rocket. Each year growing taller, and its branches broadly reaching outward. It started keeping its leaves through the winter, changing from green straight to brown. I’ve had beautiful bowed branches in the winter under the weight of snow.

Even in small dustings.

It always bypassed the beautiful colors of autumn. And I was always a little bit sad about that.

This year’s autumn, however, produced a new layer of beauty. Not vibrant red or golden yellow or fiery orange. No. But a beauty that reminds me of ones’ life journey, worn with aging through the challenges met yet the warm glow of life coursing through the veins.

I love my little oak tree.

(Click on individual pictures to enlarge)

Forget-Me-Not and my Bleeding Heart cuz I’m Frond You, or… You can just Blow Me

02 Saturday May 2015

Posted by t - That's Me in Gardening, Macro Photography, Photo, Photos, Pictures, Seasons, Spring

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Bleeding Heart, blooms, blossoms, Caves, Dandelion, Fern, flowers, Forget-Me-Not, Fronds, macrophotography, MorelMushroom, Spring, wildflowers

HUH?!

Fern

Bleeding Hearts

New Fern Fronds

Forget-Me-Nots

Dandelion

Roll ’em out (Fern Fronds)

Pink Elephant… Rocks

15 Saturday Nov 2014

Posted by t - That's Me in Elephant Rocks State Park, Photo, Pictures, Seasons

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Tags

Autumn, Boulders, Elephant Rocks State Park, Fall, Fungi, Fungus, Granite Rock, Missouri State Park, Pink Granite, Pump House, Rock Climbing, Rock Quarry, State Park, Tree Climbing

My teenage son and I decided to take an impromptu trip to Elephant Rocks State Park. I began to ponder the outcome of the trip as it began to rain and then further began to sleet on the drive there. As it turned out, the precipitation stopped just before our arrival, the wind lessened, and the sun came out.

I have fond memories of this place as a child growing up. Tomboy that I was, I would climb and leap about with abandon. Now, walking and climbing about the park as a not-so-very-active 50+ year old, I found myself singing, “The Old Gray Mare,” to my sons embarrassment.

Hover over images below for brief description. Click on any image below for larger view of all images within gallery.

Sooooooo Big – 2014 w/ Teen Angst

Pump House Ruin

Sooooooo Big – 2010

King of the Mountain

Fungi

Perspective

Tree Climb 2010

Pump House Ruin

Daughter at Rock Quarry – 2010

Tree Climb 4 years after 2010

Sorry bud, I can’t fit through there now.

Crawl on my knees on that hard rock floor to get to that albeit way cool spot on the other side…, are you kidding me?

No, my boy, I have to go around this other way because my ankles can’t handle the impact of that 1 1/2 foot jump down.

But I am thankful that I am still able to climb and do what I can. And, seeing the trail for the blind, I am thankful I can see the many splendors there is to see. And it made me so happy that my teenage son willingly, no, he actually wantingly, went on this impromptu excursion with me and me alone, knowing I can’t get around like he can (any more).

Plan B – When Your Roadside Flower Patch Is Mowed Down.

20 Wednesday Aug 2014

Posted by t - That's Me in Cahokia Mounds World Heritage Site, Fairmont Park Racetrack, Photo, Pictures, Seasons

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chicory, Fence, Fog, Fuel Tanks, Photos, Reflections, wildflowers

Went out during a recent foggy morning with the intent to get pictures of the chicory patches I’d admired for several weeks near the interchange of Collinsville Road and Interstate 255 near the Fairmont Park Racetrack.

To my dismay, they were no more. Cut down in their prime of lives. They’d been mowed. So I kept cruising down Collinsville Road. Down, down, down the road I went near Cahokia Mounds World Heritage Site…, and then the glowing blue caught the corner of my eye. Not along the historical Mounds, or Woodhenge or the like, but rather in a small neglected lot across the roadway. By then the fog had started lifting, but some nice stormy type clouds marbled the sky.

Hover over images below for brief description. Click on any image below for larger view of all images within gallery.

Some White Chicory Amongst the Blue

Reflection and Angles

Solace to My Sorrow

17 Sunday Aug 2014

Posted by t - That's Me in Pictures, Seasons

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Bench, Brook, Daisies, Drost Park, flowers, Lake, Lavender, nature, Park Bench, Shade, Solace, Trees

The morning my best friend drove off, moving several hours away to start a new chapter in her life’s journey, I cried. And then I found myself, with my little camera, headed to a charming little park nearby to see what it had to offer to console my aching heart.

I must say that it became a challenge now and again as I attempted to focus through blurred eyes as they welled with tears, but I did feel better upon leaving the park than when I arrived.

Beauty beyond the Blades

Bountiful Beauty – Drost Park

Light after Dark

Daisies Were Dancing

Babbling Brook at Drost Park

Image

In my garden and….., ummmmm, driveway

20 Sunday Jul 2014

Tags

bees, bug, chicory, cockscomb, cone flower, coneflowers, dill, Echinacea, edible plants, ferns, flowers, gardens, herbs, insect, macrophotography, Photos, Pictures, pollen, wildflowers

I am so excited.

I have wanted the beautiful blue flowered chicory seen growing along the highways and bi-ways for years now.

I’ve been blessed in receiving one from the Higher Power this summer.

To the disdain of my neighbors, who have not one clover or other ‘wild’ flower in their yards, it found its root in my driveway of gravel….. and dirt….. and a conglomerate of plant life.

Of course, it chose my driveway for its sunny and rocky conditions, similar to that of the roadsides you see this beautiful blue flower bedazzling in the morning hours.

I haven’t figured out where best to relocate it and it still thrive, which I most definitely want it to do. Meanwhile, my son grumbles each time it is his turn to mow, which yes, includes my driveway, and he must go around my newly prized plant.

Did I mention that it’s edible?

Click on the images for larger viewing.

Posted by t - That's Me | Filed under Food, Gardening, Herbs, Pictures, Seasons

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Image

It’s all in the way you look at it.

05 Saturday Jul 2014

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close-up, colors, flowers, gardens, macrophotography, perspective, photography, Photos, pollen, purple coneflower

Have I mentioned that I enjoy looking at things from a different perspective than the norm? Of course, who am I to say what the ‘norm’ is?

In my garden

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Posted by t - That's Me | Filed under Gardening, Pictures, Seasons, Uncategorized

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Meramec and Meramec some more

02 Monday Jun 2014

Posted by t - That's Me in Pictures, Seasons

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amberat, birds, Blue Heron, boxwork, bugs, calcite, calcium carbonate, Caves, colloid, Columns of Nature, dripstone, flowers, Jessee James, limestone, macrophotography, Meramec Caverns, Meramec River, Meramec State Park, Missouri, nature, Photos, pillar, River, Rock Formations, sinter, Soda Straws, speleothem, speleothems, stalactites, stalagmites, stalaktos, stalasso, stegamite, Trails, Trees, turtle, Wood

Went to Meramec Caverns and Meramec State Park in Missouri this past weekend with my son. The guided tour of the Caverns didn’t allow for near enough time to take pictures in certain areas, but it sure was pretty. Enjoying a splendid day with my son, I quickly caved to his request to go on the Meramec River boat tour just across the lot from the caverns entrance. Blessed further in being the only two passengers it allowed the Captain freedom of giving my son a turn at the helm. Talk about elated. (I was not allowed to post any pictures of that. You know. That teen thing.) The park followed.

Click on any picture to get a better view of it.