Lovely Company

Cultivate plants which attract lovely company.

~ Kathryn Hall

Look closely and you can see the shadow of the thistle thru his sunlit wings 

Print Available - HERE 

Wings in the Pink

The true mystery of the world is the visible, not the invisible.

~ Oscar Wilde


More of my Hummingbird Moths -  HERE 

Beautiful Memory

I want to fill my mind with life-enhancing, positive, beautiful memories. 

~ Alexandra Stoddard

Cape Lookout Lighthouse - Cape Lookout National Seashore 

Now Available - HERE 

The Best Time Is Now

The best use of life is love. The best expression of love is time. The best time to love is now.

― Rick Warren

Available - HERE 

The Art of Contentment

Being content with what you have already is an art form that leads to a peace that can’t be replaced by anything else.

 ~ Elizabeth Gilbert 

~ Rain droplet from our Rhododendron bush ~ 

A Version of this image available - HERE

and it makes a Beautiful Pillow as well

Fill It With Sunshine and Laughter

Today,  fill your cup of life with sunshine and laughter.

-Dodinsky

The Music Of Living

And all meet in singing, which braids together the different knowings into a wide and subtle music, the music of living.

~ Alison Croggon

Listen to the Male Cardinal's Beautiful Music - HERE

Print Available - HERE 

Sights of Nature

All my life through, the true sights of nature made me rejoice like a child.

~ Marie Curie

Little Wood Satyr Butterfly - Heritage Park - Blacksburg, Virginia 


A Version of this Available - HERE 

House Wren Sings

He who sings scares away his woes.

― Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra

In the Green

He who knows that enough is enough will always have enough.

~ Lao Tzu

Print Available - HERE 

In The Honeysuckle

Honey bee 

The right time is any time that one is still so lucky as to have.

~ Henry James

 Print Available - HERE 

Amazing Feathers

 It's amazing what you can see when you just sit quietly and look.

― Jacqueline Kelly

The feathers of the Grackle simply amaze me!

Nobody Home

We can never have enough of nature.

~ Henry David Thoreau

Buttercup Blues

Dream Song: 

As my eyes 

Search the prairie, 

I feel the summer in the spring. 

Whenever I pause 

The noise Of the village.

 ― Frances Densmore

American Indians and Their Music 

Eastern-tailed Blue Butterfly  
Deerfield Trail - Blacksburg, Virginia 

 

Brown Thrasher

Going to Walden is not so easy a thing 

As a green visit. 

It is the slow and difficult 

Trick of living, 

and finding it where you are.

~ Mary Oliver

Print Available - HERE 

Flight of the Bumblebee

"Flight of the Bumblebee" is an orchestral interlude written by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov for his opera The Tale of Tsar Saltan, composed in 1899–1900

Well, now, my bumblebee, go on a spree, 

catch up with the ship on the sea, 

go down secretly, get deep into a crack. 

Good luck, Gvidon, fly, only do not stay long!

Info above from Wikipedia -  with a COOL LINK to the music - HERE 

Print Available - HERE 

Magnolia Warbler - Male

“Pursue some path, however narrow and crooked, 

in which you can walk with love and reverence.” 

 ― Henry David Thoreau

Having Fun in the Rain

Innocent droplets of rain

Make almost all events

 Quite natural.

Visar Zhiti 

 Available for purchase - HERE 

Bird Dance

I promise myself that I will enjoy every minute of the day that is given me to live.

 ~ Thich Nhat Hanh

These birds weren't actually dancing.  The White-crowned Sparrow and Tufted Titmouse landed on the fence post at the same time and this image was the result.  

The Titmouse won.

The "Artsy" Version is HERE 

Male Cardinal Feeding Female - Sweet Cardinal Couple

Oh! that gentleness! how far more potent is it than force!

~ Charlotte Brontë

Male Cardinal feeds Female Cardinal  

Print Available - HERE 

Nest Building

Build a House for men and birds. 

Sit with them and play music. 

For a day, for just one day, 

talk about that which disturbs no one 

and bring some peace, my friend, 

into your beautiful eyes.

~ Hafiz

~ House Wren nest building  ~ 

You Must Travel It By Yourself

Not I, nor anyone else can travel that road for you. 

You must travel it by yourself. 

It is not far. It is within reach. 

Perhaps you have been on it since you were born, 

and did not know. 

Perhaps it is everywhere - on water and land. 

~ Walt Whitman

iPhone shot through the car window - edited with snapseed 

 

Blue Velvet

The way lies in softness and patience, as the softest water cuts through the hardest rock. 

~ Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Squirrel Close Up

I've never seen a smiling face that was not beautiful.

~ Author Unknown

I thought this little guy was just so cute!  

To Make You Smile

The smile which you wear today has healing in it, so smile BIG!

~ Anita R. Sneed-Carter

Goslings always make me smile :)  
These two looked like they had a bit of 
Sibling Rivalry going on.  

I hope this has given you a SMILE today!

Print Available - HERE 

Common Yellowthroat Male

...everyone wants to be excited by something magical and wondrous...

~ John Geddes

Male Common Yellowthroat 

Heritage Park - Blacksburg, Virginia 

Wings of a Robin

What is life? 

It is the flash of a firefly in the night.  

It is the breath of a buffalo in the wintertime. 

 It is the little shadow which runs across the grass and loses itself in the sunset. 

 - Crowfoot, Blackfoot Indian

And I would add:

It is the flash of a Robin's Wings


Print Available - HERE 

 

Mockingbird in the Bush

Meditate. Breathe consciously. Listen. Pay attention. Treasure every moment. 
Make the connection. 

~ Oprah Winfrey

Eastern Towhee Female

Fill your paper with the breathings of your heart.

~ William Wordsworth 

Or in my case - fill your camera!  

Simply Trust

Simply trust: 

Do not the petals 

flutter down, 

Just like this?

- Issa

Print Available - HERE 

Raise the Sail

The winds of grace are always blowing, but you have to raise the sail. 

 ~Ramakrishna

More Mandarin Ducks

you are not too old 

and it is not too late 

to dive into your increasing depths 

where life calmly gives out

it's own secret

~ Rainer Maria Rilke

Two more Mandarin Ducks, Black Mountain NC

 One of the few feral populations 

of Mandarin Ducks in the US. 

Print Available - HERE 

 

Peppermint Tulips

Nothing reminds us of an awakening more than rain.

~ Dejan Stojanovic
 

During our Black Mountain visit of April 2013 - we traveled down the road to the North Carolina Arboretum.  What a Magnificent place!  It rained the entire time - so I didn't get out the BIG Camera - but took some shots with my iPhone.  If you ever get a chance to visit - I would highly recommend it.  Fantastic trails to walk along and awesome flowers and trees!   I think that was the most time I had ever spent out walking in the rain and it was AWESOME!   

Quite Refreshing to my mind and body.

I don't know what kind of tulips these are - but they reminded me of Peppermints :)

floral art

Lake Tomahawk - Black Mountain North Carolina

Not every lake dreams to be an ocean. Blessed are the ones who are happy with whom they are.

~  Mehmet Murat ildan

During our visit to Black Mountain, NC we stopped by  Lake Tomahawk.  This is an iPhone shot taken during our walk around the lake. 

Nuthatch in the Dogwood

The muffled syllables that Nature speaks 

Fill us with deeper longing for her word; 

She hides a meaning that the spirit seeks, 

She makes a sweeter music than is heard.

― George Santayana

 

River Otters

"Oh, thank you!  That feels good!"

River Otters at Western NC Nature Center

Print Available - HERE 

Friends - I Need a Favor - Three Actually!

Hi Friends!!  This is a pic of my Son Junior, and my Grandson Conner at a recent check-up.

Isn't Conner Adorable?!

This was taken by my daughter-in-law Whitney.

She has submitted it in a FaceBook contest.  

If this pic has the most votes - she'll win a photo session from a photographer in her local area.

Now this is where YOU come in.

I need you to do Three things.

#1 - LIKE the SM Photography page on FB - HERE 

#2 - LIKE the PIC on the SM Photography page - HERE 

#3 - Comment "VOTE" on the pic 

I sooooooo appreciate your help with this! 

Thank you so much!

Mandarin Duck

It is often while you are looking for something else entirely that you make the most amazing finds. 

~ Marissa Moss

I couldn't have been more amazed to find this Mandarin Duck during a visit to Black Mountain North Carolina.  At first I thought it was a Wood Duck.  According to Wikipedia Black Mountain is one of the few places in the US with feral populations. 

Available - HERE