Raindrops on Roses

And flies

This evening, after work, and second work, I needed a break. It had been pouring down rain from noon until early evening, but there was still light. I grabbed the camera, and stepped out to see the raindrops on the roses, hollyhocks, and much more in my artist’s garden.

Of course, while I was out there, I was also testing a new weight loss regime. I do not recommend. Rate it a -3 out of 10 to have that many mosquitoes feeding on you, they leave you itchy and swollen, does nothing for your physique even if they do extract a measurable amount of mass in the form of blood.

I wound up running back out again, as the sun was setting and the clouds parted, granting me golden-hour sunbeams on some of the blooms in my garden. Just as the welts had gone down from the first round… I’m contemplating a calamine bath before bed.

It’s all worth it, though. Padding barefoot through the puddles in the backyard, inches deep with cool clear water standing over what’s left of my lawn. Establishing groundcovers back there should be easier with the grass scoured away.

Forgetting about the minor annoyances of the biting as I get into the flow of focus and lighting and composition. It’s worth every moment I take out of my busy schedule to smell the roses, and lilies, and watch the cool-weather bugs at their work.

I caught one, on the catnip’s blooms, I’ve never seen before.

Flies sit still and let you take their portrait when it’s cool enough. I take advantage of this.

The hollyhocks glowing in the setting sun were amazing, and I have no regrets.

The stand of hollyhocks may be my favorite thing in the garden this week.

Photography, painting with light, is such a joy. It narrows my focus and I catch the small things I might never see if I am only worrying about weeds and mosquitoes and work.

These are fleeting moments, the light flickers and fades, the sun’s rays gutter and sink behind the horizon.

These are a few of my favorite things, and they make my heart sing.