the Colors of late Summer...appreciating what is left.

After the last few days of wind and rain (that used to be a hurricane, but it sort of fizzled out before it got here, although practically our whole state lost electric power), I took out my dusty macro lens before heading to my cousin's house to see if any of her or the neighbors' gardens would still be in bloom..with anything. ..

See, I love how this lens makes things like dead and dying flowers...and even weeds..look pretty. While I was taking this one I could hear my cousin's husband saying, "Where is Mary?" and my cousin replying, "What the heck is she doing??"

I'm pretty sad that the blooms I thought would outlive my laziness are fading away like the summer.

While learning the ins and outs of my camera, I've also learned things about the world around me that I never cared to know before. Things like, a sunflower blooms for only ten days if you're lucky; that a luna moth lives for less than a week before its luminous green color fades and it slowly dies. Things like how fleeting summer really is in New England. That it is worth traveling sometimes hundreds of miles to see things in nature that you would never otherwise see if you weren't willing to take the journey. And that sometimes the most beautiful things are the little things, the things close to home.

This wilting rose (above) was on the side of a major road in the middle of nowhere. (Really, it is. The Middle of Nowhere Diner and Next to Nowhere Creamery are around the corner. They claim on their website that the food, and the women, are worth the detour.)

I'm really glad I  live somewhere where there is something beautiful to see during every season. But I'm even happier to be able to share this love of photography, an art which captures things on the other side of the lens and records it for all to enjoy.  That way I can rewind my late summer days on my computer when it's too cold to venture out...(Ahhh!!! I can't even think about the cold!)  :))  Have a great week!