Sharing Some Gnarly Trees

Recently, one of the lady bloggers from Sweden whom I follow posted a photo of a gnarly tree. Her beautiful blog consists of only photos. Landscapes, architecture, street scenes, manhole covers (lots of those), her pooch, and food. She often includes instructions for preparing the dish she shows on her blog. She includes a description in her native tongue and an English translation. She seems like a fun lady.

When I took a trip to Arizona to visit my daughter and grandson last year, we went to the Grand Canyon. On the south rim, we saw vistas that take your breath away. But the terrain we walked also boasted some sights we could actually touch.

Gnarly trees, for instance. And tiny yellow flowers growing in the hard and rocky soil. It was quite beautiful.

My Swedish friend suggested I share on my blog the shots I snagged of gnarly trees at the Grand Canyon. So here are a couple of them.

Now you should mosey over to inte fan gor det det and see what she’s got going on today. If you like, you can take a look at her gnarly tree too, the post titled “En Underbar Vinterdag.”

Leave her a comment and let her know you stopped by. Tell her Paula from The Fruitful Life sent you.

And be a blessing to someone today.

Photos In “Frames”

Tyler is a photographer whose blog I follow. His shots almost always feature trees or at least some aspect of nature. Lots of leaves, stones, logs, and lichen. You should go there and take a look at The Ancient Eavesdropper.

His most recent photo challenge was to frame our shots in an interesting way. I’m by no means as good as Tyler, but I like to fool around with the Fuji and see what I can come up with. I’ve been meaning to take some pictures by the Kalamazoo River near downtown in my fair city. The river’s usually pretty quiet there, but the critters can be lively. Last night I stopped on my way home as the sun was setting. These are what I captured.

Canada geese flock all over here. Some even stay in winter if they can find food.

ducks framed 2

Looking northwest to the Hart-Dole-Inouye Federal Center, I took this long gander at a lone park bench (pun intended).

Fed Center framed

A lamp post ‘tunnel’ and a pattern in the railings frequently seen in Cereal City.

lampost tunnel

The path goes both ways and I thought of Robert Frost and that road less traveled.

lampost center framed

Next time I take the camera down to the river, I believe I’ll try early morning when the sun is on the other side of these same scenes. Perhaps I’ll even wait for December and venture out in the snow.

Be a blessing to somone today.

Turrets of the Castle

Today’s challenge was easy as far as selecting a subject. Not so easy getting the shot since this home sits on a busy street corner. My favorite elements of the structure, which we call The Castle, are the turrets. People live in the house, but probably feel like they’re in a tourist attraction. If you have friends visiting, it’s customary to drive by with them so they can see it too.

The Castle Architecture

Castles are cool. And I’ve liked dwellings made of stone since I was a child. This home sits in one of the historic neighborhoods of our fair city.