Photos, videos and docs of Janet Brien, with the keywords: "quote"

Pictures for Pam, Day 22: Happy Fence Friday

nobody@ipernity.com (Janet Brien) — Sat, 01 Dec 2018 02:24:21 +0000

Ok, ok I'll play already!! Happy Fence Friday, SHEESH! I know it's Saturday for all of you eager beavers out there who are so far in front of us slow US tortoises, but from where I'm sitting it's not quite 6pm so my picture counts! :D

This picture is part of an unpublished website I created to document the motorcycle trips that Steve and I have been on over the years. The last one we went on was about 2.5 years ago. The five-day trip took us from our home in southern Oregon down through California to San Francisco, south to Santa Cruz, east to Yosemite and north past Reno, Nevada, back into California and north through eastern California and finally back into Oregon past Klamath Falls and home. We went with a good friend who also loves photography and motorcycle touring, so we all had a fabulous time!

I took this picture from my position behind Steve on our BMW motorcycle! In fact, I got quite good at capturing the sights as we went along, gathering thousands of images of this trip when all was said and done. I thought this image was a good choice for my HFF submission because it also sums up what it meant to have our friend along with us on this great adventure. It was captured somewhere along the California coast south of Fort Bragg.

I really enjoyed revisiting my finished photography from that trip and it makes me wonder if I should go ahead and make the site live. It's basically done. There are journal entries of every day and it's fairly brimming with photography. I never took the final step to make it live because there are a few things that need some work, but the galleries are all there and the writing is done. So maybe I should share it…

Pam, I look at this picture and wonder if you've ever been on a motorcycle ride before. It is a very nice experience…you can feel the wind in your hair and smell the land around you. Instead of being boxed in and sealed by a car, you become part of the place that you travel through. We once had a friend who'd never been on a motorcycle before, so Steve gave her a ride over the Bay Bridge into San Francisco…she didn't stop beaming for hours. Maybe someday we will be travelling through your area with our motorcycle and Steve can give you a ride too if you would like! :) This is a joyful thing for me to picture. Hoping you are having a nice Friday!

253/366: Roscoe's Children Coming Out of Egg Sac

nobody@ipernity.com (Janet Brien) — Mon, 12 Sep 2016 03:06:08 +0000

Janet Brien has posted:

One day in September of 2012, I found a baby orb weaver spider on my front porch. Over the next year, I watched this baby get her first meal, survive a freezing winter, grow to adulthood, find a mate, make an egg sac, and finally, I saw her crawl slowly away under a bush to die. Somewhere along the way, I fell in love with this beautiful Cat-Faced Orb-Weaver, and I cried my eyes out when she died. Maybe just a spider to most, she was my little friend, and I missed her terribly in the months that followed. In fact, revisiting her pictures now pulls hard on my heart strings. I feel like I should be embarrassed that I feel sad as I look at all the pictures I took. How can a person become attached to a spider? I did though, and I feel pretty darn lucky that I got to know a spider well enough to cry over its death.

This is a picture of Roscoe's children, hatching out of the egg sac she made and protected until she was too weak to do so. Seeing all of these kids brings a tear to my eye. I wished that some of them would have stayed around, but they all left after a few days. What a great experience it was to know my friend Roscoe. :)

If you'd like to see Rocoe's story in pictures and tales, please visit her album here My Friend Roscoe

190/366: Golden Daffodils

nobody@ipernity.com (Janet Brien) — Mon, 11 Jul 2016 03:24:15 +0000

Janet Brien has posted:

This is another picture I took at my friend's property a few years ago. She and her husband planted countless daffodil bulbs and iris corms and I got to visit when they were in bloom. What an experience. Also a wonderful opportunity to practice my technique! :)

Explored on July 12, 2016. Highest placement, page 3.

179/366: Yellow Triple Rose Daffodil

nobody@ipernity.com (Janet Brien) — Thu, 30 Jun 2016 03:49:34 +0000

Janet Brien has posted:

Who knew that daffodils came in nearly countless shapes, sizes and styles? I certainly didn't! It's funny how it just doesn't occur to you that something very familiar may actually have many other appearances.

Here is a triple daffodil in yellow and orange and it was growing on my friend's estate south of Ashland in Oregon. She and her husband planted probably a thousand daffodil bulbs in every type they could find, and I had a lovely day a few years back taking pictures of them. What fun to learn that the normal yellow daffodil with its single beautiful flute can look so different!

354/365: "Anything becomes interesting if you look at it long enough." ~ Gustave Flaubert

nobody@ipernity.com (Janet Brien) — Sat, 21 Dec 2013 03:14:15 +0000

Janet Brien has posted:

2 pictures above in notes! :)

I was so busy today that the day flew by, and I suddenly looked up in shock to see that the sun was nearly down! Eeek!! I dashed outside and knew I needed to get my Picture of the Day right away if I intended on an outside image, as darkness was quickly closing in and the thick clouds above were heavy with impending rain.

For me, finding a nice subject usually requires me to "become one" with my surroundings. I need to slow down to feel the world around me, and I need to relax in order to see the natural beauty that reveals itself as I slip into the moment. When this happens, my senses become keener and I notice things I wouldn't normally. This "zone" is very special and makes me feel like I'm part of the natural world, as opposed to being just an observer. However, being in a hurry doesn't work, and the problem today was that I was really racing against time, so it was a challenge to keep myself from rushing. My solution was to race down to an area in the lower forest where I thought I might find something special, and then I stopped and just looked around, moving forward slowly and keeping my eyes open as I began to sense the forest.

I made my way towards the little footpath that the dogs and I walk on and then I saw a stump ahead, which made me smile because I remembered there was something special on it. Walking up to it, I found several polypore bracket fungi adhered to the old Oak stump, and I was again fascinated by them. If you look at these from any distance, or from above, all you see is a beige, boring lump. But if you crouch down and get really, really close, you will see that there are coral-like pores all over the underside! (see the inset image for a close-up) This particular fungus is especially interesting because the right side that looks like wood is actually old, dead fungus! I don't know if it died from something or if it's the previous fungus and this fungus is growing on top of it. Really cool to find and a neat Picture of the Day! I took several pictures and as I stood up, it began to rain. I made my way back to the house as it got dark and stepped inside just as it began to pour! What timing!

Gustave Flaubert (French: [ɡystav flobɛʁ]; December 12, 1821 – May 8, 1880) was an influential French writer widely considered one of the greatest novelists in Western literature. He is known especially for his first published novel, Madame Bovary (1857), for his Correspondence, and for his scrupulous devotion to his style and aesthetics. The celebrated short story writer Maupassant was a protégé of Flaubert. Wikipedia: Gustave Flaubert

353/365: "Creativity is not the finding of a thing, but the making something out of it after it is found." ~ James Russell Lowell

nobody@ipernity.com (Janet Brien) — Fri, 20 Dec 2013 04:11:07 +0000

Janet Brien has posted:

2 picture above in a note! :)

Today it was much warmer than it's been for weeks, about 35°F, oh my! :D It's amazing how long the snow has stuck around, since we got nearly 4" about two weeks ago but none since. It's been cold enough that it hasn't melted in the shady areas, which I like because it's pretty.

I went out without the dogs today and headed down to our dark and shady lower forest. I really hoped that I'd be able to find some mushrooms, but quite frankly, I was pretty sure there was no chance because it's been so cold. So instead, I thought I'd just cruise around and check things out.

Crossing the tiny, seasonal stream that's dry, I approached a fallen oak tree that I'm very careful around. You see, the top half of the dead tree broke off and fell to the ground, but it was caught in two younger trees on the way down, and this monstrous thing hangs precariously in the air, with much of the weight held up by its dead branches that fork the ground like legs. The two, much smaller, unfortunate trees which have been holding up the rest of the weight are strained and groaning under the mass. It is only a matter of time before gravity wins and the 3-foot thick, 10-foot long trunk come crashing down. So, I am careful to keep my distance.

Today I approached warily to look for interesting subjects to photograph. The first thing that caught my attention was an interesting insect egg case which looked similar to a praying mantis but wasn't the same...very fascinating! It was adhered to a pair of poison oak stems clinging to the main tree trunk. (I will show pictures of the case another day. :) After that, I continued peering around, looking at the branches, the trunk and the leaves. When I followed the main tree trunk down to the ground, I saw a patch of snow at the base of the main trunk. Then I did a double-take because I could hardly believe my eyes! Smack-dab in the middle of the snow was a mushroom poking a hole through and looking around! MY WISH WAS GRANTED!!

The fact of the matter is that I've been hoping to find exactly this sight since I began this project. I have a tiny, snow-capped mushroom that is actually my very first 365 image, but I have always wanted to find the opposite: a mushroom in a field of snow. And today I found it. It's a dream come true and I'm so happy I can hardly contain myself! :D (I am also including another picture to show the mushroom at a slightly different angle so you can see the hole it's poking through!)

When I worked my way around to the opposite side, and got the picture you see here, I saw a flash of beige on green and took a look: NO WAY! ANOTHER ONE!! On one of the branches that was holding up the massive trunk, a wee mushroom was growing in a sea of moss. HAPPY DAY!!! And in fact, there were even more mushrooms on the ground, but I already had pictures of these two and it would have taken a lot of work to clean up the area. More importantly, it would have meant spending a lot of time near this potentially deadly area, and there was no reason to put myself at risk. Literally, this trunk must weigh hundreds of pounds--and I don't want to be around when it falls!

James Russell Lowell (/ˈloʊəl/; February 22, 1819 – August 12, 1891) was an American Romantic poet, critic, editor, and diplomat. He is associated with the Fireside Poets, a group of New England writers who were among the first American poets who rivaled the popularity of British poets. These poets usually used conventional forms and meters in their poetry, making them suitable for families entertaining at their fireside. Wikipedia: James Russell Lowell

Explored on December 20, 2013. Highest placement, page 5.

352/365: "There is only you and your camera. The limitations in your photography are in yourself, for what we see is what we are." ~ Ernst Haas

nobody@ipernity.com (Janet Brien) — Thu, 19 Dec 2013 04:29:33 +0000

Janet Brien has posted:

1 picture above in a note! :)

I've had my eye on the pine tree next to the house for weeks now. Every day I see frost on the needles and I am dazzled when I look closely. I've taken a few pictures but not too seriously because on each occasion, I already knew what picture I'd be using for my Picture of the Day, and I could tell that these pine needles would need "first billing" when the time was right.

With my crazy schedule as of late, I really have to shake my tail when it comes time for my daily photo session. If possible, having an idea of what I'll be photographing is very helpful for speeding up the process when I'm too busy to just drift around, so today I got my camera and went right to the pine tree. Oh my. So much to see, so many interesting angles! There was frost on the pine needles and frozen droplets too, and I managed to get quite an assortment of neat images. I don't have time to share more than two of them tonight, but this one is my favorite! The second picture is a perfect pairing, showing one of these frozen droplets close up and from the side, where you can even see the trapped air bubbles inside! SO COOL and amazing to me that it's possible to show such tiny, beautiful scenes in a full-sized image to share with all of you! :)

Ernst Haas (March 2, 1921 – September 12, 1986) was a photojournalist and a pioneering color photographer. During his 40-year career, the Austrian-born artist bridged the gap between photojournalism and the use of photography as a medium for expression and creativity. In addition to his prolific coverage of events around the globe after World War II, Haas was an early innovator in color photography. His images were widely disseminated by magazines like Life and Vogue and, in 1962, were the subject of the first single-artist exhibition of color photography at New York’s Museum of Modern Art. He served as president of the cooperative Magnum Photos, and his book The Creation (1971) was one of the most successful photography books ever, selling 350,000 copies. Wikipedia: Ernst Haas

Explored on December 19, 2013. Highest placement, page 4.

351/365: "The ladder of success is best climbed by stepping on the rungs of opportunity." ~ Ayn Rand

nobody@ipernity.com (Janet Brien) — Wed, 18 Dec 2013 04:47:40 +0000

Janet Brien has posted:

I went out today feeling rushed and frustrated, not in the mood to look for pictures, but knowing there was something special going on outside. Things were frosty...but...everything was extra white, and that spelled something different. I was right. The frost was particularly long and extremely fine, which you can just see on the droplet and leaves. I spent more time than I could afford taking pictures because this was a rare frost and I wanted to capture it in as many images as I could to process later. I'm really glad I did because I found some very cool and amazing sights!

This frost-covered droplet is dangling from the curled, dried leaves of a teasel plant. Amazingly, I was able to get the frosty droplet and leaves in perfect focus with a teasel dropping away into bokeh behind! For me, that's insanely lucky, because something usually always messes up that kind of an attempt. But today, everything lined up just right! :)

Ayn Rand (born Alisa Zinov'yevna Rosenbaum; February 2,1905 – March 6, 1982) was an American novelist, philosopher, playwright, and screenwriter. She is known for her two best-selling novels, The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged, and for developing a philosophical system she called Objectivism. Born and educated in Russia, Rand moved to the United States in 1926. She had a play produced on Broadway in 1935–1936. After two early novels that were initially unsuccessful in America, she achieved fame with her 1943 novel, The Fountainhead. Wikipedia: Ayn Rand

Explored on December 18, 2013. Highest placement, page 3.

344/365: "Talk about it only enough to do it. Dream about it only enough to feel it. Think about it only enough to understand it. Contemplate it only enough to be it." ~ Jean Toomer

nobody@ipernity.com (Janet Brien) — Wed, 11 Dec 2013 04:55:56 +0000

Janet Brien has posted:

2 more pictures in notes above ! :)

First of all, thank you EVERYONE for all of your wonderful comments!! You don't know how wonderful it feels to read the nice things you have to say! :) Also, I have to giggle because I knew you guys would be teasing me about the temperature and I absolutely love it! I don't know how those of you who've mentioned can LIVE in sub-zero climates, HOLY COW!! You're all crazy! :D *big hugs* Also, I wanted to say that I'm in the middle of a project right now and haven't been able to comment, which is making me nuts, but I'm hoping to get some time soon so I can come and visit each of you. :)

As for me, I decided to take pictures inside today!! It was actually warm and balmy at 17 to 25 degrees today, but I saw my pink double-walled water cup on the counter with tiny bubbles sticking to the sides and thought, PICTURE OF THE DAY!! I had a great time taking pictures...sometimes there's nothing more enjoyable than a good abstract! After playing with the plastic cup, I saw a glass vase nearby with tiny bubbles too, and had more fun with that one. (Later I did go out and I got a bunch of very cool frost pictures but I didn't want to process them today. Something for another day! :)

Jean Toomer (December 26, 1894 – March 30, 1967) was an American poet and novelist and an important figure of the Harlem Renaissance. His first book Cane, published in 1923, is considered by many his most significant. Wikipedia: Jean Toomer

343/365: "I'm looking for the unexpected. I'm looking for things I've never seen before." ~ Robert Mapplethorpe

nobody@ipernity.com (Janet Brien) — Tue, 10 Dec 2013 05:25:03 +0000

Janet Brien has posted:

2 more pictures in notes above ! :)

Today marks the coldest day that I've ever experienced in a place where I live: 7°F degrees!!! That is so incredibly cold it's hard for me to understand...so I went outside because I needed to fill the bird feeders and in so doing, I had to lift the feeder off the metal pole...and I held the pole for just about 5 seconds. After about two seconds it felt like I was touching a hot iron!! WOW!! We have two bird feeders, so I used one hand for each pole, and then I shook my tail back into the house, yike-yiking all the way to the hot water to warm my freezing hands! :D :D HOLY COW THAT'S COLD!!!

Always the glutton for punishment, I noticed that the frost formations were just AMAZING, so...once my fingers warmed up, I got my camera, put on my boots again, and out I went to capture frost crystals! :D

This one is my favorite because it was a mistake. I was taking a picture of a different area and the flash illuminated this frost flake beautifully, showing how it grew out of the vinyl cover we have on our spa. I didn't realize they can form this way, isn't it fascinating?! (By the way, this is the same surface as the next picture...instead of being medium brown, it's burgundy, which I pushed closer to black to help pop the "frost-flake" out :)

Robert Mapplethorpe (November 4, 1946 New York City;– March 9, 1989 Boston, Massachusetts) was an American photographer, known for his large-scale, highly stylized black and white photography. His work featured an array of subjects, including celebrity portraits, male and female nudes, and stills of flowers. His most controversial work is that of the underground BDSM scene in the late 1960s and early 1970s of New York. The homoeroticism of this work fuelled a national debate over the public funding of controversial artworks. Wikipedia: Robert Mapplethorpe

342/365: "There are two kinds of light - the glow that illumines, and the glare that obscures." ~ James Thurber

nobody@ipernity.com (Janet Brien) — Mon, 09 Dec 2013 05:17:52 +0000

Janet Brien has posted:

2 more pictures in notes above ! :)

Today's surprise was waiting for me when I looked out our bedroom back door, which opens up onto our tiny upstairs deck. The eves were bristling with icicles and they were brilliant with the sun shining on them! I was so excited I ran in to tell Steve so he could see too. Both of us had a lot of fun taking pictures!

James Grover Thurber (December 8, 1894 – November 2, 1961) was an American author, journalist, cartoonist, and celebrated wit. Thurber was best known for his cartoons and short stories, published mainly in The New Yorker magazine and collected in his numerous books. One of the most popular humorists of his time, Thurber celebrated the comic frustrations and eccentricities of ordinary people. Wikipedia: James Thurber

341/365: "There is no definition of beauty, but when you can see someone's spirit coming through, something unexplainable, that's beautiful to me." ~ Liv Tyler

nobody@ipernity.com (Janet Brien) — Sun, 08 Dec 2013 05:07:54 +0000

Janet Brien has posted:

2 more pictures in notes above ! :)

We didn't get any new snow, but it's so cold that none of it melted, so I spent some time walking around our meadow looking for some fun pictures!

I found this leaf laying in the snow just as the upper forest begins at the base of our hill to the ridge. One look was all it took for me to say, "Picture of the Day!"

Liv Rundgren Tyler (born Liv Rundgren; July 1, 1977) is an American actress and model. She is the daughter of Aerosmith's lead singer, Steven Tyler, and model Bebe Buell. Tyler began a career in modeling at the age of 14 but, after less than a year, she decided to focus on acting. After her film debut Silent Fall (1994), she appeared in supporting roles in Empire Records (1995), Heavy (1996) and That Thing You Do! (1996). Tyler later achieved critical recognition in the leading role in Stealing Beauty (1996). She followed this by starring in supporting roles including Inventing the Abbotts (1997) and Cookie's Fortune (1999). Wikipedia: Liv Tyler

340/365: "Hold fast to dreams, For when dreams go, Life is a barren field, Frozen with snow." ~ Langston Hughes

nobody@ipernity.com (Janet Brien) — Sat, 07 Dec 2013 06:00:47 +0000

Janet Brien has posted:

2 more pictures in notes above ! :)

We woke up to a dusting of snow and a temperature of about 27°F degrees. Very soon it began to snow more and more, and we ended up getting about 4"! More than we got all last year, in one day!!

I was going to go out and get some fun macro pictures but as I started my day, I looked out to see the birds out at the feeders, which were empty! So I went out and filled everything up, put out suet, made new humminbird juice, and within minutes, it looked like a scene out of Snow White! Birds flying everywhere and enjoying the feast I put out for them! How could I resist taking pictures of them?! :D

My Picture of the Day features a favorite birdy, the lovely Oregon Junco. They are bigger than the ultra adorable Black Capped Chickadee but no less cute! They spend their winters here and we love seeing their boisterous antics every day! :)

James Mercer Langston Hughes (February 1, 1902 – May 22, 1967) was an American poet, social activist, novelist, playwright, and columnist. He was one of the earliest innovators of the then-new literary art form jazz poetry. Hughes is best known as a leader of the Harlem Renaissance. He famously wrote about the period that "the negro was in vogue" which was later paraphrased as "when Harlem was in vogue". Wikipedia: Langston Hughes

339/365: "Enthusiasm is the yeast that makes your hopes shine to the stars. Enthusiasm is the sparkle in your eyes, the swing in your gait. The grip of your hand, the irresistible surge of will and energy to execute your ideas." ~ Henry Ford

nobody@ipernity.com (Janet Brien) — Fri, 06 Dec 2013 05:06:27 +0000

Janet Brien has posted:

2 more pictures in notes above ! :)

The weather forecast said it would be cold this morning. REALLY COLD. They were right!! It was 14.5°F when we got up, and it was all I could do to force myself out the door into nature's freezer! But I simply HAD to see what happened to the frost when it was that cold, so I bundled up like little Randy in "A Christmas Story" and out I went with Molly at my side. She couldn't be happier in her thick double coat and had a grand time frolicking about while I marveled at the world around me. At first I didn't see anything all that special, but then I saw some boards with screws in them and could hardly believe my eyes!! The frost looked like miniature Christmas trees! So huge and detailed!!

I knew I had only about 15 minutes before I would be forced to get back inside, but in the end, I refused to go back for 30 minutes because I was enjoying the beautiful frosty sights so much! I found many "furry" screws like the one above, frosty planks, twigs, and leaves. and even I found a mushroom in the grass that was looked like it was covered in diamonds! I saw so many cool frosty things that by the time I got back to the house, I was very glad that I forced myself to go out into the cold! You all would be snorting in laughter to see me sticking my feet, one at a time, into a hot sink of water to get the feeling back into my toes! :D :D Too funny!! :D

Henry Ford (July 30, 1863 – April 7, 1947) was an American industrialist, the founder of the Ford Motor Company, and sponsor of the development of the assembly line technique of mass production. Contrary to popular belief, Ford did not invent the automobile nor did he invent the assembly line. Ford however was the first to develop and manufacture the first automobile that many middle class Americans could afford to buy. In doing so, Ford converted the automobile from a relatively unknown invention into an innovation that would profoundly impact the landscape of the twentieth century. His introduction of the Model T automobile revolutionized transportation and American industry. As owner of the Ford Motor Company, he became one of the richest and best-known people in the world. He is credited with "Fordism": mass production of inexpensive goods coupled with high wages for workers. Ford had a global vision, with consumerism as the key to peace. His intense commitment to systematically lowering costs resulted in many technical and business innovations, including a franchise system that put dealerships throughout most of North America and in major cities on six continents. Ford left most of his vast wealth to the Ford Foundation and arranged for his family to control the company permanently. Wiki: Henry Ford

Explored on December 5, 2013. Highest placement, page 3.

338/365: "Patience and tenacity are worth more than twice their weight of cleverness." ~ Thomas Huxley

nobody@ipernity.com (Janet Brien) — Thu, 05 Dec 2013 04:22:08 +0000

Janet Brien has posted:

2 more pictures in notes above ! :)

This morning Steve and I got up before dawn so to make it in time for our early eye exams and I think all of you would have snickered at how well I portrayed a zombie! :D We were out of the house by 7am and could not BELIEVE how cold it was--20.5°F degrees!!! And even though Steve had the car warming up for 5 minutes before we left, we needed to scrape the frost off the windows because it wasn't melting! :D

I looked mournfully at the beautiful frosty morning as we drove along and wished I could be out there taking pictures...of the two huge flocks of Canada Geese in the frozen fields...the light shining through everything and sparkling beautifully, the misty hillsides...it was so lovely. But who was I kidding? I really just wanted to go back to bed! :D

Though I hoped I wouldn't have to, my eyes were dilated for the exam, which meant I wouldn't be taking pictures until after the medicine wore off. Forlorn, I bid my hopes for frosty pictures goodbye, but I wasn't too sad because there would be plenty of opportunities in the coming weeks for more frosty goodness!

After I got home, I had to wait until 1:30 pm before my pupils shrunk from eerie basketball-size back to normal, and since it was beautiful outside, I told the dogs were were headed for the ridge, and all of us exploded out into the beautiful cold day to seek adventure and good times! :D

The ground was hard and crunchy here and there and though it wasn't frosty, it was still very cold at about 38°F degrees. I wondered if I might find some frost after all. Making my way carefully up the steep trail to the top, I avoided the smooth and slippery path which was slick and muddy. I'd done my share of sliding on that mud in the past, and was very careful to pick my way up cautiously with my camera and macro flash.

We headed to the far end of the ridge line, all of us exuberant and happy, and along the way I found a couple of beautiful "caught" leaves glowing in the afternoon light and I also found a manzanita trunk that had twists in it that reminded me of a straight candy cane!

As we neared the far end, I slowed to a stop in front of "Snakey's Log", because for some reason, it often has something wonderful for me to photograph under it! Moosey gave the log a sniff and I told him, "Move along, Mister, this is my log!" :D Lifting it up, I found a surprise! It was a very large, red centipede, curled up and beautiful. I managed to get many wonderful pictures before it slowly disappeared into a hole, but I won't be sharing those today. For fun, I gleefully showed Steve when he got home and chortled mirthfully when he looked and yelled, "EWWWWWWWWW, GROSS!!!" *cackle* Big baby. :D I recognize that my fascination with creepy crawlies is not shared by a lot of people so when I do share some of my "icky bugs", I'll save it for a day when I can warn you and let you decide if you want to see my pictures! :D

However, Snakey's Log had ANOTHER prize for me...a large group of mushrooms growing on it and peering up from around the sides! SO COOL!! I got many pictures, and no, not sharing them tonight either, but maybe in the next couple of days.

And yet...a third prize, which I AM sharing...and it's picture #2 tonight: another shining amber droplet with a sea of melting frost bokeh behind it! How wonderful to get another nice picture of these mysterious little droplets!

After replacing the log and beginning our return walk, I stopped at a pile of logs to check them out for mushrooms....DOUBLE PAY-DIRT!!! Not only were there mushrooms, but they were covered with frost!!!! Hooray for patience and tenacity!!! I thought I might get lucky but I wasn't sure. Here then, is my Picture of the Day. A beautiful, frosty mushroom, who waited in darkness for me to upend its log so I could find it wearing nature's finest jewelry! :)

Thomas Henry Huxley PC FRS FLS (4 May 1825 – 29 June 1895) was an English biologist (comparative anatomist), known as "Darwin's Bulldog" for his advocacy of Charles Darwin's theory of evolution. Wiki: Thomas Henry Huxley

Explored on December 5, 2013. Highest position, page 4.

337/365: "It cannot be seen, cannot be felt, Cannot be heard, cannot be smelt. It lies behind stars and under hills, And empty holes it fills. It comes first and follows after, Ends life, kills laughter." ~ Gollum, The Hobbit, by J.R.R. Tolkien

nobody@ipernity.com (Janet Brien) — Wed, 04 Dec 2013 03:36:32 +0000

Janet Brien has posted:

2 more pictures in notes above ! :)

I planned to get out of the house early enough this morning to catch the frost, but I dawdled too long and it was all gone by the time the dogs and I bounced out the front door. Just in case, I headed down to the shadiest part of the "light side" of our lower forest, hoping I might get lucky. Nope. Just a tiny bit here and there, but I'd missed the real show. Oh well, it's going to be very cold the rest of the week, so I'll try again tomorrow! :)

As the dogs had a fine time nosing around and looking for icky things to chew on, I began studying stumps, logs and branches. Our Oaks get positively COVERED with various lichens and fungi, and there seem to be endless varieties as I pay more and more attention. Every stick, every log, every piece of bark, has the potential of showing me something interesting and new! I feels like I'm in a gigantic toy store in the woods, with hidden surprises everywhere, just waiting to be discovered!

It didn't take long to find my day's treasure trove! Examining a couple of logs without seeing anything special, I reached over to grab a fallen branch and toss it aside...when my mind registered "CIRCLE" and I froze in mid-toss. I have trained myself to look for circles, ovals, and rounded shapes over leaves, and this has really helped me to find mushrooms. In this case, the circular shape was exceedingly small, and it took me a few seconds to race along the branch with my eyes to find what got my attention. MUSHROOM! There it was! Tiny and shriveled, this little mushroom was a brand new discovery for me! In the past, I've never found mushrooms on the thinner Oak branches, only the thick ones. But here it was! And then...I spotted another! And MORE! In twos and threes, many little mushrooms were poking out through the various species of lichen and moss attached to the branch! It was like a little village of fungus, all of them so precious and tiny, ranging in size between 1 mm and 1.5 cm! I had a hard time knowing where to begin, there were so many wonderful little shapes, positions and fun groupings! My biggest challenge was finding a way to balance the unwieldy branch without mashing mushrooms and still being able to get the angles I was after. Many pictures later, I was satisfied that I got my Picture of the Day, so I lay the branch back down, and just for fun, took a very good look at the tree's trunk and a living branch...YES! Lots and lots of tiny mushrooms!! I thought to myself, "I bet they've been here all along, and I've just never noticed them until now!" Isn't it just amazing how much there is to see out in nature?!! :)

When I got home, I found myself becoming overwhelmed at the sheer number of magical little scenes I'd been lucky enough to capture successfully, and it was really hard to narrow down my favorites. In the end I decided to go with this picture because the mushrooms are so cool looking the way they are peering down from their woody perches, the gloom deepening into darkness behind them. I found myself thinking of one of Gollum's riddles to Bilbo, one of the many they trade back and forth in the heart of the Misty Mountains. I have always loved those riddles, so I used the one I was thinking about as the quote for today. (If you don't know the answer, it can be found here: Lord of the Rings Wiki: The Hobbit: Riddles in the Dark

John Ronald Reuel Tolkien, CBE (3 January 1892 – 2 September 1973) was an English writer, poet, philologist, and university professor, best known as the author of the classic high fantasy works The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, and The Silmarillion. J.R.R. Tolkien

Explored on December 4, 2013. Highest placement, page 3.

336/365: "Happiness is the meaning and the purpose of life, the whole aim and end of human existence" ~ Aristotle

nobody@ipernity.com (Janet Brien) — Tue, 03 Dec 2013 05:46:36 +0000

Janet Brien has posted:

3 more pictures and a note above ! :)

It rained most of the day but I kept checking to see if it stopped, and finally it did, if just for a short time. I left the house without the dogs because I didn't want to spend 20 minutes drying them and wiping off mud! And since I was off on my own, I made a bee line for the lower forest, since I won't take the dogs because there's no fence to the main road.

As I left the house, I knew it was windy, but I didn't realize that stray droplets were coming down and spraying everywhere, so I ran inside to get a plastic bag to cover my camera while I crossed the smaller meadow, bracing myself against the chilly draft. Immediately upon entering the dark and moist lower forest, the wind dropped down to a slight breeze, and I was comfortable again. Ah, macro heaven! Where do I look first?!! :D

I immediately began finding little mushrooms, but they were buried in leaves and were too much work to excavate, so I moved on. I found some beautiful moss-covered stumps with wonderful sporophytes and pretty lichen. Then I found some beautiful Orange Jelly fungus and some itty bitty baby shelf fungus, and also some interesting white fungus that looked like rows of molar teeth! FASCINATING! I took pictures as I went along, and then arrived at a favorite area with many rotten logs and plates of bark. Everything was bristling with tiny fungus, moss, and lichen species, and when I found a large chunk of bark, I dropped down onto my knee pads and carefully turned it over.

"OHHHHHHH!!! Look at all the little white mushrooms!!! WOW!!! SO AMAZING!!! All over one section of this bark were dozens of extremely tiny shell-shaped mushrooms in various stages of development. I spent moments slowly gazing at all of them without my glasses, delighted at this stunning microscopic show I was able to enjoy.

I noticed that many had miniscule, period-sized dew drops on them, and suddenly I found a droplet on the edge of an absolutely perfect, heart-shaped mushroom! Happily, I took many pictures from various angles and apertures, hoping I'd get that impossibly tiny droplet in focus. When I got back to the house, I discovered that only a few were in focus, but to my delight, the one I was most hoping for was exactly right!! HOORAY!!! :D

Aristotle (384 BC – 322 BC)was a Greek philosopher and polymath, a student of Plato and teacher of Alexander the Great. His writings cover many subjects, including physics, metaphysics, poetry, theater, music, logic, rhetoric, linguistics, politics, government, ethics, biology, and zoology. Together with Plato and Socrates (Plato's teacher), Aristotle is one of the most important founding figures in Western philosophy. Aristotle's writings were the first to create a comprehensive system of Western philosophy, encompassing morality, aesthetics, logic, science, politics, and metaphysics. Wikipedia: Aristotle

Explored on December 3, 2013. Highest placement, page 3.

335/365: "Focus on the journey, not the destination. Joy is found not in finishing an activity but in doing it." ~ Greg Anderson

nobody@ipernity.com (Janet Brien) — Mon, 02 Dec 2013 05:25:17 +0000

Janet Brien has posted:

2 more pictures in notes above ! :)

We had to go into town today for groceries, and I asked Steve if we could stop at a little nature area on the way so I could take pictures off the property for a change of scenery. When we got there, I spent about 15 minutes looking around and in that time I found some very beautiful small shelf fungus as well as a pair of HUGE shelf fungus that measured about a foot or more across! Incredible! I also found some really cool tiny opaque/translucent mushroom-like fungus under a log, extremely tiny BLUE fungus with white edging, and some baby pill bugs!

I was really happy with my pictures and looked forward to choosing one for my Picture of the Day, but when we got home from our errands, I took a look outside, and saw some really fascinating clouds in the sky. As I stood looking, the sun set over the far hill and then I was RUNNING for my camera! HOLY COW THE COLORS!!! The colors were so intense they were coloring the walls in the house!! First I took pictures of what you are seeing here, and it just got prettier and more amazing as the seconds passed by. And then I looked out towards the south and nearly dropped my camera...HOLY SUNSET ON FIRE, BATMAN, THE SKY IS A RAINBOW OF COLORS!!! As I charged from room to room, looking for the best window to shoot from, I yelled at Steve to come and see, as I bounced out the back door and out onto our upper deck for pictures of the sunset over the Table Rocks. I've never ever seen colors like that over the Table Rocks before, and you can see that picture above as an inset or in the next picture. WHAT INSANE COLORS!!!

Greg Anderson is the founder of Cancer Recovery Foundation International, a global affiliation of national organizations whose mission is to help all people prevent and survive cancer. Greg Anderson

Explored on December 2, 2013. Highest placement, page 1 (#26).

333/365: “Seize opportunity by the beard, for it is bald behind.” ~ Bulgarian Proverb

nobody@ipernity.com (Janet Brien) — Sat, 30 Nov 2013 05:36:35 +0000

Janet Brien has posted:

6 more pictures and many educational notes from Wiki above ! :)

It was a lovely afternoon, so the dogs and I did another exploration climb up the hillside, looking for anything interesting as we went. They found all kinds of yucky dead things to chew on, and I found all kinds of interesting subjects to photograph!

When you have a macro lens, an acre is more like a mile or more, so there are many possibilities to discover as I amble along. First I found some interesting shelf fungus. Then some strange orange-brown fungus that was very interesting to look at. Keeping an eye on the dogs, I saw Moosey chewing on a stick and Molly and Zoe investigating something terribly intriguing to them. :D Half way up the hill I found a wooden surveyor's stake laying on the ground, and when I carefully turned it over, I found a wonderful brown spider with a lovely furry abdomen! Making my way around a tree I remembered a year ago, I looked down and found a rock encrusted with clear and white quartz crystals! FUN!! Moving up the hill, I saw a rotten oak tree and noticed something large at the base, and it looked suspiciously like fungus. Creeping closer, I gasped in delight. A FUNGUS ON MY BUCKET LIST!!! HOORAY!!!! I had found a Bearded Tooth Fungus!!!! SO COOL!!!! (You can read more about this fungus in notes on the picture above!)

The fungus was a group of three clumps, taking up the space of about two feet. Each clump was about 1 foot in diameter (one of them overlapped another) Funny enough, I spent about 10 minutes excavating the lowest one because I could photograph it more by itself, but when I took pictures of this second one, which is attached to the oak tree at the left, I realized that this one was much prettier and better to show. It's actually a good thing I found these today, because they are showing age and damage from the frost, but are still in fine condition for a picture to share! :) (I also have a close-up as an inset, so interesting to look at!)

By the way, something surprising happened while I was cleaning up the area for my picture. I heard a heavy "WHOMP" sound next to me, and I looked up to see a large bird which was very surprised to see me. Before I focused on the bird, it immediately took off and flew over to a tree within sight, landing on the side and identifying itself as a woodpecker of some type. The thing is, I'd never SEEN such a HUGE woodpecker before! I only saw a flash of red on its head and its slate grey back but when I got back home, I found that what I had seen was a Pileated Woodpecker!! I really had no idea that a woodpeckers could be so big, what I saw was even larger than a Northern Flicker! (Pileated Woodpecker: 16-19", Northern Flicker: 11-14"). What's also interesting is that the fungus was covered with chunks of rotten wood ripped out of the tree and it appeared to be recently dug out. I'd actually looked around to see if there were any signs of what might have been doing the digging...and what do you know?! I found the source! I only hope that my presence didn't make it leave for another possible home. I left as soon as I got my pictures taken, so hopefully it came back to finish working on its now abode.

A proverb (from Latin: proverbium) is a simple and concrete saying, popularly known and repeated, that expresses a truth based on common sense or the practical experience of humanity. They are often metaphorical. A proverb that describes a basic rule of conduct may also be known as a maxim. Proverbs are often borrowed from similar languages and cultures, and sometimes come down to the present through more than one language. Both the Bible (including, but not limited to the Book of Proverbs) and medieval Latin (aided by the work of Erasmus) have played a considerable role in distributing proverbs across Europe. Mieder has concluded that cultures that treat the Bible as their "major spiritual book contain between three hundred and five hundred proverbs that stem from the Bible."[1] However, almost every culture has examples of its own unique proverbs. Proverbs

334/365: “With confidence, you have won before you have started." ~ Marcus Garvey

nobody@ipernity.com (Janet Brien) — Sun, 01 Dec 2013 06:59:06 +0000

Janet Brien has posted:

3 more pictures in notes above ! :)

A couple of weeks ago, I finally started going out with our Canon macro flash and forcing myself to get used to the extra weight. It's been tremendously rewarding and every day I've been able to take pictures that I wouldn't waste my time with previously. When working at a macro scale, your depth of field needs to be very deep if you want to get an entire object in focus, and that's simply not possible without a tripod or a flash if you're as close as possible and the subject is tiny. Believe me, I've tried to be stubborn, but it's a waste of time. Even though my camera handles very high ISO extremely well, a tightly cropped, extreme macro is not usable with ISO higher than about 600-800 or so (depending on various factors). Needless to say, lower ISO is better. I know it, and I was just TIRED of fighting with light constraints.

I'm still learning to use this flash (and I know I have a lot to learn!), but I'm comfortable with it now and my reward is being able to look at everything with a high potential of getting a great picture! Suddenly, the zillions of tiny things in darker places are now available to me. Talk about EXCITING!!

Today the dogs and I went up onto our ridge again and I made a bee line down to the end of the trail because that's where there's a high percentage of conifers and a moister environment. I found lots and lots of mushrooms and other interesting non-macro subjects (like some cool oak burls and a cute picture of Molly glowing with happiness), and enjoyed peering closely at countless logs, bark and rocks. I got images of 9 different mushrooms in groups of 1-3, and as I was about to head back, I looked down and saw this crazy lichen! I've seen one similar to this, but not so ornate and beautiful. Next to this lichen I found another very odd type of lichen too, and I will share that another day. I'm so happy that I was able to get a crisp picture of this cool lichen to share! :) (By the way, I think this lichen is called Cladonia cervicornis)

Marcus Mosiah Garvey, Jr., ONH (17 August 1887 – 10 June 1940), was a Jamaican political leader, publisher, journalist, entrepreneur, and orator who was a staunch proponent of the Black nationalism and Pan-Africanism movements, to which end he founded the Universal Negro Improvement Association and African Communities League. He founded the Black Star Line, part of the Back-to-Africa movement, which promoted the return of the African diaspora to their ancestral lands. Marcus Garvey

Explored on December 2, 2013. Highest placement, page 8.