05-30-13 Both Sides Now

So have you ever pondered the backside of a pink tulip? You have now. The title, as my friends from the '70s may recognize, is borrowed from Joni Mitchell's song by the same title, though in her case, she's talking about clouds.

And, yes, those are real rain drops on the tulips, which are bent over both by the wind and by age.

07-21-12 Rain Drenched

I have been known to "fake" rain drops by spraying leaves and petals of my garden subjects. But these drops are real: it actually rained the other morning!

Wooden Boat

Mercurial

I was disgustedly looking out our dining room windows, wondering if the cold rain would end any time soon. But then I saw the silver lining - wind-driven rain had covered the window in beads of water of random size and shape.I like how each drop reflects the color of the greenery in our back yard and how the bright silver of the beads makes them look droplets of mercury. You've never seen drops of mercury? In the 60's it was part of our middle school science curriculum to get to play with mercury! The teacher came around with a heavy bottle of silver liquid and poured globs onto our tables. It was liquid metal.And when the teacher wasn't looking, we took silver dimes and coated them. They stayed slippery for days as the mercury evaporated. Do I have mental problems and other infirmities because I played with what I now know was a highly poisonous material? No doubt.Canoon 5DII 1/60s f/4.0 ISO800 100mm