Seemingly a bridge, but truly a pier

This setting was something I came across while doing an project for a builder who wanted his home documented. Having spent a couple of hours photographing details of the interior and exterior and putting the home completely in context for a variety of uses, I was on my way home. And here was this most gentle, but beautiful scene. Lyrical. Simple. Soft and hard. Nature punctuated with a bit of color. It was a total surprise and one I savored.

Wide River Gallery, a slightly different take

I'd never thought about what this site was to be specifically. In general I thought it would be to showcase my photography. Then I realized that there are other things that can be brought to people than my photography (although it will come through things that I've photographed). That said, here is a photo of an artist's work I saw at the Wide River Gallery in Colonial Beach yesterday. They are stark, straight forward and quite wonderful. What was even more interesting was the poetry that went with them. Connie Canby, the owner/proprietor of Wide River pointed the poetry out to me. I'm not a big poetry person...it isn't what really reaches me, but when it does, it really does. This was a special treat.
I found the whole gallery is really humming with things to look at and at reasonable prices. There is jewelry, special ceramic pieces, and pottery and some woodworked bowls, all of which are worth a look, as well as the two featured artists. A very worthwhile destination, if you are in that part of the world....oh, and across the street (diagonally) a Thai restaurant!!

Misty morning farmhouse with barley in foreground

It's funny how you can drive past something day after day and never see any character in it. It just sits there and doesn't have much to say. You just race by and it is another mile in the road, that is all. Then sometimes it is totally different; transformed by the weather or the light or the time of year...the season and what is present just for a brief time.
This photo falls into that category. I've driven by there hundreds of times and never been interested to stop. Then this one moment arrived and it was a moment to savor. I hope you enjoy it too.
As another interpretation of this beautiful scene, my sister Bonnie Murray has done a painting as well which you can see by selecting the link.

Poison ivy barn

This barn is no longer standing. I took photos of it over the years and found that at this point it was just about gone. Totally covered with poison ivy and leaning precipitously, it lasted only a couple more weeks. Now, where it stood, there isn't even a pile of rubble. It has all been carted off.
This isn't the first time that a barn I felt strongly about disappeared. I think the first time I really kicked myself over taking (or not taking) a photo was of that beautiful barn off to your right as you drove across Broaddus Flats toward Richmond. That was years ago that it stood out there in the field, and it is long gone. I never stopped. I always thought there'd be another day, and there wasn't. I missed the opportunity.
Another barn that I loved and lost was one here at Naylors. I photographed it for years and one day after a very strong wind storm my husband said, it's going to go-- it's defying gravity. So I went down the road and over the little bridge at Cat Point and I photographed it--not that I believed him really. So the next day as I was driving home, he called me on my cellphone and said, don't drive off the road. Your barn is gone, and it was. Tomorrow I'll post that one. Both the poison ivy barn and the Naylors barn truly defied gravity even if just for a few brief moments.

A touch of summer flowers

When it works out I help friends of mine with flowers to take to the various farmers markets. In a way it is a rather overwhelming job. They have the flowers picked by the workers and when I arrive there are buckets and buckets full of them. You might think oh, what an idyllic sort of job...there's a bit more to it than that.

A series of ball jars are put up on top of a makeshift table. Maybe a dozen of them are put out to work at once. Once filled with water and strategically located, then it is a rush to fill them as quickly as possible. This means placing taller pieces in first and then filler and then nice big flowers like zinnias and rudbekia to give the bright colors of summer. An occasional sunflower might be a hit. Anyway, it is demanding to do set after set of a dozen arrangements and when I'm finished, I'm usually pretty exhausted. But it is a labor of love for this is the real thing...real flowers, going to real people who might not have that bit of country color otherwise. A joy truly, but one that takes some effort.