There is something otherworldly and a little creepy about this photo of a jellyfish, at a northern California beach, with human shadows. They belong to my son and me, but don’t we look like paranormal characters? OK, maybe not. Must be the jellyfish.
This California Towhee isn’t the flashiest of birds, but I thought it had panache. It may look plain and brown from a distance, but on closer inspection its subtle color is distinctive.
This image reminds me of the expression, “cute as a bug.” But although this creature is referred to as a ladybug or ladybird, it is of course not a bug or bird, but an insect. This nice, fresh-looking lettuce is making me hungry…for salad, not insects!
This makes me think of summer, which is a nice feeling in January. I like thistles, because they are prickly and uninviting and at the same time fascinating and beautiful. You just have to be careful approaching them. Kind of like some people. Hmm.
This almost looks like the aurora borealis-in orange! But it is actually raining clouds at sunset. I took this from in front of my house, looking east. It was taken at the same time as the photo in a previous post https://jmnaszady.wordpress.com/2011/04/11/changes/.
Precipitation that evaporates before it reaches the ground is called virga. It could be rain or snow. So now you have my picture for the day, and a word for the day. Remember to use the word “virga” in a sentence, and the word will be yours!
It’s hard to believe that this elegant, historic home is hidden in a remote community in the northern California mountains. It was probably built by a timber baron. I like the mystery of its hidden past though, because it’s more fun to make something up. (History was never my favorite subject, anyway!)
This house could be located anywhere that you decide to put it. Who lives here? An eccentric octogenarian? A librarian who won the lottery? How about a bizarre religious sect?
What kind of history does this estate have? How many people have lived here? How many were born, or died, or both, under this roof? How many people does it take to keep it looking this fabulous? Was anyone home when this picture was taken? What were they doing?
This game could go on forever, but I’m certain there must be something else I should be doing right now. Have fun with your imagination. Dream big!
Imagine that you are standing next to this rose. Can you smell its sun-warmed perfume? How about the redwood chips on the ground behind it? Does their pungent odor tickle your nostrils?
Listen. Do you hear the buzzing of the insect as it hovers and lands on the edge of a petal? Does it hum past your ear as it leaves the scene?
Reach out and touch the smooth, dusty leaves. Watch out for those thorns! Gently brush your cheek against a petal.
Now get back to whatever it was you were doing before I distracted you. Repeat as often as you need to keep your life in perspective!
I think this cloud over Humboldt Bay in northern California looks an awful lot like the Starship Enterprise. And I’m not even a Trekkie. What else can I say?
Why is it that people just can’t resist adding captions to images of animals? Are humans so self-involved that everything they see is always about them? Or is it just too much fun to resist?
When I look at this image, captured near the shore of Clear Lake, CA on a fall morning, I have plenty of questions.
What are these two egrets looking at? Are they watching the open water and the shore at the same time? Why does one bird have one foot up, and the other have both feet down?
And, in spite of the popular expression “bird brain,” I want to know what they’re thinking about. Do birds ever get bored? There was a huge crowd of birds on the surrounding docks this particular morning. It looked like some kind of formal gathering.
It was sunny and warm. Must have been a nice spot. I would have liked to watch them all arrive and leave. Bird watching really is an awful lot like people watching.
For some reason, I find this photo very entertaining. Some say a picture is worth a thousand words. Well, I’m certainly not going to type a thousand words right now, but I will comment on why I find this so interesting.
It reminds me of those posters that tease your visual perception. They show the names of color words in different colors than the name depicts, like the word orange in green letters. What our eyes see doesn’t match what we already know about what we see. We don’t usually say “orange” when we see something that is green.
This is a photo of a train. The sign on the side of the road says, “ROCKS.” It doesn’t say, “Watch out for falling rocks,” or even just “falling rocks.” It doesn’t say,”rocks in the road” or “rocky road” either. I guess now my readers are beginning to salivate and think about the last time they had an ice cream cone.
See how interesting this photo is?
Shouldn’t the sign say, “TRAIN”? I mean that seems logical. I don’t know about you, but I think the train is definitely dominating the scene. The crumbles lying on the edge of the road might be rocks, but we don’t know that for sure unless we walk up to them, and why do we even care? The train is so much more interesting than the rocks, at least in my opinion.
If the train were not around, the sign would still be there, and whoever saw it would probably be on the lookout for rocks if they noticed it. I think that when I took this we were stopped for road work, and I thought taking a picture of the passing train would be better than just sitting there waiting. What do you think?
When You're Bored 