Photo of Da day @ Da Pine #285
Okay, we had rain twice yesterday, it was so wonderful for this dry desert. We went out on our walk this early afternoon full of great promise of what we might find. We were at the turn around point of our walk, about 1 1/2 miles. We stopped at this little grove of trees and soaked up some shade. We were about to start back when I looked down at Clovis who was totally oblivious to a 6 foot Red Racer that was literally right under him. I was not near quick enough and in the blink of an eye the Racer was off and went up one of the trees. We searched and looked for 1/2 an hour hoping to get a photo of a treed snake, but we never saw him again.
I was little bummed, but enjoyed the encounter none the less.
I have been stalking (to no avail) these Mexican Amberwing dragonflies that zoom around the seep spring. I was concentrating on keeping Clovis from jumping in the pond for a cooling dip, and almost walked past the present. There it was, a handsome male specimen perched on a reed and just still as the sun. I made several exposures all the time moving a little closer until he filled the frame of my D800.
What an amazing gift. God is just flat out amazing with his intricate design.
Don’t walk past your present on your journey†††††††nada te turbe††jim
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Photo of Da day @ Da Pine #284
I found this handsome Chihuahuan Spotted Whip-tail on our walk yesterday morning. The weather was cool and he seemed to be on a forage for something of interest. He allowed me to slowly maneuver into the 2-3 foot range. The view I most often get of these guys is an “eat my dust” look as they scream down the path with my dogs in futile pursuit.
I was blessed to follow and marvel in his intricate markings and camouflage for a few minutes. He quickly showed why he has racing stripes to vanish my nearness.
Show off your markings with a degree of humility on your journey†††nada te turbe†††jim
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Photo of Da day @ Da Pine #283
Finding safety in the thorns!
I found this khaki colored damselfly seeking shelter from the wind in the protection of a rolled leaf of the New Mexico thistle. Trick is to avoid the thorns.
I was somehow hearing Bod Seger wailing his great words from “Against the Wind”
And the years rolled slowly past
And I found myself alone
Surrounded bv strangers I thought were my friends
I found myself further and further from my home
And I guess I lost my way
There were oh so many roads
I was living to run and running to live
Never worried about paying or even how much I owed
Moving eight miles a minute for months at a time
Breaking all of the rules that would bend
I began to find myself searchin’
Searching for shelter again and again
Against the wind
A little something against the wind
I found myself seeking shelter against the wind
Well those drifters days are past me now
I’ve got so much more to think about
Deadlines and commitments
What to leave in, what to leave out
Against the wind
I’m still runnin’ against the wind
Well I’m older now and still
Against the wind.
You can only run so far against the wind on your journey†††nada te turbe†††jim
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Photo of Da day @ Da Pine #282
It was windy in Da Pine today. How windy you ask? Breezy enough to blow the brim off this Mexican Hat bloom.
“The older you get the stronger the wind gets — and it’s always in your face. “
–Jack Nicklaus
Set your direction by your sails and not the gales on your journey†††nada te turbe†††jim
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Photo of Da day @ Da Pine #281
Sing like there’s nobody listening.
Everyone has a tune to play, a voice to be heard.
Sound off like you had a pair on your journey††nada te turbe††jim
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Photo of Da day @ Da Pine #280
ON THE WRONG SIDE OF THE LEAF!
I know we can get up on the wrong side of the bed, we can also drive on the wrong side of the road. I always say I am on the wrong side of the camera if it is pointed at me. I am left-handed and so I am on the right side of my brain most of the time. Are you?
I found this unidentified insect perched on this blade of reed grass. I wanted to try and see what kind of bug it was, but I was blocked by the fact there was a yucky (a real scientific term) large puddle on the sunny side of the leaf. I was seemingly stuck on the wrong side of the leaf!
But the more I pondered my view, I was only on the wrong side of one view, I had a marvelous view from where I was, right or wrong?
Enjoy life from whatever side you happen to be on at the time†††nada te turbe†††††jim
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Photo of Da day @ Da Pine #279
WILDFLOWER OR A WEED?
Tahoka Daisy/Prairie Aster (Machaeranthera tanacetifolia)
By expert estimates, there are over 20,000 species of flowering plants in North America, belonging to about 300 different families. Those that grow in the wild or on their own, without cultivation, are called wildflowers. Wildflowers indigenous to the continent are called “natives”. Others, which may be quite common, but not indigenous, have been introduced from some other part of the world and are referred to as “naturalized.” Both types share one common distinction: They are equipped to grow on their own in nature.
Ah, what lies within a word ? Weeds, we think of as being offensive, invasive. Where as a wildflower can turn a head and a heart. One we savory, one we eradicate.
Change from a weed and become a wildflower on your journey††††nada te turbe††††jim
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Photo of Da day @ Da Pine #278
“Other seed fell on rocky ground, where it did not have much soil, and immediately it sprang up, since it had no depth of soil. And when the sun rose, it was scorched, and since it had no root, it withered away. Other seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no grain. And other seeds fell into good soil and produced grain, growing up and increasing and yielding thirtyfold and sixtyfold and a hundredfold.” And he said, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”……………….Mark 4:5-9
It is hard to prepare the soil after you have spouted.
Grow where you are planted on your journey†††nada te turbe††††jim
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Photo of Da day @ Da Pine #277
Okay, this is a little different post. A real break from bugs,blooms,beasts and beautiful views, but a true treasure none the less. This is a photo I made at my day job. We do High School sport portraits and we have 1/2 dozen schools that we still do the old school photos. Making school photos in itself is not a real stretch of creativity. The reward comes from getting to see kids grow up in front of our camera. We have been doing this in our small SW Texas area for over 20 years. We work with some coaches that we made sports photos of when they were in little league and Jr high.
For the most part, other than the getting to be with the young at heart, it is not a job that generates a lot of positive feedback. In the rush of trying to get 100-400 kids photographed in a short amount of time you will most often hear more complaints than compliments. I have come to accept that as part of what I do for a living, but every once in a while…..
We have been doing photos of this young man from his first year in school. When we did photos of him at an early age he could not sit on his own. His sister who is just a couple or three grades older than him had to support him in her lap. Her determination and flat out love for her brother has stayed with me as an example of unfailing love and unrequited affection. I have come to enjoy doing his photo more than most any of the other kids I do. He may not look into the lens and give you a knock out smile, but he will look into your heart and melt it like an ice cube on a summer day in the desert.
His mother posted these words about his photo on my facebook wall and it not only made my day, it made the last 20 years mean something.
“A pictures worth a thousand words! Or for me a thousand emotions! Some good some sad. I can’t begin to describe how I feel when I see Trent’s school pictures, mostly I feel grateful! it’s funny how seeing a picture can bring back so many feelings. You can even smell them and hear them and feel them! I never thought much of school pictures before, but it’s something I never thought I would have of Trent. And we have some great ones! Thank you Jim Work!
For a baby that was never suppose to be born alive, or make it through his first night, we sure have come a long way! I cant believe he is 7 years old! — “
Always remember there are others paying closer attention than you think on your journey††††††nada te turbe†††jim
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Photo of Da day @ Da Pine #276
God allowed a thorn, a messenger of satan, to harass Paul to keep him from becoming conceited. Paul asked three times, but God would not remove the thorn in his side saying, “my grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness” Paul continues, saying therefore, I will boast all the more gladly of my weakness, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weakness, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
Imagine if the thorn was in your heart?
I still, for the most part, try and avoid the thorns on my journey†††nada te turbe†††jim
