Pumpkins are everywhere this month…so I am including a few in BeckyB’s October lines & squares challenge. It seems appropriate.
Of course I could also include pumpkin muffins, pumpkin pie, pumpkin cookies and so on and so forth. But instead, I decided on the natural route. The “pumpkin/pumpkin spice” flavor popping up on store shelves has very little to do with an actual pumpkin anyway…and is more about cinnamon, allspice, ginger and nutmeg. A delicious combination no matter what you call it.
As a retired dietitian, I must add…a pumpkin (technically a fruit, but masquerading as a vegetable) is quite nutritious – full of Vitamin A, fiber and other fun micronutrients.
Last but not least…
Let’s not forget: pumpkins are multi-purpose.
If not cooked into various yummy treats, there is always the carving-into-scary-faces route.
Let’s see what happens when you pick up a small stone – the flatter the better – hold it just right between your thumb and first finger. Flick your hand back and then forward real quick – releasing it across the lake’s surface…
So it skips.
At 6 years old, you already play with rocks that you collect and line up in long rows on the deck railing at home. Separating them by size and shape. Carefully. Methodically. Counting them is also part of the fun.
But here it is different.
You and your family are at the lake.
You watch your daddy and see how he gets those stones to bounce across the water.
It is summer vacation after all.
No phones. No TV. No work. No school.
Hours upon hours to play.
Or maybe you’re only 3 years old. Your grampa is visiting to celebrate his 70th birthday and you want to try out your new doctor kit. He is your Patient of the Day.
First you listen to his heart. He is very quiet while you check it out.
Then he rolls up his sleeve so you can give him a shot. Because after all he might need one. Ooooh.
Inspired by Frank at Dutch goes the Photo Challenge: Tourism
So share some of your favorite spots from among your travels and tell us a bit about why you enjoyed it!
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I decided to take a break from posting photos from my favorite destination in California, and go with a tourist spot more local for this challenge. Perhaps others have the same experience in that we take for granted what is practically in our backyard.
Although I don’t live in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, it is within driving distance from my home. Despite the eclectic restaurants and shops lining the streets, I tend to avoid it because of the parking hassles. And seemingly supersonic growth of hotels and high end condos.
What happened to what was once a quaint little city?
Tourism.
Vacationers travel from all over the world to visit Portsmouth – especially in the summer. And for good reason. It’s also the time of year when I may brave the crowds…and the parking challenges. To pull up my lawn chair at the Prescott Park Arts Festival. This festival began on a much smaller scale in 1974…and is still going strong. A beautiful spot of land right next to the harbor.
I keep an eye on the schedule when it comes out each June. If I’m lucky, I can sit under the stars and watch a favorite musician or two perform. Many attendees bring a picnic dinner. Since the stage is also used for the summer musical, you never know what decorative sets will serve as the backdrop for that evening’s concert.
Two memorable nights:
Remember Peter, Paul and Mary?
Peter Yarrow gave a magical performance one night in 2012 – charming everyone there when he invited children up on stage at the end of the concert.
Prescott Park 2012Prescott Park 2012
One of my all time favorite Prescott Park concerts was in 2013.
Mary Chapin Carpenter and Marc Cohn shared the stage for another amazing night in the park.
Prescott Park 2013
Perhaps I’m a tourist after all.
Grateful for the opportunity right down the highway!
You can include images of buildings, people, objects, and/or elements from nature. Feel free to include shots of the same subject before you filled the frame and after you filled the frame.
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This past summer I had a butterfly experience.
In fact…a massive butterfly experience. As a photographer, I had never been this up close and personal with so many butterflies. As I was to find out, butterfly bushes are instrumental in attracting these beautiful – and elusive – quick-to-fly-away insects.
At first I was drawn to the bushes themselves.
But, after filling the frame, I got the scene I wanted.
A butterfly resting at (almost) center stage, highlighted against its signature flowers.
Filling the Frame
More recently, I found a patch of ferns in varying degrees of Autumn decay tucked behind a wire fence.
But on closer inspection…I uncovered an entirely different perspective.
A dance of textures and shades of green plus brown.
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