A Change of Scenery – Our guest host, Beth, challenges us to show images of somewhere different from where we usually like to take photos. It doesn’t have to be far from home, and photos from the archives would be good, too.
Slow down and enjoy life. It’s not only the scenery you miss by going too fast – you also miss the sense of where you are going and why. – Eddie Cantor
I have been waiting for a sunny, and less windy day, for my outing. This area is about three kilometers from my home, and I visit every year at least once, looking for orchids. But that is in May-June. So, this was the first time in a winter month. Usually there is too much mud on the trail this time of the year, but we have had a fairly dry period since February – so, for a change of scenery, I went after breakfast.
There were many fallen trees covered in mosses, some with rolled up bark sleeves – and I happily noticed that the lapwings are back!
The really happy person is the one who can enjoy the scenery, even when they have to take a detour. ― Sir James Jeans
About half of the hike is on boardwalk, and it was of course the other half of it that I was worried about. But there was no need to be, it was perfect. No wet feet or shoes, only bouncing trails and singing heart.
Last year’s leaves lingering, waiting for youngsters to let them go… and catkins heralding the spring, but …
The key to a better life isn’t always a change of scenery. Sometimes it simply requires opening your eyes. ― Richelle E. Goodrich
…the real green so far is only sweet moss. There are some more weeks to go before swelling buds and the new leaves dare showing their faces. Always a long wait…but when spring takes the leap, everything almost always goes too fast. We want to keep it slow…making that special feeling of Life returning last as long as possible.
Thank you all for sharing your special moments with us last week – very positive and inspirational! – and some tears as well…
Click here to visit Beth’s beautiful “A Change of Scenery” of a small town on the Gulf Coast of Florida. We hope you will join us. In your post, please include a link to her original post and use the Lens-Artists tag so everyone can find your post in the WordPress reader.
This week, we will look beyond the life-changing events and share some other special moments and what they mean to us, Tina says. I think we all have so many of them…It will be hard to choose, but I will try to pick some unforgettable ones …
A moment of solitude and contemplation on this small crater island of the Azores. Walking up the mountain, we did not know what to expect when turning around the bend… but the scenery was breathtakingly beautiful – The feeling of floating free in this silent universe. Blue hydrangeas, blue sky and blue ocean – and us flying on a green, tiny spot in the middle of it all… Otherworldly.
The Pothala palace is representing the Dream-Come-True moments in my life. I have been so lucky as to have a few of those. So, I finally arrived in Tibet, after some 40 years since I read about Shangri-La in Lost Horizon, the 1933 novel by James Hilton, and saw the movie Lost Horizon from 1937. They represented the enigmatic and enchanting world out there…far away from my home and far away from any landscape I had ever been. I was lost for words – and breath – in the thin air.
Kauristam
As a devoted tree-lover, the moment when the ”jungle” opened up and I saw Tane Mahuta, North Island, New Zealand, belongs to the most special ones in my life. I can still feel the awe and how we all fell silent…seeing him standing there – the Life Giver.
April 2017, and I met Michael Lindnord and Arthur. The Swedish multi sport team were in Ecuador 2014, trying to win the world championships. Instead the team leader, Mikael Lindnord, found that in the middle of the jungle, his team of four had got a fifth member…Arthur. Mikael had never had a dog of his own and never thought of getting one – he was a tough athlete and a determined leader for his team. But, all it took was one meatball…
King Arthur. He owned the place from the first second he entered the room. I loved every minute of being close to him, touching him and listening to their story. Seeing the very special bond between Mikael and Arthur.
Mikael himself says that Arthur stands for Hope. The Lindnord family have also started a fund for homeless dogs in Ecuador – There is hope for many ill treated and abused dogs with people like Mikael, who was prepared to even let go of his team’s victory to save this dog’s life. Mikael says he recognized himself in Arthur that very first day…they both stand tall, they never give up. So, how could he let Arthur down, when the dog put all his trust in him ?
December 9, 2020, Arthur passed away from an aggressive cancer, 13 years old. 2021 is the startup for shooting the Hollywood movie – ArthurThe King, with Mark Wahlberg starring together with a not yet chosen dog to play Arthur. I am looking forward to seeing it – hopefully cinemas will be open by then…
I can honestly say, that no other journey in my life gave me more special moments than the one to Arthur’s home country, Ecuador. Sailing along the Napo River in the Amazon and in the Galápagos Islands.
I could not stop watching them, all these little seabirds following our sailing boat in Ecuador. They could actually walk, run and stand still on the water! This is the smallest seabird in the world – an Elliot’s Storm-Petrel. Another enigmatic fact is that no nesting site for these birds has ever been found…
The stay at Sacha Lodge on a quiet lake – open to all the sounds of the jungle – still echoes in my mind today, 5 years later. Silent canoing through the tangled forest, watching swarms of monkeys foraging in the trees, jumping and playing. And the tiny Paradise Tanager – shooting veritable neon lightings in the trees – (I only managed to capture a couple of them in a photo) The first glimpse of the flock was very special – they moved faster than Chip ‘n’ Dale juggling around with the colourful Christmas baubles – and Pluto trying to handle the situation…
So, I will end with the late evening climb up in the Kapok tree, staying for the day’s last hours watching the sun set over the Amazon Basin. Imagine the sounds, the light, the soft warmth, the birds and the monkeys calling each other…I have never slept better in my entire life, than I did in the Amazon jungle.
Finally, a big Thank You for the inspirational set of Natural Lights, and hopefully you will join in for some special moments too! Please link to Tinas original post, and add the Lens-Artists tag.
Next week we’re excited to announce Beth of Wandering Dawgs as our Guest Host. Be sure to stop by and check out her always-interesting blog. Until then, stay safe and be kind.
Remember: Always walk in the light. And if you feel like you’re not walking in it, go find it. Love the light. – Roberta Flack
This week, Amy’s beautiful challenge inspires us to explore natural light. In photography, light is everything. And for this week’s challenge, I’m offering you a gallery of images with some of my favourite natural lights. No sunrises and no sunsets though…
Light in Nature creates the movement of colors. – Robert Delaunay
After a short walk by the sea, the late evening clouds opened up for a dramatic sky. An autumn evening. Driving home, I noticed the colourful sky behind me, stopped and made it stay with me for ever.A similar sky, but much warmer, with the clouds mimicking the dunes. Compare the two of them, and you will see the hues are completely different.I love backlit, and light shining through petals, clouds or cloth. This piece of art reminded me of my camping days.Soon the beloved wood anemonies will be here…carpeting our forest floor.Backlit berries in my garden – in the middle of the day.Magical light through heavy clouds – a favourite catch.And right now, I would love to just sail away on a soft, warm night…and into the sunset…
I hope you’ll join Amy and the rest of us this week as we explore natural light. I’m looking forward to your posts and your inspiration!
Last week my LAPC#137: Soft challenge gave us the chance to see all your diverse, fun, and beautiful interpretations – and there were many smiles and much loveliness. Thank you!
Next week, Tina will lead the challenge, so please stop by Travels and Trifles and join the fun on Saturday, March 13th at noon.
Have a strong mind and a soft heart. – Anthony J. D’Angelo
In fact I consider being soft a virtue and an asset. Maybe not always…but almost always!
Now, after all the incredibly creative S’s from you for Patti’s alphabet challenge… we’ll continue with another S – Soft. (Hopefully you haven’t run out of images on Soft for Patti…) So many things are Soft…to look at, to touch, to listen to… we even have software for our technical devices. This challenge is all about how you want to interpret Soft – we are looking forward to seeing your choices! Please link to my post and add the Lens-Artists tag.
I just have to start with Snow – as we have had so much of it this year. Snow envelops you in a soft and silent world. It was many years since I did some serious skiing, but I am not afraid of falling in the soft and fluffy snow.
Soft, almost creamy snow on the old ship setting from the Viking Age.Soft landscape with clouds, hills and autumn trees. A favourite dogwalk.Have you ever touched a bumble bee? They ARE soft! Unless you get stung…
My Totti is very soft – and not only his fur. Soft are also the dandelions sailing away to sit on his nose in the soft evening light.
I also have a spring ”softie” on my table every year – acacia, or mimosa, as we call it. Its yellow flower balls always make me smile and walk into that room as often as possible… I wonder if acacia will be possible to grow in my glass house? I certainly will give it a try!
Finally – thank you again for inspiring us every week! Next week, March 6, Amy will be hosting Lens-Artists Photo Challenge #138 and as promised, we reveal the theme already: Natural Light. Be sure to pay her a visit and hopefully join in. In the meantime, have a lovely, creative week! And… please stay safe.
There is another alphabet, whispering from every leaf, singing from every river, shimmering from every sky. ― Dejan Stojanovic
So, let’s start with a Summerhouse Sunset…and then travel South for some more S’s…before coming Safely back again.
Sandy Sahara panoramaSunny Sea in SpainSnowy Steps in SwedenSpider web in my Summer gardenSerene
Now, this week we invite you to share images that feature a subject starting with the letter S. Or, capture an image that illustrates a concept with the letter S, such as serene, somber or silent. In your post, include a link to Patti’s original post and use the Lens-Artists tag so that everyone can find your post in the WP Reader.
Last week, we were inspired by Sheetal’s marvelous challenge, ” Glimpse into Your World” Starting in India, your posts took us all around the world. Thank you for sharing the places, people, and things that make you happy – and made us happy too.
Next week, I, Ann-Christine, will be hosting Lens-Artists Photo Challenge #137, so be sure to pay me a visit and hopefully join in. In the meantime, have a lovely, creative week and please – stay safe and warm!
Think of all the beauty still left around you and be happy. – Anne Frank
This week, we welcome Sheetal as our special guest host, with the theme A Glimpse into your world. ”Show us the things you love that makes your world spin or things about your world that make you delirious with joy.” Sheetal tells an interesting story of music and travel – and of The Beatles!
Many things in life fill me with joy, but few things make me ”delirious” anymore. I guess that comes with age…but I always strive to keep my eyes and mind fresh and open. My most enchanted moments are always with Nature and all its living creatures, with Flowers and Light. Together they make my world complete and whole. I must live close to nature and just like Monet, “I must have flowers, always, and always.” And Light. With these few images from my Nordic home, I want to show some of the moments when I felt totally immersed in the beauty and wonder of our planet.
Secret gardens16000 cranes arriving at Hornborgasjön, early morning, 3 am
One of the strange things about living in the world is that it is only now and then one is quite sure one is going to live forever and ever and ever. One knows it sometimes when one gets up at the tender solemn dawn-time and goes out and stands out and throws one’s head far back and looks up and up and watches the pale sky slowly changing and flushing and marvelous unknown things happening until the East almost makes one cry out and one’s heart stands still at the strange unchanging majesty of the rising of the sun–which has been happening every morning for thousands and thousands and thousands of years. One knows it then for a moment or so. ― Frances Hodgson Burnett, The Secret Garden
Nordic Light – Sweden
Nature is so powerful, so strong. Capturing its essence is not easy – your work becomes a dance with light and the weather. It takes you to a place within yourself. – Annie Leibovitz
Nordic Light – Norway
Give light, and the darkness will disappear of itself. – Desiderius Erasmus
Nordic Light – Denmark
I really just want to be warm yellow light that pours over everyone I love. – Conor Oberst
Nordic Light – Iceland
By almost any measure, Iceland is one of the world’s most unique lands. – Roger K. Sandness
And the Nordic Light – is purely Natural.
Remember: Always walk in the light. And if you feel like you’re not walking in it, go find it. Love the light. – Roberta Flack
Thank you for last week’s fun challenge from Tina – and thank you All for showing us more useful tricks to enhance forgettable pictures! Very creative. As always, please remember to link your responses to Sheetal’s original post, and to use the Lens-artists tag to help us find you. Until next week, stay warm, well – and even a bit delirious with joy? We are looking forward to seeing what makes Your world spin!
Leya 
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