PHOTOGRAPHING NATURE IN OUR YARD

I want to thank Phyllis for taking over the blog on Monday. I am just getting over my first cold in fifteen years and I was not in any shape to be on the computer!! I have not been out of our house in five days and as much as I love our house, I am going a little stir crazy!! 

For today's blog I thought I would keep it close to home. I thought I would see what kind of images I could capture in fifteen minutes in my yard, I love to give myself little challenges lol. I would also use only one lens, my 70-200 Nikon zoom.  

I went out my door at about 8 AM and saw these in front of my house on the street. Okay, not strictly my yard but I thought it would be fun to show what we get to see many days in Florida; a couple of cranes resting on our street!! 

 

In our front garden I shot this image. It is a cloud covered morning which is great for photographing flowers.

I then walked toward our backyard and passed our Magnolia tree.

I have really enjoyed seeing this tree with its beautiful flowers. They open up and die all in one day but it is a glorious day!!

I even like this flower before it fully opens! It rained last night and you can see the drops on the flower.

I have taken pictures of these flowers before and posted a complete life cycle of one earlier this year. I thought I would try for a little different look this time.

It's the same idea with this one. I used a little diffusion to give it a dreamy painterly look.

Then it was on to my backyard to see what I could find! These are the leaves from one particular plant that is in my garden. I thought instead of taking a picture of the whole plant, I would look for some abstract images within it!

As I was photographing this plant, something moved to my left and caught my attention!! I love these little creatures and they are all over our property.

                    I saw this rain drop about to fall off!!

This image shows one of the ground covers I planted this year. I love the texture apparent on this picture!

       I was leaving when I saw this shot. I loved the lines and colors!

So there it is my walk around my backyard. I hope you enjoyed seeing it!!

Please drop by Friday, It will be the first part of a two part blog on 9-11. Phyllis and I went there on 9-21 and took some images of the destruction and of the people that were there that day. I think you will find it interesting!

THE FUTURE OF OUR BIRDS: WATER CONSERVATION BY PHYLLIS

Welcome to  Magnificent Monday and let's have a great week with our words and photographs on conservation!!!


Being a nature photographer, I'm constantly reminded of the value of birds. Sometimes when I drive through my neighborhood in the late afternoon, I watch a Great Blue Heron wading by the shore. For those few moments, I am transported from life's petty annoyances into a peaceful calm. At other times, when I see a family of wood storks crossing the greens of the golf course, I marvel at the similarities to human child rearing skills they display.

What compelled me to write this blog today is my concern that humans in their quest for more of everything will sacrifice the one thing that makes the quest worthwhile: the leisure time to enjoy the natural world of which birds are a vital part. Whether it's the land, water or air that we share, humans must continue having those difficult conversations to figure out a way to get what we need (not want) while saving our natural environment. This is my idea of conservation.

According the national statistics, it is predicted that Florida’s human population may double to 36 million in the next fifty years. If that happens, about 7 million acres of land could be converted from rural and natural to urban uses. If we develop—as we have in the past—roads, shopping malls and subdivisions will replace the rich diversity that our landscape currently offers. Development will also impact our coastal waters and coral reefs.


Since birds feed and breed in these environments, their longevity is threatened. Water levels, climate changes and the amount of wetland habitats impact how birds survive and human consumption is the reason. Even though several federal, state and local agencies and conservation commissions are making plans, the average citizen needs to be thinking and acting, as well. 


I know what some people say. What can I do? I'm only one person. Well, let's just think about water for a minute. Did you know the average person uses about 124 gallons of water a day? Multiply that by eighteen million people (just in Florida) and that's 2 billion, 232 million gallons of water!!! The number is so high, you can't even picture it in your mind. Just imagine, it's enough to fill every swimming pool, every two seconds, all day, every day.
WOW!!


Just by making a few changes in your home, you can help save water for our environment. Here are some ways:


1) Repairing a dripping faucet, can save 30 gallons a day.
2) Repairing a leaky toilet, can save 100 gallons a day.
3) Well maintained and efficient clothes washers can use 27 gallons 
    of water a day. Older less maintained washers, use 56.
4) Rinsing fruit and vegetables in a bowl instead of under a running 
    faucet, saves 250 gallons a month.
5) Turning off the faucet while brushing your teeth and shaving,  
     saves 1000 gallons a month.
6) Running a hose uses 9 gallons a minute. If you leave it 
    on for an hour, you use 540 gallons of water.


These are just a few facts to put human water consumption into perspective. But how does conserving our water supply help birds?
Water conserving efforts result in diverting less water from rivers, bays and wetlands which allows more water to remain in its natural setting. Since fish, wildlife and birds depend upon these water resources to nest and make babies, the less we use, the more that's available for future generations. 


Well, that's my opinion on one aspect conservation. For now, just remember. When you, your children and your children's children have the time to enjoy your surroundings, make sure there is something to see. Birds are amazing creatures and we should do everything we can to protect them. Enjoy the images!


Check out the others bloggers contributing to Marvelous Mondays;


http://holesinmysoles.blogspot.com/

PHOTOGRAPHING BOSTON'S LITTLE ITALY: THE NORTH END

When we recently visited our family in Massachusetts we visited the North End with my brother Vinny and his wife Susan. The North End is a neighborhood of Boston which has the distinction of being the city's oldest residential community, where people have lived continuously since it was settled in the 1630s. The streets are narrow and compact and there is history
seemingly around each corner. 


The Old North Church, where two lanterns were hung on the night of April 18, 1775, signaled Paul Revere that the British troops were setting out for Lexington and Concord in boats across the Charles River. You may remember Longfellow's words, "One if by land and two if by sea".  Paul Revere's house, a two and a half story wood building where he was living that night is still there. There is also a park dedicated to Paul Revere where people enjoy a beautiful day.

    On Hanover Street stands St. Stephen's Church built in 1804.

 There seems to be a feast celebrating a different saint each week!!

The North End was one of our favorite places to visit even when we lived in Massachusetts. Getting back to see it again was a real treat. This is a place where the past meets the present, where history sometimes collides with traffic, where saints, sinners and everything in between have lived and continue to live.


Historically it is a great place to visit but I have to admit we have gone so many times not for the history but for the people, the ambiance and the food!!!! For a small neighborhood there are over 100 restaurants, mostly Italian!! You can find some of the best Italian food in Massachusetts right here in the North End. Many are located on either Hanover or Salem Streets but by no means all of them. Many are tucked away on little side streets. There are also many small neighborhood grocery stores selling Italian products.

In the summer months some restaurants open their windows to allow street side tables. Here you can eat great food and enjoy great people-watching.

          Looking through a window of an Italian grocery store.

An Italian neighborhood needs to have an Italian bakery and one of the best is Mike's Pastry which has been in business since 1943.

 This was about 11 AM on a Monday!! They do a terrific business.

                    Great bread, pastry and gelato.

In the early 20th century the North End was dominated by Italian and Jewish immigrants. But to understand the sheer size of the Italian immigrant population, one must first look back at the groups that preceded them. The Irish, at their peak, numbered roughly 14,000 and the Jews numbered 17,000. The Italians, however, peaked at over 44,000. 


This resourceful neighborhood has endured a few disasters in its history. The Spanish Influenza Pandemic of 1918 hit the crowded North End severely; so many children were orphaned that the city created the Home for Italian Children to care for them. The following year in 1919 the Purity Distilling Company's 2.3 million gallon molasses storage tank exploded, causing the Great Molasses Flood. This may seem funny but it was anything but!! A 15 foot wall of molasses flowed down Commercial Street towards the waterfront, sweeping away everything in its path. The wave killed 21 people, injured 150 others and caused damage worth about $100 million in today's money!! 


In the 1950's the Central Artery was built to relieve Boston's traffic. The artery walled off the North End from downtown Boston, isolating the tiny neighborhood. Ultimately the artery was dismantled as part of another state project. I have to believe that  being walled off like that for over 50 years helped build the wonderful sense of community that has helped it survive all these years. 


We have found the people to be warm, helpful and family loving. I think they are more receptive to visitors than any other area of Boston I have visited. Now I will admit that I am proudly Italian American but I really think I would feel that way if my name was O'Brandon and not Brandano. 


These two gentlemen really were helpful in telling us where and how to park our car!!!

I think the true story of any neighborhood is told in the faces of the people who live there!!

Two 'belle signore'! Actually these two beautiful ladies are Phyllis and our sister-in-law Susan!!

   You can see the old and new all over the North End!!

If I'm writing about an Italian neighborhood that has been around starting in the 1600s, I guess I need to mention the Mafia!  The Mafia was rumored to be involved there. It is said that the Angiulo family was the leading Italian-American crime group from the North End during the 1950s and 1960s. As made guys they were placed in control of the racketeering throughout Massachusetts. 


That is until the Irish mobs such as the Winter Hill Gang decided to run the rackets in their own neighborhoods. During that time one of their members, James 'Whitey' Bulger was informing on their Italian mob colleagues by allowing the FBI to bug their headquarters during the early 1980s. After that the Italians lost power in the area altogether. But they stilled ruled in certain areas including the North End. 


I will not spend anymore time on this part because I do not want to take away from what all the law abiding citizens of this great neighborhood have accomplished all these years. Besides I do not get royalties from the renting of the Godfather movies. 


People here still use clotheslines and clothespins to dry their clothes.

                 A little alley way dedicated to all the saints!!

This is a great part of the city to visit, it still has that old world flavor to it: a real flavor not fabricated to make a few dollars. These are real people living here, many of their families have lived here for over 100 years. If you're in Massachusetts, I would recommend you visit the North End and enjoy the atmosphere, the great people and the truly wonderful food!!!!

PHOTOGRAPHING FLOWER POWER FOR MARVELOUS MONDAY!!!

Flower power, for those of us old enough to remember it, will always remain a reminder of a very complex time to be young in the United States! Nothing exemplified this more for me than the term Flower power!! Flower power was a slogan used by the American counterculture movement during the late1960s and early 1970s as a symbol of passive resistance and non-violence ideology. 


It was rooted in the opposition movement to what many of us thought was an unjust war, that being the Vietnam War! The expression was coined by the American beat poet, Allen Ginsburg in 1965 as a means of transforming war protest into peaceful, non threatening street theater. Hippies embraced the symbolism by dressing in clothing with embroidered flowers and vibrant colors, wearing flowers in their hair and giving flowers to the public thus becoming known as flower children. The term later became known as a way to represent the hippie movement and a culture of drugs, psychedelic music /art and permissiveness. I feel this demeaned the importance of the movement. 

For many of us it was a time of deep cultural divide. Before this time in the US the young people listened and believed what their parents believed in social/political matters. The wars up until Vietnam were generally supported by most of the population. There had been men who would not fight in wars and took the very controversial and some would say brave stand that they would not kill anyone but never before did a generation stand up and shout "Hell no, we won't go". 


I remember some very heated conversations with my uncle and dad about the war. When I was called to take my physical for the draft with seven of my buddies it was a scary time. Amazingly six out of eight of us flunked our physicals. The ride back to our town was as confusing as the times. We almost wanted to celebrate, to laugh and shout but two of us would be going to Vietnam. One of those two was completely deaf in one ear but faked the hearing test (I have no idea how) and was drafted.

There was also very mixed feelings. We were all raised in homes that loved this country and we did and still do. We just did not believe in this war, it was not our fathers' or grandfathers' war. We were not attacked and many felt we were there for political reasons.

It was not easy to justify those feelings to ourselves when raised in such a different environment. After all John Wayne never disagreed with his country (he actually made a film about the war that looked as though it was written by the administration). 


I know some of us were conflicted about our own thoughts. Before my physical I honestly had thoughts on running off to Canada and that made me feel like a traitor to my country and family. I also thought that I would probably just go off to war and that made me feel like a traitor to myself!  As I said it was complex times! 


There was so much killing going on inVietnam and in our own country. It seemed like everything was changing; our feelings on the war and our country, our feelings on racial injustice, our feelings on women's rights, our feelings on the 'sexual revolution' and our feelings about the drug culture revolution. It was a strange, interesting time to be young in the US. 


Then slide in all the 'normal stuff' hormones and feelings of inadequacy !!!! Did Sally like us, would she go out with us? Scott broke up with you! How would you ever find another love like him? Seems silly now but in those young years it was very important!  The Flower Power movement, like most movements died out but it was important. It helped change the public perception of the war and helped end it! 

 So remember a time when the young people of this country voiced our opposition to a war and using the symbol of the flower helped change how a nation thought!

I took these on our trip back to Massachusetts. We were driving with my brother Vin and his wife Susan when we found a field of sunflowers that my brother Bob told us about.

Vin and I left the car and started walking across a field to get to the flowers. It looked promising from this distance.

But when we came closer it was obvious that the flowers were a week or so past their peak!

I adjusted my thoughts and decided it might be a portrait shoot, a portrait of flowers!!! I started looking for individual flowers that were still in good shape. I had to find flowers that I could backlight or sidelight to get the best images.

As I walked around this large field of flowers I was able to include more of the field in my shots.

I hope you enjoyed this flower power post and will check out some of the other bloggers involved in the Marvelous Mondays at 
http://networkedblogs.com/mg0v6