Category: Joy

The Awakening

Hannah KeeneLeave a comment

fullsizeoutput_2795

     The Awakening of Bees


The bees came out with gladness this spring,

Perhaps relieved that this year

They did not emerge into noise

And the seemingly endless bustle of humans.


They could go about their business of flitting

And flying and gathering nectar

With their wings buzzing

A glorious prayer to God.


And then returning to their hive,

They issued reports of the world

To the others

And fed their queen.


“Oh, wonderful!” They hummed to each other.

“This spring. This particular spring,

When the traffic was stilled and the voices hushed

Is the spring we awakened to joy.”


~Hannah Keene

Posted for The Word of the Day Challenge – Awakening

Light in Photography

Hannah Keene2 Comments

For the last week in May, Jude’s 2020 Photo Challenge: It’s All About the Light, challenges us to experiment with different lighting conditions. Since I was unable to follow her suggestions to the letter, I decided to photograph two different stalks of the same plant under different lighting conditions.

This one is in the shade with the bright noon day sun flittering through some trees from the side and behind.

fullsizeoutput_2627

The second one is with the sun shining directly on the flowers, with the shade behind it.

fullsizeoutput_262a

Also posted for Friday Flowers.

Something New/Something Different

Hannah Keene12 Comments

Tomorrow, May 15, will make the 60th day of our San Francisco Bay Area Counties Shelter In Place order. Sixty Days is a really long time. And the Shelter In Place order extends at least through May 31. Living in an apartment with a dog, I am allowed out of the apartment to walk her. This understandably counts as an essential trip. I spend an hour and walk a mile, always wearing a mask, keeping at least 6 feet apart from any other walkers, and taking my camera with me. The dog, the exercise of the daily walk, and my camera, have helped to keep me sane and for the most part, kept depression at bay. And knowing that the one hour is all I have, I have found that I have become even more of a noticer. By default, one has to be a noticer in order to be a photographer, but I have found that my noticing skills are heightened this spring. In particular, I have discovered that there are a plethora of unusual flowers in the neighborhood. Most of the unique ones seem to be on flowering bushes or trees, rather than specific flower species such as roses or snapdragons. Here are four. Does anyone know the names of these straight away? I didn’t, though I’m not a person that knows a lot of the flower names. But I definitely had to look each of these up. Points to anyone who can identify them without looking at the labels.

1.

fullsizeoutput_229c

2.

fullsizeoutput_24bc

3.

fullsizeoutput_24c6

4.

fullsizeoutput_24be

Answers: 1: Tree Aeonium. 2: Tritomea, aka: Toarch Lily, aka: Red Hot Poker. 3: Blue Passion Flower. 4: Trailing Abutilon.

Posted for SPTA’s Friendly Friday’s Something New/Something Different as well as the same challenge for The Sandy Chronicles.