Happiness is a Field of Sunflowers

One of my favorite back roads near Vicksburg is Highway 22, which serves as a short cut from I-20 to Madison, Mississippi, which is where our daughter and her family live. I have done several posts about Hwy. 22, one of which I wrote last Fall featuring pictures of a Sorghum Field. You can click on the link to read that post, if you'd like, before reading this one. My husband and I passed by that field over the weekend on our way to visit our daughter, and you can imagine my surprise and delight to see this glorious sight ... I had never seen the field planted in sunflowers, and knew I was going to have to stop on our way back home and spend a few minutes capturing with my camera some of those glorious flowers that were literally flourishing in the close to 100-degree temperatures and sweltering Mississippi humidity. Needless to say, I wasn't "flourishing," but my "photo shoot adrenaline" kicked in as I meandered through the rows of sunflowers, and I forgot about the heat, at least temporarily. The droopy petals on this bloom seemed to have finally given in to the heat of the midday sun ... The expression sun worshippers came to mind, as I captured the sunflowers from the back. They looked as if they were bowing to the sun. There were bees buzzing all around me, happily gathering pollen from the centers of the flowers and ignoring me and my camera ... Sunflowers are such happy looking flowers and always make me smile ... I think some of them were smiling too, and happy to have their pictures taken ... I love the way the light filtered through the petals of the flowers, spotlighting them from behind ... There's just nothing like becoming part of the Nature surrounding you when you're taking pictures. Whether it's a sunflower field ... Sorghum Field ... Cotton Field ... [Avery Grace] Or the banks of the Mississippi River ... I was "in my glory" as I walked among the sunflowers ... and came home inspired. I'm looking forward to cooler temperatures so I can get out and explore and capture more of God's glory that surrounds us.

The Cloud

The Cloud [Lines from a poem written by Percy Bysshe Shelley, 1820] I bring fresh showers for the thirsting flowers, From the seas and the streams; I bear light shade for the leaves when laid In their noonday dreams. From my wings are shaken the dews that waken The sweet buds every one, When rocked to rest on their mother's breast, As she dances about the sun. I wield the flail of the lashing hail, And whiten the green plains under, And then again I dissolve it in rain, And laugh as I pass in thunder. This lovely white cloud greeted me first thing this morning, and I couldn't resist preserving it in pictures, along with Mr. Shelley's beautiful poem. May your weekend be as glorious!

The Beaches of Vicksburg

When you think about beaches in Mississippi, the first place that probably comes to mind is, obviously, the Mississippi Gulf Coast. While it's true that we have some lovely white sand beaches on the Coast, it just so happens that we also have some beautiful beaches right here in Vicksburg — at least for now. After reaching an historic high last year of 57.1 feet on May 19, 2011, the "Mighty Mississippi" River at Vicksburg has been extremely low this summer, uncovering unusually large sandbars. The sandbars, which resemble pristine white beaches, have been a popular weekend destination for boaters and sunbathers during the past few weeks. Unfortunately, according to an article in The Vicksburg Post, County and Coast Guard officials say they’re dangerous. “The bank can look and feel solid one minute and be dropping under your feet the next. They’re very unpredictable and unstable," said Warren County Sheriff Martin Pace, who cautioned people to be extremely cautious and be aware of the strength of the river at all times. A Coast Guard spokesman added that "the true bank is constantly moving ... [and] there’s always the possibility of collapse out there." Well, I'm one person they won't have to worry about being swept off a sandbar and carried downriver. I'm not a sun and sand or beach person, but I do enjoy capturing pictures of beaches from "afar." A couple of days ago, I drove over to the river and enjoyed seeing the sandbars from a different perspective than I normally do while driving across the bridge. I began my photo shoot from the parking lot of one of the casinos in Vicksburg, which has almost an eye-level view of the river. I was pleased to see this impressive tugboat which was waiting to begin its journey downriver ... I couldn't help but wonder how it got the name, Lydia Marie. You'd think a tugboat would have a more masculine-sounding name, like Mack, or Sam ... or Bubba. It was a perfect morning to capture the river. The sun was shining and the sky was brilliant blue, with puffy white clouds scattered about. This is the view of the twin bridges, as seen from river level, shooting upriver ... In this next picture, you can see some of those "shifting sands" the officials were warning against. I like this shot of the bridge with the water tower silhouetted in the background ... My next stop was the lookout next to the Welcome Center. The Crape Myrtles were in full bloom and were a perfect frame for my shots of the sandbar beaches. After enjoying the view from the lookout, I headed for the parking garage of Ameristar Casino. I arrived just in time to capture another tug headed downriver, but this one was moving swiftly. This was another "lady tugboat" named the Joyce Hale. Perhaps the captains or owners of the tugs name them after their sweethearts or mamas? Whatever their names, the tugs are a familiar and picturesque sight as they chug their way up and down the river ... And speaking of "chugging" ... while not as large or as elegant (if a tugboat can be called elegant?) as the Lydia Marie and Joyce Hale, the next tug that came along was the kind of little tugboats you see in children's books. Small, chunky, but oh, so tough ... And there's no way it could have a girl's name. Although its name was Maritime, it was definitely a "Bubba" at heart. I couldn't help but smile when I saw this picture of it passing under the bridges. It looked like a little toy tugboat bobbling along ... I hope you enjoyed my morning at the "beach" as much as I did — and we didn't even have to get sand between our toes!

Mountain Lagniappe

No matter where I go on photo shoots, I always seem to find lagniappe along the way. Today, I'd like to share a little of the lagniappe I captured during our recent vacation in the Blue Ridge Mountains near Blue Ridge, Georgia. This beautiful butterfly had stopped to get a drink in the parking lot of Fall Branch Falls, the waterfall we visited ... When we go to the mountains, I always hope to capture a bear (with my camera!), but these two little guys seem to be the only kind I ever come across ... Notice the acorn resting on this one's nose ... It rained almost every day we were there, and I managed to capture several pictures of clouds and the ever present mist hanging over the mountains ... Georgia Pines The sunrises were glorious ... I find mountain creeks and rivers fascinating, and love capturing the rocks along the banks, and the rushing water as it flows over and around the rocks. I wish my camera could record the sounds of its babbling, too. Toccoa River, after a heavy rain ... Old iron bridge, Dial Community I love the primitive stone columns supporting the bridge ... Just up the road from the bridge is a small mountain farm community named Dial, Georgia. Founded in 1834, Dial was one of the first communities settled in this region. There is no "town," only small farms and a hand full of modest homes that dot the fields and river banks. They say Dial has not changed in over 100 years and it was, indeed, a little like going back in time, as I captured some of the old out buildings and this beautiful Victorian farm house, which is called the Cochran-Davenport House ... Notice the way the floor of the old "spring house" curves. This beautiful and peaceful scene under the shade trees seemed to be beckoning to travelers to stop and "sit a spell." Fire pits are the up and coming thing for "outdoor rooms" these days, but I still prefer the real thing, like this one ... All of the buildings featured in the above pictures are part of The Sustainable Arts Society, which, according to their website, is an organization "fostering creative endeavors in visual arts, music, dance, drama, writing, and environmental sustainability in the rural, pristine setting of the North Georgia Mountains of Southern Appalachia." If you would like to read more about the Society, you can click on the above link. Not too far down the road from the Cochran-Davenport house, the 1941 movie classic, "How Green was My Valley," came to mind as we passed this breathtakingly beautiful valley ... I would love to go back to Blue Ridge in the Fall and capture its mountains and valleys and rivers and waterfalls and country mountain roads ... in all their Fall glory. I can imagine the endless "How Great Thou Art" moments that will be waiting there for someone to come along and discover them ... "just up the road a bit ... just around the bend ... or just over the hill."