Claiborne County Lotus Flowers

There is a lake in Claiborne County, Mississippi, a few miles from Port Gibson and just a hop, skip, and a jump from the Grand Gulf Nuclear facility, which is home to some of the most beautiful Lotus flowers I've ever seen.  My husband and I were "daytripping" yesterday and detoured to see if the flowers were blooming.  You can imagine my delight when we rounded a bend and saw this sight ...     There is a narrow, rough and rocky dirt road circling the lake, and as we drove around it, I was in my glory snapping pictures along the way.     The blossoms are exquisite, of course, but the lotus pads and buds have a delicate beauty all their own.         I like the shadows of the blossom on the lotus pads in this next picture ...   I'm so glad we decided to detour off the beaten path, and I was able to capture these beautiful works of art growing in a pond, practically in the shadow of an ominous-looking cooling tower for a nuclear energy facility. Sometimes the detours taken during a journey can be the best part of the trip.  I think that's true in Life, too.

Lotus Blossoms

My friend Marty, who is a professional photographer here in Vicksburg, recently told me that I needed to go to a lake near Port Gibson, Mississippi, to see the Lotus blossoms in bloom. Port Gibson is about 30 miles South of Vicksburg, and my husband and I drove down Saturday. It was, indeed, a sight to behold.

I hope you will click here to see Marty's breathtaking photos of his visit to the lake. It's always interesting to see things you have photographed from someone else's perspective, and Marty has a truly awesome eye for capturing God's glory.

Here are some of my pictures of the Lotus blossoms. You can click on the pictures to enlarge them, if you'd like.

I'm not sure what kind of bird he is, but I loved this little "lily pad walker."

I didn't see the spider under this bloom, until I was editing the picture.

And last, but not least, this is a formidable sight that can be seen for miles around the lake.

It's the cooling tower for the Grand Gulf Nuclear Plant, and it was an eerie feeling to be so close to it.

While I was close to Port Gibson, I captured some pictures of a few of the beautiful old homes there and will share them in a post later this week.

If you would like to see more of my photos, I invite you to visit my new blog called Photography with a Southern Accent.