The Glorious Glow of "After-Storm"

We had a surprise thundershower late in the afternoon the other day; when the storm had left and the sun began to shine again while setting through the moisture rich atmosphere, Mother Nature put on a color show.

There has been no retouching of color in these photos.....this is what it was really like as the shades and hues undulated, changed, glowed, sparkled and left me running trying to capture everything at once.

Enjoy!

The ultimate paintbrush, don't you think?

Pax....

Early Morning Quiet

I am here in the dark of morning pecking away at the keyboard,  a cup of coffee at hand and thoroughly enjoying the complete quiet of this time of day. Rare moments with no noise, no pressure, no hurry to do something.
The birds are still sleeping, both inside and out.
Perfect calm.
Time to think....or not, as you wish.
I don't believe any of us have enough moments like this anymore.
We are stuck in fast-forward; go, go, go. Noise always. No escaping to a place for meditation, thought, and the peace to empty the soul of all stressors and refill with the inspiration to feel comfortable in our skins. To withdraw and relax, then re-emerge and go about our daily tasks.
I have been reading about religious contemplatives; those who turn from the world and look IN. And those who have done this and found that in doing so, the voice told them to re-engage in the world.
I wonder, when the day is still slumbering, and I am void of worry or thought, if it is close to what they experience.
Does it ready an artist for their work.
Can anything purchased compete with these moments available for free if we take the time.
So simple....so restful.....so necessary to recharge.
May you find a moment.

Pax....

I Am Late.......

.....and with but one photo to offer. Blogger is again tinkering with the upload feature; I'm too busy and tired to rant or I would. (trust me, I'll save it for another day....! LOL!)
Instead, I think I will leave the photo to do the speaking for me.
Click for a much larger file......I cannot get the next size up squeezed in between my cluttered blog-junk!
Have a wonderful weekend!
And big blue skies......

Pax....

Autumn Arrives Gently~~Morning Until Evening

(I am still somewhat limited in my ability to walk and wander.....all was gathered from within a  dozen or so yards of the house and studio.

 Surprising....there is still a lot to see.....

and no words necessary.  Enjoy.)

(on all photos, click to enlarge)

Pax....

Few Words Necessary.......

.....but let me introduce last evening's excitement.

This was a classic *Duratio*   a C-shaped band of storms that hold their strength over many States and get stronger as they barrel across the country. These can produce damage as severe as an EF-1 tornado with straight line wind gusts and the particular band you are looking at packed 80 MPH wind gusts, which is the same as hurricane wind speeds.

I am a sturdy girl, but when taking the top three photos, I was almost flattened to the ground by wind. I decided that sense was the better route to choose and made it back to the studio in one piece! (and not crawling...)

And then miraculously afterwards, we were blessed with these visions.....a full arc rainbow with hints of the second arc. It was so steep due to the angle of the sun, it was getting close to the shape of the St. Loius Arch.

As the sun set......the sky turned magical with clouds as if picked from a painting and warm gold color everywhere, but only briefly.

.........What a night........!!!!!

Pax.....