APED - A Picture Every Day: tree

Showing posts with label tree. Show all posts

Wednesday, August 3, 2016

Wednesday's Hummingbird 08-03-16

Hello and happy Wednesday. I kept trying to follow and photograph the hummingbirds as they fed from my feeder, but this cutie wanted to sit on a branch in my tree. So, I'm flexible. I followed this one up to the tree and he obliged and sat for just a few seconds, making me a lucky gal. Given the colors on this one, if I hadn't followed during his flight, I may not have seen it in the tree. If I can trust myself to believe what I found on the internet, I think this is a male and is called an Anna's Hummingbird. I wasn't able to find the history of the naming of this beauty, but, I have a great friend named Anna and she's just as cute as this hummingbird.

I hope you had a great Wednesday. Thank you for looking. See you tomorrow.

Saturday, May 14, 2016

Saturday's Hugging Tree 05-14-16

Hello and happy Saturday. Have you ever hugged a tree? I have. Trees are great! Have you ever been hugged by a tree? Well, this lucky chimpanzee gets to feel the love from the tree. It looks like he's comfortably relaxing in a great space. I've never slept in or on a tree before, but I have slept below one. I've also relaxed in a hammock between two trees. Maybe those things count as feeling the love from a tree?

I hope you were able to relax some today. Thanks for looking. See you tomorrow,

Tuesday, February 16, 2016

Leaning Tree Tuesday 02-16-16

Hello and happy Tuesday. Do you ever have one of those days when you feel a little unbalanced - maybe leaning to one side? I do. So does this tree. I've visited this tree a few times on the Blue Ridge Parkway in North Carolina, and am always amazed and glad to see that it hasn't fallen over. Trees are so resilient. They make the best of where they stand and almost always find a way to grow toward the sun. Maybe we should take a lesson from the trees and keep doing our best to find the sun in our lives.

I hope you had a sun filled Tuesday. Thank you for looking. See you tomorrow.

Tuesday, February 2, 2016

Tree in Tree Tuesday 02-02-16

Hello and happy Tuesday. As I seek out more churches for Sundays I come across cemeteries (obviously). Even though I've driven by the church on many an occasion, once in a while something new will "pop-out" at me. Such is the case with this tree and the Woodmen of the World (WOW) monument almost blending together. Even as a young child I was fascinated with the WOW monuments and how they were able to get them to look so much like tree trunks. And now, I get to "blend" one of their monuments in with a live tree!

Joseph Cullen Root founded a fraternal organization called Modern Woodmen of the World in 1882. When the group dissatisfied him by 1890 he left that and founded Woodmen of the World, which is still in existence. WOW's purpose was "to minister to the afflicted to relieve distress; to cast a sheltering arm about the defenseless living ;... to encourage broad charitable views...".

Root wanted an organization dedicated to helping its fellow man. Today the fraternity is still in existence, although they stopped doing the monuments in the 1920s due to cost. Women and girls have been able to join the WOW since 1957.

If you are interested in learning more or even joining the organization, check out http://www.usgennet.org/usa/ar/county/greene/historywood.htm

I hope you had an enjoyable Tuesday. Thanks for looking. See you tomorrow.

Saturday, January 23, 2016

Saturday's Snow Tale 01-23-16

Hello and happy Saturday. Have you ever thought about living in a tree house or one of the tiny houses people are so fond of lately? I have and, while they are worth a thought, I'm going to have to say no to both. The tree house would have two many stairs for me - although it would have a good view and I suppose I could put in some kind of lift system - still, no. The tiny house is just too small for us and all our stuff and our four legged family members. I do want a little more room.

But then again, when it's snowing and so cold outside, those small spaces would be easier and less expensive to heat. And who needs that much "stuff" anyway? Although I do still want all of my four legged family members.

It's just that new snow and ice tends to make everything look more clean, interesting and inviting. It's rare that we get snow in the South and, even though I'm glad of that, I'm equally glad that we do get it occasionally. I do enjoy watching the snow fall. I am reminded of the times we made "snow cream". Now, since I'm "all grown up", there's a certain nostalgia that goes along with the snow and the times I had as a kid and then again when my son was growing up. Since there were only a few times a year when we could have those experiences, somehow they were more memorable.

I hope you're having a memorable Saturday. Thanks for looking. See you tomorrow.

Thursday, January 21, 2016

Thursday Through The Trees 01-21-16

Hello and happy Thursday. Looks like things are looking up today! Sometimes it helps to lie on the ground and look up to gain a new perspective. We live in a large world, a huge universe and we are but one small, very tiny part. And once in a while we might think, "Does anything I do or say really matter?", or, "I am so small compared to the universe, am I of any significance?" Well, I believe the answer to both those questions is yes - we all matter! Every tree, every leaf, every animal, every insect, every person matters. Each one of us makes an impact in someone's life each and every day; it may even be more than one person's life; it may be an animal's life or even a difference in the environment.

The tricky part of this "significance" thing is, will we have a bad impact or a good impact? We make the choice, good or bad, many times a day - do we carelessly throw trash on the ground or are we the one that picks up the trash to throw in a receptacle? Are we polite and kind to others or are we rude and angry? Oh, the choices we must make minute by minute, hour by hour, day by day!

Everyone, everything matters. We are all significant. We just have to choose which kind of significance we'll be. Lie down on the ground sometime, look up through the trees and feel the energy of the universe and know that you matter.

I hope you had a great Thursday. Thank you for looking. See you tomorrow.

Wednesday, December 23, 2015

Hula Girl Tree Wednesday 12-23-15

Hello and happy Wednesday. Yesterday, I showed you a tree hanging on the edge of a mountain on the Blue Ridge Parkway in North Carolina. Today, I want to take a more fun approach and show you a Hula Girl Tree that I found near Edisto Island in South Carolina. There are times when a tree reminds someone of something and that "someone" just has to make it right. In this case, I have to say I applaud the effort. I am grateful someone took the time and expense and braved the terrain to make this fanciful hula girl happen because I surely enjoyed seeing this from the road.

The next time you take a trip to Edisto, SC, see if this Hula Girl Tree is still there. It can be seen from the main road and we actually saw it as we were leaving the island on the right hand side.

I hope you had a wonderful Wednesday. Thank you for looking. See you tomorrow.

Monday, June 22, 2015

Monday's Got Heart

Hello to you this Monday. Sometimes on Monday's you're so overwhelmed you "can't see the forest for the trees". Sometimes, though, you get lucky and Monday's - like this tree - show you some love. And a little love on Monday is kind of nice. And, if someone like me is lucky enough to see and get this photograph, then I get a little giddy. Now, on this Monday, I want to share this tree's heart so maybe you'll smile just a little and feel a little love. We all could use a little more love, right - so why not enjoy it from wherever it comes from - like this tree?

I hope that you've had a good start to your week this Monday. Thanks for looking. See you tomorrow.

Sunday, May 31, 2015

Sunday's Surprise

So, I'm riding around North Carolina today. It wasn't random rambling, I had some place to be, although no particular time to be there. While driving I was thinking about what picture to put on today's blog. Once again, I thought I knew what I would put up and was going over in my head what I was going to say. And then, out of the corner of my eye, I saw it - this. Oh, I kept driving. I thought it over. I tried to talk myself out of turning around. All I kept hearing in my head was "Amber waves of grain", and "I think I shall never see a poem as lovely as a tree". "Amber waves of grain" is a line in "America the Beautiful" lyrics written by Katherine Lee Bates and "I think I'll shall never see..." is part of a poem written by Joyce Kilmer. The last sentence of that poem is "Poems are written by fools like me, but only God can make a tree."

I know I have a lot of favorite things - I like to think of myself as eclectic - smile. But today, once I saw this, there didn't seem to be anything higher on my "favorite" list than this scene. And I am grateful to both Ms. Bates and Ms. Kilmer for planting the pictures in my head of both these treasures. Finding them together is almost ... surreal. That is why I had to turn the car around, stop in the median, and cross the highway to photograph a dream. My only disappointment is that my photograph may not convey to you my comfort and joy in viewing this scene.

I hope you had as great of a Sunday as I have had. Thank you for looking. Peace and blessings to you all. See you tomorrow.

Friday, May 22, 2015

Friday's Beauties

Copyright AJ Horton 2015 at Landsford Canal State Park, South Carolina, USA

Happy Friday. What better way to spend a beautiful Friday, like today, than immersed in nature? I hope you were able to get out there to take in all the beauty - even if it was only from the window or during a break. It's nice to know that ALL things are beautiful, even the dead tree that was tossed upon the rocks. It just seems to add something - a little imperfection in an otherwise perfect setting. Or, maybe, just maybe, it's what makes this so perfect - that there is nothing "perfect". Hmmm.
Anyway, I hope you had a wonderful Friday.
Thank you for looking. See you tomorrow.

Thursday, April 2, 2015

Thursday's No April Fool Sunrise

So the sunrise on Driftwood Beach on Jekyll Island, GA just really deserves another look. The trees and "driftwood" there, although they're dead and old, are amazing. And while you would think they would be too heavy for waves to bring up on the beach, well, there they are!

I hope you had a wonderful Thursday. Thanks for looking. See you tomorrow.