Finally.

It's always exciting and always welcome---

that first chilly morning. 

We left the windows open last night

and had to pull the quilts up and

... maybe...

slept in just a little longer

 savoring the warmth of the bed and the cool air.

 Soon, the day will give way to the warmth of the sun,

but for now it's an oatmeal morning.

Faces

A kind friend

let me borrow her sweet children

 for an impromptu photo shoot.

Immediately

they became busy doing garden chores...

discussing important matters...

 and introducing me to their

---almost here---

baby brother.

Fall in the South...

Football.

"I was a little different.
 I still say I'm a little different,
because success to me is not having the most money,
or having the biggest car or the biggest house."
Herschel Walker

A Blaze of Color

Pyracantha cascading down a hill alongside the Calhoun Expressway.

Oops!

I was stunned to realize
it had been more than a week since
my last post. Like everyone else,
school is in full swing for us
and has completely occupied our time.
I'm thankful
that most of that time is spent here
...at home.

Seeing

Sunday Morning at Valle Crucis

In Bloom

I was privileged to take part recently, as an exhibitor and photographer, in "Celebrate Beginnings" honoring the anniversaries of the Newnan Reading Circle (1909) and the Driftwood Garden Club (1959). The afternoon consisted of a small standard flower show, botanical photography exhibit, and Victorian Tea.
One of my photographs surrounded by the horticulture competition.

My favorite part of the exhibit was the
"Expressions in Color".
"Novices" interpreted a piece of artwork in their floral design:

Degas' "Dancers at the Barre"Claude Monet's "Water Lilies"
Francoise Gilot's "Two Women Reading Poetry"
Andy Warhol's "Soup Cans"

And the botanical photography...

A lovely afternoon.

Light...a study

Several weeks ago, we made what is now becoming our annual end-of-summer-event to Stone Mountain for the Laser Light Show. Before the nighttime show, my boys climbed the mountain while I toured the Antebellum Plantation--"a collection of original buildings from around the state of Georgia, built between 1783 and 1875. Each structure was moved from its original site and carefully restored to preserve its authenticity and historical value."

Incredibly beautiful and inspiring structures
that give only a shadowy image
of the lives lived out within their walls.
Most striking was the
...light...
that illuminated the inhabitants for me.
Immortal souls who had lived, worked, played
under the eaves of these homes and
...maybe...
paused to see and feel the same shifting late summer sun,
as day drifted into evening.

The dictionary defines light as:
something that makes things visible or affords illumination,
an illuminating agent or source,
the radiance or illumination from a particular source.

The amount and type of light on a object
creates contrasts which gives form.
Light gives warmth, clarifies, and reveals.

When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said,
"I am the light of the world.

Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness,
but will have the light of life."
John 8:12

In Bloom

Ginger Lily (Hedychium coronarium)