The Bright Spot

Wow!  It is the 24th of October.  Where has the month gone?  I know that I have been busy but I didn't realize that it has been so long since I last posted.


One of the things that I have been doing over the last month is taking an online photography course.  It has been a great experience - low pressure and I have learned a lot.  I will share more on the class in a later post.  For now, I am just going to show you a few pictures.

I will spare you the technical details of the assignment for which I submitted this picture and instead share what this image says to me.

The majority of this frame is bright green and blurred.  If you look again, there is one brown and withered spot on the lower part of the branch.  This spot is the only spot of the frame that is in focus.

So often in life we are surrounded by things that are growing and thriving but, like this picture, the only thing that is in focus is the tiny "bad spot" in our life.  There is no arguing that if we look hard enough we can always find a spot that is not pretty, that has no life in it or that undeservingly captures our attention.  When this happens, our job is to look at the big picture.  When we do this, most of the time we will see that the "brown spot" is just a tiny place in the bigger picture.  It is surrounded by many bright spots.

Despite the fact that it is the 24th of October, the temperatures here are still in the upper eighties.  That seems kind of crazy.  However, rumor (and the weathermen) has it that that is going to change in the next day or so.  We are about to experience our first crisp fall temperatures.  But, because it has still been so warm, the summer flowers are still happily blooming.

This is a hibiscus that has been living on the back patio all summer.  It weathered the hot summer temperatures quite well.

This particular plant has spent two winters indoors.  It doesn't like being inside much but I think it may have to move to its cool weather residence this weekend.  This bloom may be its last nod to the summer of 2012.

Back in the spring we planted several small shrubs in an attempt to attract hummingbirds.  We figured it would be next spring before these little plants matured enough to bloom.  We were wrong.  Their bright yellow flowers provided a bright spot for us this week.

They seem to glow across the yard..

This one stands looking out into the sunshine.  I hope the changing temperatures heading our way aren't too tough on these plants.  We are looking forward to them being a bright spot for some hummingbirds next spring.

And on another note as far as looking on the bright side goes . . .there are 61 shopping days left until Christmas.