Annalia S.'s photos with the keyword: green

Wishing everyone the best for this holiday season and for the new year. May we have good cheer despite it all and find strength and warmth wherever it can be had. May we have patience with those we just cannot understand, determination to continue to strive for our battered planet and time, health and good light for our photography!

River plants live on the very edge of two worlds, their lives precariously balanced on a tight rope. A few centimetres farther and the water would drown them, a bit more rain and the river would gnaw at their roots and carry them away on the current, half a step more inland and the rocky banks would no longer provide enough moisture. As summer comes to an end, their beauty is poised on the brink. Soon the rains will come, swelling the river and moving that line of transition between land and the watery world. Their short lived paradise and their miraculous little lives will end with the season and many months will go by before their children - if they were lucky enough to take root on the right spot, that magical place of transition - will bring it back.

I was about 5 years old when my art teacher father got me my first serious painting kit. He wanted to get me oil based paints, but my mother put her foot down, so we went for more washable tempera paints. The art supply store, with its profusion of colors, its smells and mind boggling variety of brushes, spatulas, easels and palettes, was like a rutilant wonderland to me, better than any stores, even better than the toy store! What part of this phantasmagoria would be mine to take home, I wondered, excitedly. My dad took a long time selecting brushes, checking what hairs they were made of and picking different shapes and sizes. He explained his choices to me, but all I remember now is the wonder of the different textures: boar hairs were coarse and rigid, others as smooth as silk, and others even more incredibly light and almost feathery and would tickle the palm of your hand if you ran them across it. The paint tubes themselves, however, did not take long: a large tube of white, an equally large tube of black and four smaller tubes: yellow, blue and two kinds of red. Considering the endless variety of colors offered by the store, some of them - flowery pinks, aqua greens, light and dark turquoises - just irresistible to a young girl, this was a bit disappointing. “What about the other colors, Dad?” I asked. He smiled and said “You’ll see”. As we headed home he elaborated a bit on that rather unsatisfying answer: “You can make any color you saw in the store from the ones we got”. That sounded more hopeful, but I still couldn’t see how red, blue or yellow could be turned to aqua green or turquoise, or shocking pink. It sounded like some magic trick would be required. At 5 years of age, kids tend to believe their parents are all powerful. But still, magic tricks didn’t seem like his cup of tea. And yet, magic it was, of course. A wonderful magic that makes yellow and blue turn into a whole palette of greens depending on how much of each gets mixed in. And red and yellow into orange, blue and red into purple, but … wait! Red was a bit different; to get the right results, red had to come in two different versions: scarlet and vermillion. You needed scarlet red to make purple and vermillion red to make a proper orange. Switch them around and the magic would not work right. Vermillion red and blue made brown, not purple. And scarlet and yellow made a sort of salmon pink instead of orange. I understood the principle and could see some difference in those two colors, but still, red is red, isn’t it? Vermillion just seemed a little lighter and perhaps more brilliant than scarlet, but still it was just red to me. I did not really “get” vermillion, not until - that is - I saw my first pomegranate tree, or rather, the absolutely flamboyant flowers of the pomegranate tree. If you have ever seen them in real life, I think you’ll agree that “red” just does not do justice to them, doesn’t even begin to describe their happy, sunny, light-filled color that stands out so strikingly against the brilliant green of the leaves. The main photo and PIPs are all from two beautiful pomegranate trees in Piazza Savonarola's little city park which, this time of year, are in full bloom. I swear I must have spent nearly an hour there, shooting this way and that, into the trees and under the trees, sticking my camera through the branches to get close to the busy bees that were visiting their beautiful vermillion flowers. I hope you enjoy … well, I can’t say the fruit of my labour. It’s not really labour when you are having that much fun, is it? :) This is especially dedicated to Andy and Maurice (HappySnapper) who are going through tough times. Errata corrige: Upon rereading I realize I used the wrong red for the one that gives purple if mixed with blue: it's carmine, not scarlet! Sorry. Should re-read my stuff before I publish! :))

Fence of an abandoned lot by the river. Whatever establishment once occupied the lot, it must have had a green color scheme ... :)) In the PIP a variation of the "green on green" theme. Wishing everyone a HFF and a weekend among green things!

This place is an intriguing cross between a second hand store (or maybe bazaar would be a better term) and a junk yard, which doubled also as refuge for a colony of street cats. Criticised by the neighborhood as an "eye sore", it reacted by adding a privacy screen to the fence, which, while doing next to nothing to make the place look less unkempt, deprived me of the chance to spend several minutes investigating the haphazardly piled items in its yard and enjoying the antics of the kittens each time I went by. The yellow sign hanging on the building's wall (better seen in the PIP) reads: "Fai del bene e ... dimentica / Fai del male e ... rammenta". A tentative translation into English would sound something like this: "Act kindly and you can forget about it / Act hurtfully and you will remember". I can't help but interpret it as an implied comment on the intolerant attitude of the neighborhood. Well, act kindly on this HFF so you can forget about it and enjoy whatever comes next! Have a great weekend, everyone!

With the limitations to traveling, people seem to have rediscovered the charm of city parks, like the Albereta Park on the left bank of the Arno River, just upstream from the city. While I headed for home as the the sun was preparing to set and most park goers seemed to be following the same plan, a couple lingered on a bench by the river to enjoy the last of a day among the new green of spring. I will be busy all day tomorrow, so HBM a bit ahead of time to everybody!

A resilient tiny new plant makes the most of the scant resources to be found in the crumbling mortar between two bricks on an old wall.

Tree shadows on my garden wall. Yesterday Covid took Italian photographer Giovanni Gastel. A fashion photographer by profession, with a polished but original style, he was also well known around the world for his black and white portraits of famous public figures including one of President Obama. www.giovannigastel.it He was 65.

Weathered and peeling but still securely locked, an old farm gate blocks access to a sunlit field at the outskirts of the hamlet of Girone. Shaded by nearby trees, the fence lies in darkness, while the last light of the afternoon bathes the landscape beyond. From nearly locked down Tuscany, I wish everyone a HFF, a good weekend and the strength we need to deal with these sad, scary times.

I just liked this "garland" of still-green passionflower fruit on a fence with the evening light dappled against the privacy screen. It reminded me of a string of light bulbs at an outdoor party. In the Pips other natural decorations on various fences. HFF everyone!!!

Warmth and a bit of rain ... all it takes for Nature to reassert her claims, no matter how many fences we put in her way :))) Happy (Green) Fence Friday to all!

Spiny thistle bud and its "armored" visitor In the Pip, a blooming thistle from the same plant.

I liked this slightly ironic homage to the national colors on display in a neighbourhood street. (In case you are wondering, the tricolour displayed on the right hand side window is made up of "undies" :D) Happy Festa della Repubblica to all Italians!

sunlight playing among the new leaves against the backdrop of the neighbour's pink wall

Colorful details from the garden In the main image a tiny bronze coloured bug on my rose bush In the pips (top to bottom): 1. fallen physalis flowers 2. a rue twig against a terracotta shingle 3. new green leaves against the old shed wall 4. new green leaves composition 5. trio of pink flowers 6. fig leaves unfolding

Looking up at my neighbour's tree beginning to fill out its canopy with new leaves and blossom clusters tall enough to reach up into the evening sunlight.

Just more fooling around in the garden with the empty snail shells and the new leaves.

Just playing around with the empty shells of snails that don't make it through the winter. Photography helps to keep me sane even in the small, enclosed world that is our lot during this lockdown. Sorry if the subject matter is a bit repetitive, though. :) A big thank you to all of those who continue to contribute their images and comments and help us "captives" get through this rough time!