Janet Brien's photos with the keyword: White Oak

(+2 insets!) Do you ever wake up feeling "off"? That's how I felt when I got up this morning. My mood was scattered and out of sorts. Nervous and uneasy. I really can't figure out why I wasn't my usual boisterous and happy self but can tell you one thing: I didn't like it. So, I decided that my exercise today would be a "walking meditation." I don't practice meditation on a regular basis though I am sure it would be beneficial to me. I just never make time for it--which is probably a good indicator for doing more meditation. Of course you're supposed to be sitting still and relaxed to meditate, but many of the practices should be doable while in motion if you're focused on it. So as I walked up and down our driveway I repeated to myself different phrases like "Peace and serenity..." while thinking about my complete breath cycle. Or, "Breath in positive energy from the trees and plants around you...and breath out the negative energy..." I spent time thinking about how my body felt as I walked along, the way my breath felt, my heart beat, and the contraction of my muscles while I moved. I made a point to think about nothing but my walking meditation. As I began my walk, a very light rain was falling and I didn't bring my umbrella. I imagined the rain taking away the feelings that had made me feel so off when I woke up today. To keep myself focused to only what I was doing and to immerse myself in the moment and where I was, I asked myself, "List the things you can hear which make you happy and peaceful..." I listened intently while I moved along. "Twittering junkos are there in that tree...a single frog is croaking in the pond...an acorn woodpecker is calling another one... and I can hear some Canada Geese in the distance..." And "The sound my feet make crunching on the gravel...the squelching sound when I walk in the muddy clay...the sound of a pebble skittering along when it's kicked...the rain dripping from the trees...the sound of my breath as I walk...and the cry of a hawk flying over the trees..." I repeated this for the things that I saw which made me feel happy and at peace. As the light rain slowly increased to a proper downfall, I got my umbrella and listened to the rhythmic sound of the droplets pattering over my head. I felt like I was in a bubble of safety here. I spent the rest of my hour and 15 minutes by concentrating on feeling relaxed and happy, feeling grateful to those in my life who have played a part in getting me where I stand today. Picturing wonderful memories, people I loved and those who have passed on but thinking only of the happy memories from them. I finished my "Walking Meditation" feeling completely returned to my normal self. What a nice way to reset myself! Since it's been raining all day, I thought I'd share a few rainy day pictures I took the other day. The main picture is an adorable, tiny acorn that I found nestled in some moss. I was surprised at its nearly black color and how it glistened so beautifully with its slick, wet coat. It measured about half an inch in size and was so cute that I couldn't resist a picture! I'm also sharing a picture of a large rose hip from our rose bush in the front yard that's covered with droplets. I had a lot of fun playing with textures to dress up the plain background. The other inset is some water-soaked wild grass, its head totally engulfed in water! Pam, I did a search for "acorn" and found this very pretty natural collage, entitled, "Heartsease & Acorns, tiny Blueits & Wood Sorrel leaves." I love that you enjoy learning about the things in your pictures. It's so fascinating and fun to know all about the gifts we find as we look around our property. Hope you are faring well today, it's starting to get cold over here…supposed to snow tomorrow but I won't believe it until I see it! *HUGGGGGGS*!!! Explored on 2/4/19, highest placement, #2.

(+5 insets!) (Please view large!) Today I'm taking a break from my San Anselmo photography because it's Macro Monday and the theme didn't happen down there: frost! I was really excited when I saw the theme because I am so crazy about this subject! I could see a potential problem though. We aren't having a usual frigid winter and our days are often too warm for frost. With that in mind I figured I'd be using an image from my last frosty photo adventure. I crossed my fingers though and hoped it would be frosty during the weekend when I usually do my Macro Monday photography. Saturday was a bust--it turned out to be a low of about 40 and even though it wasn't frosty, it was a genuinely beautiful day. It was super for Steve because he was working on our deck and it was very comfortable working conditions. Sunday rolled around and I was encouraged by the chilly temperature of about 35 degrees on our porch. Walking down our road, I could see there was the slightest dusting of frost in some shady areas but that was about all. I was discouraged and thought I'd be wasting my time trying to find reasonable frosty images. Then I realized how silly I was being. Hello? I have a macro lens! And that means frosted sugar on everything! I marched up the hill, into the house, grabbed my camera and flash setup, popped on my knee pads and out I went, making a beeline towards a frosty spot I saw in our meadow. Silly me indeed! It took about two seconds to find a frosty leaf…then another…and ok, well I went completely crazy. About 45 minutes later and some 350 pictures, I finally stopped and went back into the house to copy my pictures over. So many interesting and pretty frosty things! Droplets from melted frost…cool shadows on frosty leaves…thorny leaves with frost…acorns and caps and wasp galls with frost…oh my, how do I pick? Oh, and I couldn't resist pictures of light shining through leaves…they are just so pretty. I ended up processing 6 for today, you'll see 5 insets to view as well! The moral of the day: Don't be a defeatist! Open your eyes and you will find what you are looking for…and perhaps too much of what you're looking for! :D Pam, I looked to see what frosty images you had in your photo stream and I was delighted that you have taken some very pretty shots! I especially liked your Jack Frost picture! It's fun to look at frost on cooler or warmed days because the frost can sometimes appear quite different. The feathery frost in your picture is so pretty and something I admire on the windows and roofs of our cars whenever it's cold enough! Here's hoping that you're staying warm and comfy today my dear! *BIG HUGS!!!!!* Explored on 1/15/19, highest placement, #1.

(+2 insets) It's the first day after Winter Solstice and it's already so much lighter out! Ok, not really. LOL, but it is very encouraging to know that the days are now getting longer. I shouldn't complain. After all, parts of Canada, Norway, Greenland, as well as the North and South poles, experience between several weeks and a couple of months where the sun doesn't come up at all! No thank you! When I looked outside this morning, I knew it was going to be really cold. Twinkling back at me, I was excited to see that the meadow was gleaming white with frost! What a nice change. It has been uncharacteristically mild this winter, with few days of frost and not as much rain as normal either. However, today was going to be a "normal" December day. When I headed out for my walk, the freezing cold bit into me instantly, yikes! I wasn't surprised to see it was a mere 26°F/-3.333°C degrees. In fact, no matter how fast I walked today, my extremities refused to do anything but get colder! That's really saying something because the walk up our driveway will really get your heart pumping if you don't dawdle. The grade (steepness) from the main road up to the base of our steep hill is about 15-20° degrees with a spot that's about 25° degrees. Plus, I'm out there for an hour and fifteen minutes of continuous hiking. That's cold! Incidentally, I bet this question has crossed some of your minds: "If you live in such a pretty area, why do you confine yourself to walking up and down your driveway?" The fact is, I love to walk around our lovely 3 miles/4.8km "block" and I used to do this every day. The problem is that it's much more flat and thus, not as good for exercise. It's an obvious difference in terms of exertion and personally, if I'm going to exercise, I'd like to get the most bang for my buck! After I got back inside today, I became one with our heater for the next 20 minutes until I was all fluffy and warm again. Then I got a hot cup of tea and fairly purred up to our "game room", where Steve and I have our computers. Later Steve went on his walk and returned to the house afterwards in utter amazement...he had on two sweaters, a scarf, a coat, a hat and thick gloves and he didn't take off a single thing during his whole hour! In honor of today's ridiculously cold temperatures, I'm sharing a picture of a frosted white Oak acorn cap. I captured this image a few weeks ago when we had one of those perfect frosts with lovely crystals all over everything. (Today's frost was lovely but not quite as dramatic.) I've also included another frost picture, frost covering a barrel with a puncture in the side. Pam, I wonder what the weather is like where you live. Do you get beautiful frosts? I hope that you're keeping warm and dry and getting lots of loving attention from friends and family. Happy holidays my dear! Here's to feeling better every day! :) Explored on 12/23/18, highest placement, #1.

(3 inset pictures) (please view against black to see the wonderful frosty details!) This morning started with a truly stunning sunrise with lovely light and beautiful clouds in the sky. I took pictures with my phone a few minute apart and added them as notes so you can see too! (It turned out that today's sunset was just as spectacular so I included that picture too!) As I went on my walk today, I kept stopping and drinking in the lovely view. I reflected on the post I wrote about why we chose this place and reveled in our lucky find. It may be too hot during the summer but the rest of the year is so divine! I am very touched by the response to my story yesterday and I wish that I could give all of you hugs. It has taken a very long time to come to terms with such terrible loss. It is frustrating that I can't really talk about this to most people. They understand that it's sad to lose trees, but unless you have a connection to nature, people just don't really get it. They immediately focus on the loss of our shop. I gave up trying to talk about how I really feel, until now. Thank you, everyone, for giving me a place to voice my pain and express my deep sorrow for the loss of the countless souls up on the hill. It means more than you can know. *many many hugs all around* Today is Happy Fence Friday (btw it's 5:40pm here in Oregon!) and this gives me the opportunity to share one of the frost pictures I got a few days ago! I managed to get a whole bunch of winners but for today, I'm featuring a white Oak leaf that was caught in the mesh fencing around one of our gardens. Pam, I hope you enjoy the sunrise and sunset pictures too…while I stood and stared at these wondrous sights, I thought about you and hoped that you are enjoying some lovely sunrises and sunsets too! Explored on 12/9/18, highest placement, #7.

2 pictures above in notes! (One of them is a close up of the fungus I photographed yesterday and completely forgot to upload the inset!) Although it was supposed to rain today, it was still dry when I bounced out of the house, eager to step through "Alice's looking glass" and explore the tiny world. I didn't have to go far. Just over to an Oak tree about 50 feet from the house, in fact. First I found the acorn cap in the second picture I'm sharing today, and when I was done getting various angles, I looked up to find the cap above, balanced between two twigs! (No, I didn't place it there!) It was one of those things where I thought, "Oh, that's neat!" but then I realized how special it was, and knew it would end up being my Picture of the Day! :) David Royston Bailey, CBE (born 2 January 1938) is an English photographer, regarded as one of the nation's best. He became a photographic assistant at the John French studio, then photographer for John Cole's Studio Five before being contracted as a fashion photographer for British Vogue magazine in 1960. Along with Terence Donovan and Brian Duffy, he captured and helped create the 'Swinging London' of the 1960s. In 2012, the BBC made a film of the story of his 1962 New York photoshoot with Jean Shrimpton. Wikipedia: David Bailey

I walked about 50 feet from the house to an Oak tree that has moss growing all over its lower branches. I've seen some beautiful things here before, and I was delighted to find this lovely acorn cap nestled in the moss. I originally planned to make this my Picture of the Day, until I looked up and saw the acorn cap balanced between two twigs! :)

As I was walking the dogs around the property today with my camera at the ready, I found a small White Oak tree with the most gorgeous fiery red-orange leaves. I looked at this tree for a while, wondering how I could possibly show the whole tree and share its blazing red beauty. But it sits near other trees and there was simply no way that I could find to make it stand out with a soft background. This is one of the reasons that I like to take pictures of individual leaves. I cannot isolate the whole tree and so the picture looks like nothing at all. Trees at the side of the road, or a tree in a field all by itself, well, that's different. Isolation is easy then. But not on our property. We have only a few isolated trees, and this particular Oak tree has leaves that turn quite red, while our other Oaks have leaves that turn yellow or with some red only. Frustrating! However, I think that this leaf will give you an idea of what I was looking at in wonder. Leaves on fire, burning in the afternoon sun. Gorgeous, incredible and amazing. Isn't autumn breathtaking?! :) Explored on October 20, 2013. Highest placement, page 6.