Celebrating the Ordinary!

Sometimes we find ourselves rushing through the hours, hitting only the high spots of the day, falling into bed at night, only to awaken again feeling overwhelmed with tasks we face.  That even happens out here, JOTOLR, believe it or not!  So, every once in awhile we have to stop in our tracks, take a look around, and celebrate the every-day, the ordinary, that which crosses our vision, but which we don't take time to see...

Here are only a few of mine this past weekend:

MM called me out as he was watering the Glossy Abelia with the command to "bring your camera" as there were at least 15 butterflies flitting about gathering moisture and whatever else butterflies gather!  Capturing an image of one butterfly is a lot easier than capturing an image of LOTS of butterflies.  I noticed in this case, that not all Swallowtails have tails.....

The Black Swallowtail has an extra set of "wings" at the top margins of the main ones. See them?  They're shorter...next time as I watch them fly, I'm going to look to see if those wings work independently....And though it's difficult to see, in this photo at this resolution, on my computer version I can see the tiny hairs on either side of the body. 

And, of course, I never seem to be able to ignore those cabbages when the sun comes up behind them.  The delicate veining seems to draw my eye every time!

And finally, the "Last Shot on the Card..."  I was, indeed, tired last night.  The heat throughout yesterday had been heavy.  I felt as though I'd been carrying it.  My camera goes with me everywhere, but I'd set it down on the bedroom dresser and was in the midst of fixing dinner at around 8:30 p.m.  It was a celebration!  The First BLT of the Season!  (Bacon, Lettuce, Tomato sandwiches--our favorite!)  There was one image left on the card without returning to my office to replace it.  Celebrating the event, I had planned to shoot a photo of the BLT with MM's homemade bread, and homegrown lettuce, and tomato (bacon is purchased!) But then I chanced to look out the screen door toward the northwest and what I saw took my breath away.  Without a lot of fuss, the choice was between a photo of a homegrown BLT or a gorgeous sunset....see what I chose!