SPRING FLOWERS

I've had a new camera for a couple of weeks now, and have been eager to start taking pictures once again. And after that "long, cold, lonely winter," the spring flowers are a welcome treat.

So yesterday I bopped outside with camera in hand and visited my front yard, looking for stuff to snap. First up was the rhododendron right outside the front door. It's in need of some shaping, but I'm afraid to hack at it for fear of killing it. (As it is, the icicles took out a big chunk of the back of the plant this winter.) But the big treat was that a huge bee was out there, dipping into the pollen. This new camera has a telephoto lens and -- whoa! There he was, big as life. (And see the pollen on his butt! Is that cute, or what?)

Next to the rhodo we have a little stand of daffodils. They're the spring plant that keeps on giving. They've been out for over a week, and we've had a couple of really hot (Wonderful!) days, but they're still pert and perky. (I have to learn which setting gives me a sharper background. Hey, it's only been a couple of weeks--give me time, give me time!

We didn't plant the tulips out front -- and usually we have only one straggly bloom, but this year we had more--go figure! (And I'm certainly not complaining.) Sadly, tulips seem to last a day or two (especially if it's hot). As you can see, they're already getting a little brown around the edges, and they'd only been open a day.

Of course, while spring is great for flowers, it's also great for weeds. Why do they look so pretty when they flower--and so ugly when they turn into puff balls of seeds a day or two later?

The former owners told us they had a row of ornamental cherry trees along the side of the driveway, but the ice storm of 1991 took out all but one. It's the oddest looking tree because it's tall with very short (they all broke in the storm) limbs. Most of the year it looks like it needs to be put out of its misery. But for a couple of golden (or should I say platinum) days in the spring, it flowers and almost looks pretty. (Well, it does look pretty close up.)

I stopped using my SLR camera about ten years ago and almost exclusively used a point-and-shoot. And when we got our first digital cameras, they, too, were point-and-shoot. I've only had the new camera a couple of weeks, and have realized how much I missed taking really good pictures. Now to learn to use the thing to its full capacity.