After January's bitter cold and frozen water lines, February's spring like weather has been wonderful - although it does make me apprehensive about what may be ahead of us this summer.
The weather isn't the only thing that has me in a good mood. I have been bummed because my trusty Nikon Coolpix S7000 camera has quit taking quality photos. I've been debating whether or not to get a new camera or to be content with the pics I do get. Monday I was 'this close' to ordering a new camera when it occurred to me that there are more settings than Auto which is what I've always used. The camera will zoom to 20X on auto setting, but less on all other settings. I decided to try one of the Scene settings for some sunset photos and this was the result. Yay! Nice and clear and crisp again.
It was so nice Tuesday afternoon that we drove out to Green Valley State Park/Lake to see if there was anything going on. On the way past the marsh between Green Valley Lake and Summit Lake we noted all the Canada geese and Snow geese. But when we got to the park there were only a few Canada geese and very little else going on.
Until we neared the beach area and could see some white birds way out on the middle of the lake. I assumed it was snow geese, or possibly pelicans, but when I zoomed in with my camera, I really got excited because it was swans! I had heard that swans had been sighted at the lake a few times over the years, but we had never seen them. It was a case of right place, right time because they flew off seconds after I took this picture. Bud said I should send my photo to Channel 13, so I did, and both Jeriann, at 4p.m. and Ed at, 6p.m., used it on their weather reports.
Yesterday's sunrise was gorgeous. I used one of my photos of it as my 'good morning' shot on FB with the quote: "It's a new dawn, it's a new day.....and I'm feeling good" mostly because it was the birthdate of Nina Simone and those are the words from one of her biggest hit songs - but also because I was still feeling good.
And those feelings continued into this morning when I got up early and saw the 'almost full' Snow Moon before it set. Taking photos and combining them with poems or words from songs or even my own musings, is one of my greatest pleasures. I'm so glad changing settings on my camera made all the difference.
I had another feel good moment a little later when I checked my email and found a very nice message from a fellow Iowan. She had stumbled across my blog when searching for something akin to a phrase I had used. She commented how amazed she was by how much we had in common after reading my bio and some of my posts....how she, too, looks for signs and symbols.
She wrote: "....it was an awesome case of synchronicity that really prompted me to reach out to you. I had read "The Swan" (Mary Oliver's poem) on your blog which I loved and was eager to comment on, but got sidetracked this past week. Then lo and behold, while watching the local news on WHO the other night, I saw your beautiful photo of the swans!"
So, I wrote that this was another feel good moment this morning. It was more than that, to borrow a current phrase: "I feel seen."
One last picture - not only to show how well my camera works on a different setting, but also how long my Valentine's bouquet is lasting.
I hope you are feeling as good, happy and seen as am I. 😊💛
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