The Sunshine State by the sea..

Citrus-y Florida :)

I get these urges every once in a while to paint my blog orange, yellow, green, deep red............I have never ever sat with an easel, palette, and brush in my life, but given a chance, i'll splash them, in all their hues on my canvas.......ruddy reds, warm yellows, look-at-moi fuschias and break-every-rule oranges........:) Here's a whiff of "tropicana", shot at Madeira beach town .......I have tons of these citrusy-pics..hoping to make a slideshow someday and share them all :)

Is it Spring already?

We have been experiencing very weird weather lately .....(global warming or not!!!) It rains most of the nights and we wake up to a beautiful morning with the world around us glistening in the sunshine.........There's a perceptible nip in the air....I say "perceptible" coz going by the freezing temp. in north, it's just that..perceptible :)

The chestnut trees are beginning to bloom and lilacs are in bud. The chill in the night wilts the leaves and flowers only to see them ready to bloom in the morning sunshine......Are these budding trees murmuring "spring" softly?? In Florida, it's always a subtle change in seasons....no loud proclamations for us sans one: SUMMER :D....I am waiting to see tiny leaves spring out of those bare branches......trees cloaked back in their lush clothings, perfect, untouchable patches of blue skies, skies so blue that u'd think somebody spilled the Tidy Bowl (I wish u'd click on the first pic to have a look)...and myriad other promises that Spring softly ambles in with :)

This post marks a year of the existence of this blog....it's been a joyful ride, with tons of friends across the globe adding their li'l inputs and making the jouney all the more worthwhile.......This one's for us and many more posts to come and new frdships to be forged :)

PS: In the second pic, I love the li'l bee there doing what it does the best.....on its way to making honey :)

Tic, Tac, Toe ;)

Love's in the air????? :D

Fly like a bird!!!

These sea gulls were desperately trying to fly against the wind. In vain. Despite failing a zillion of times, they'd make a collective effort, every few minutes. Persistence!!! They'd shiver, fly a few feet, fail and give it a shot all over again.

I always get this yearning to fly when I see blue skies or birds in flight or even those undulating sea-waves...............For some strange reason the pic reminds me of Maya Angelou's words. Its beautiful, the way she's expressed the inherent desire for freedom in a living, breathing soul...........

The free bird leaps on the back of the win

and floats downstream till the current ends

and dips his wings in the orange sun rays

and dares to claim the sky.

But a bird that stalks down his narrow cage

can seldom see through his bars of rage

his wings are clipped and his feet are tied

so he opens his throat to sing.

The caged bird sings with fearful trill

of the things unknown but longed for still

and is tune is heard on the distant hill

for the caged bird sings of freedom.

The free bird thinks of another breeze

and the trade winds soft through the sighing trees

and the fat worms waiting on a dawn-bright lawn

and he names the sky his own.

But a caged bird stands on the grave of dreams

his shadow shouts on a nightmare scream

his wings are clipped and his feet are tied

so he opens his throat to sing.

The caged bird sings with a fearful trill

of things unknown but longed for still

and his tune is heard on the distant hill

for the caged bird sings of freedom.

Circa 1888!!!

The Langlois bridge at Arles (France) as painted by Van Gogh (1888)

The drawbridge in Amsterdam (The Netherlands), captured by Moi (2006) :D