Red Flower, Many Layers

July 28, 2012 by 3 Comments
Layers of Petals

Red Flower Wearing Her Layers © 2012

While there is perhaps a province in which the photograph can tell us nothing more than what we can see with our open eyes, there is another in which it proves to us how little our eyes permit us to see. ~ Dorothea Lange

The simple zinnia provides an interesting study of the pattern of petals. It reminds me of a velvety red circular staircase. (Maybe a staircase to heaven?)

Oops, my mind headed in a different direction with the vision of  Stairway to Heaven. How can you ignore the strains of one of the best songs ever, Stairway to Heaven by Led Zeppelin. (And yes, I saw them in concert in 1975, second from the top row in the Chicago Stadium, However the YouTube clip is from a concert at Madison Square Gardens!)  I love the Zep enough to conquer any fear of heights or claustrophobia I may have had, and sat mesmerized through their sets.

Any other Led Zep fans out there? Especially from years of youth in the 1970s?

Isn’t it amazing how a simple red flower can send you on a trip through your memories?

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Bo Mackison is a photographer and the owner of Seeded Earth Studio LLC  .She went on a trip down memory lane, all because of a photograph of the petal structure of a zinnia.

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Summer Peaches

July 26, 2012 by 1 Comment
Summer Peaches

Summer Peaches © 2012 Bo Mackison

Our intention is to affirm this life, not to bring order out of chaos nor to suggest improvements in creation, but simply to wake up to the very life we’re living, which is so excellent once one gets one’s mind and desires out of its way and lets it act of its own accord. ~ John Cage

Taking some time off Adding some play to the weekend off from the computer (we’ll see how that works!) My plan – going to eat some peaches, get some projects off my to-do list, read a good book or two, a take a short road trip..

See you Monday tomorrow, because…

And, yes, the peaches were super sweet and yummy!

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Bo Mackison is a photographer and the owner of Seeded Earth Studio LLC. Weekend to recharge, but of course, my camera gets to come along on my mini-vacation!

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Rain Sweeping

July 24, 2012 by 4 Comments
Rain Sweeping

Rain Sweeping © 2012 Bo Mackison

Let everyone sweep in front of his own door, and the whole world will be clean. ~ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Another rainy day. Rain came down so fast, i went out on the patio with the broom to sweep away the standing water – send it into the flower beds and the grass.

While I was sweeping away the water, making big splashes and laughing, I noticed the broom which has been a fixture in the garage and porch for nearly a dozen years. It is a Shaker hand-made broom that we bought on a vacation to the Canterbury Shaker Settlement in Canterbury, New Hampshire in the summer of 2000.

I fell in love with this broom. Yes, it is possible to love a broom, especially one so beautifully crafted. Notice the weaving where the straw is attached to the handle. And after years of hard use, the broom shows its age, but it may just be around for another dozen years.

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Bo Mackison is a photographer and the owner of Seeded Earth Studio LLC.Usually Bo photographs landscapes or botanicals. But today she photographed her beautiful broom.

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Sunday Series – Historic Log Church

July 22, 2012 by 6 Comments
Praire Land on Hauge Log Church Property, Church Visible on Hilltop

Hauge Log Church above the Prairie © 2012 Bo Mackison

I am trying to teach my mind
To bear the long slow growth
of the fields, and to sing
of its passing while it waits…
~ Wendell Berry

Hauge Log Church - Exterior and Door

The Door of the Hauge Log Church  © 2012 Bo Mackison

Everyone needs beauty as well as bread,
places to play in and pray in,
where nature may heal and give strength
to body and soul alike.  ~ John Muir

Hauge Log Church - Exterior

Hauge Log Church – Church on a Hill Overlooking the Prairie © 2012 Bo Mackison

Be faithful to that which exists within yourself. ~ Andre Gide

Gray-headed Coneflower

Gray-headed Coneflower in the Hauge Log Church’s Prairie  © 2012 Bo Mackison

Notice how present a flower is, how surrendered to life it is. ~ Eckhardt Tolle

Hauge Log Church - Main Floor Interior and Pulpit, Photographed from Rear of Church

Hauge Log Church – Simple Interior © 2012 Bo Mackison.

A moment of self-compassion can change your entire day. A string of such moments can change the course of your entire life.  ~ Christopher K. Germer

Hauge Log Church - Front Window and Pulpit

Hauge Log Church’s Pulpit © 2012 Bo Mackison

Read not to contradict and confute, not to believe and take for granted, not to find talk and discourse, but to weigh and consider.  ~  Sir Francis Bacon

Hauge Log Church - Rear Balcony with Window and Four Rows of Pews

Balcony of the Hauge Log Church with Window and Pews © 2012 Bo Mackison

In wisdom gathered over time I have found that every experience is a form of exploration. ~ Ansel Adams

Hauge Log Church - Outside Grounds, Swing and Cemetery

Swing and Cemetery at the Hauge Log Church © 2012 Bo Mackison

You don’t get to choose how you die or when, you can only decide how you are going to live. ~ Joan Baez

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Bo Mackison is a photographer and the owner of Seeded Earth Studio LLC. On Sundays, Bo shares a series of photographs and quotes she finds meaningful. This photo series is of the Historic Hauge Log Church and its adjacent lands. The church was built in Dane County, Wisconsin in 1852. It is on the National Register of Historic Places and its upkeep is provided by a group of dedicated volunteers.

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Following the Garden Path

July 20, 2012 by 4 Comments
Watering Allen Centennial Gardens

Crooked Gardens © 2012 Bo Mackison

Pursue some path, however narrow and crooked, in which you can walk with love and reverence.     ~ Henry David Thoreau

If ever I am in need of some spirit lifting, one of my first remedies is to find the nearest flower garden and follow a path or two. I seem unable to hold onto a bad mood or an angry thought or hurt feelings once I begin to wander from one flower bed to the next.

And for an even more delightful experience, one sure to make me smile and even laugh, I run through sprinklers and cool water drops while looking for the newest blossoms. There is nothing finer than to walk through a garden while being spattered with cool water from the twirling watering hoses – especially when it is 90˚ and there’s not a cloud in the sky.

These lovely gardens were photographed at the Allen Centennial Gardens on the University of Wisconsin’s campus in Madison. This summer the staff has added vertical tubes of color in all the flower bed, each tube’s color coordinates with the flowers and foliage. Fun!

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Bo Mackison is a photographer and the owner of Seeded Earth Studio LLC.  She spends as much time as possible wandering in flowering gardens, usually with camera in hand.
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