She draped herself in glittering gold...

For some reason that line popped into my head when I spotted this vine-covered tree yesterday morning. 

I miss the wildflowers lining my dirt road, 

so I've been on a quest, 

in search of some color other than green and brown in the Hollow. 

This isn't exactly what I was looking for, but I thought the dying vine possessed a graceful beauty.

Here are some other splashes of color - or at least blossoms - I've found, 

all spotted in now-dry ponds.

(I just wonder how long they'll last without rain.)

Prairie Verbena... the first I've seen in a while. Just this one little plant...

Not sure what this is, but there are fields of it growing in pond beds...

It's not very colorful, but I think it's beautiful.

Is this some type of milkweed? It doesn't matter - I love this splash of purple.

Huisache Daisy ... the last of the yellows

Buttonbush - one of my new favorites!

Flowers always make people better, happier, and more helpful; 

they are sunshine, food, and medicine for the soul.

~Luther Burbank, American botanist and horticulturalist, 19th century

iPhonography and Jill's Photo Parties!

I've seen some fabulous iPhone photos.

Unfortunately, they're not coming from my iPhone!

These from the Flat Creek Estate Bistro where I work aren't too bad...

(Not bad views, are they?)

But I discovered baby deer are much harder to capture.

Sigh.

Please share your tips and advice on iPhonography with me! 

Thank you!

But before you do that, hop over to Jillsy's Studio - she's been partying all month! 

And she even awarded me two "Life of the Party" awards, for this...

and this...

Thank you, Jill!

(Click on the badge below to see more Party Pics!)

You are my sunshine, my only sunshine...

...You make me happy when skies are gray.

You'll never know dear, how much I love you.

Please don't take my sunshine away.

~ Jimmie David and Charles Mitchell

I grew up with that song in my heart in the voice of my mother.

In turn, I sang it to my kids.

They say you should write what you know. 

It stands to reason you should photograph what you have, then doesn't it? 

Well, right now, I have plenty of sunshine in my face

and songs of sunshine in my heart 
(plus a few quotes)
so I thought I should share them with you.

Sunshine on my shoulders makes me happy.

Sunshine in my eyes can make me cry.

Sunshine on the water looks so lovely.

Sunshine almost always makes me high.

~ John Denver

No matter how far the sun shines,
Still it must set.
 ~ Ferdinand Raimund

A day without sunshine is like, you know, night.
~ Steve Martin

Far away there in the sunshine are my highest aspirations. I may not reach them, but I can look up and see their beauty, believe in them, and try to follow where they lead. 
~ Louisa May Alcott

He that will enjoy the brightness of sunshine, must quit the coolness of the shade. 
~ Samuel Johnson

The hopeful man sees success where others see failure, sunshine where others see shadows and storm.
~ O.S. Marsden

Just living is not enough. 
One must have sunshine, freedom, and a little flower.
~ Hans Christian Andersen

Some people are making such thorough preparation for rainy days that they aren't enjoying today's sunshine.  ~ William Feather

Wherever you go, no matter what the weather, always bring your own sunshine.
~ Anthony J. D'Angelo

We grow by dreams. All big men are dreamers. Some of us let dreams die, but others nourish and protect them, nurse them through the bad days ... to the sunshine and light which always come. 
~ Woodrow Wilson

The sun lay like a friendly arm across her shoulder.
~ Margorie Kinnan Rawlings

Keep your face to the sunshine and you will never see the shadow.
~ Helen Keller

I need to laugh, and when the sun is out

I've got something I can laugh about.

I feel good in a special way.

I'm in love and it's a special day.

Good day sunshine.

~the Beatles

Love those Baby Blues

"When nature made the blue-bird she wished to propitiate both the sky and the earth, so she gave him the color of the one on his back and the hue of the other on his breast."  

~John Burroughs

Mexican Jays love the oaks and junipers here in Long Hollow. 

Flashes of their beautiful blue feathers are truly a gift during this oven of a summer that continues to bake the color from the landscape around us.

The grownups are camera shy, 

but this little baby blue was just as curious about me as I was enamored of him.

He let me snap away. 

Photos are cropped but otherwise, straight out of the camera. 

They really are this beautiful shade of blue!

 I'm grateful for my zoom! He wouldn't let me get this close!

Birds have a way of putting things in perspective. They forge ahead and carry on no matter what happens.  No dwelling on the past, no regrets, sheer 100% survival... and beauty. ~ Susan Halpin

And when he sings to you,

Though you're deep in blue,

You will see a ray of light creep through,

And so remember this,

life is no abyss,

Somewhere there's a bluebird of happiness.

Life is sweet, tender and complete,

when you find the blue bird of happiness.

~Blue Bird of Happiness, lyrics by Edward Heyman and Harry Parr Davies, 1934

Despite the Drought...

...this cactus is still green... but that shouldn't be a surprise. 

They're made to survive droughts, aren't they?

If they start dying, we know we're in trouble.

But here... crouch down a bit and peer past the brown weeds... 

you'll see there are also still a few feisty flowers refusing to give up.

There's the dependable Prairie Verbena...

... and the Huisache Daisy.

They're both tough flowers, blooming almost year-round, defiant of any extreme weather condition!

My heroes!

Mountain Pinks have mostly given up, but I found a few blossoms hanging on...

The Mexican Hats... 

I thought they were dead, but they're flourishing again after just one night of rain amid weeks of drought...

And then there are the nameless ones. 

I'll keep trying to identify them - they deserve recognition!

Like these yellows...

...and these tiny purples, perhaps my favorites. 

At first glance,  they don't look like much. 

But captured in the lens and examined up close... so delicate and colorful!.

I just wish I knew their name...

May your life be like a wildflower… growing freely in the beauty and joy of each day

~Native American proverb

Update: Jan @ twoscoopz identified the 'nameless' yellow ones..."tickseed", in the coreopsis family. Thanks, Jan!

Just an Old Truck...

...That's all it is.

Just an old, rusted truck.

But my heart skipped a beat at first sight of its broad grin, cracked windshield, rounded lines...

...the speckles and splashes of rust and primer...

I just love old trucks.

Don't you?