-
Recent Posts
Archives
- December 2025
- November 2025
- October 2025
- September 2025
- August 2025
- July 2025
- June 2025
- May 2025
- April 2025
- March 2025
- February 2025
- January 2025
- December 2024
- November 2024
- October 2024
- September 2024
- August 2024
- July 2024
- June 2024
- May 2024
- April 2024
- March 2024
- February 2024
- January 2024
- December 2023
- November 2023
- October 2023
- September 2023
- August 2023
- July 2023
- June 2023
- May 2023
- April 2023
- March 2023
- February 2023
- January 2023
- December 2022
- November 2022
- October 2022
- September 2022
- July 2022
- June 2022
- April 2022
- June 2021
- March 2021
- October 2020
- July 2020
- May 2020
- April 2020
- December 2019
- July 2019
- June 2019
- May 2019
- April 2019
- January 2019
- December 2018
- November 2018
- September 2018
- August 2018
- June 2018
- May 2018
- September 2017
- August 2017
- May 2017
- April 2017
- January 2017
- October 2016
- September 2016
- August 2016
- June 2016
- May 2016
- April 2016
- March 2016
- February 2016
- January 2016
- August 2015
- May 2015
- April 2015
- March 2015
- February 2015
- January 2015
- August 2014
- June 2014
- March 2014
- February 2014
- January 2014
- December 2013
- November 2013
- September 2013
- August 2013
- July 2013
- June 2013
- May 2013
- April 2013
- February 2013
- December 2012
- October 2012
- September 2012
- August 2012
- July 2012
- June 2012
- May 2012
- April 2012
- March 2012
- February 2012
- January 2012
- December 2011
- November 2011
- October 2011
- September 2011
- August 2011
- July 2011
- June 2011
- May 2011
- April 2011
- March 2011
- February 2011
- January 2011
-
Category Archives: Photography
The Bathroom Window Does Not Disappoint
They’re back! An annual perk of Winter – stumbling into the bathroom at dawn to be greeted by ice art on the window. It has only just begun and so far the daily frost landscapes painted by nature have not … Continue reading
Posted in Aging, nature, Perspective, Photography, Seasons, senior musings, The Urban Porch, The Urban Porch ™, treasures, Uncategorized, Views From he Urban Porch ™, Weather, Winter, Wow!
Tagged abstract ice, bathroom window, cold bathroom, cold mornings, cold weather art, crystal formations, dawn abstracts, from my window, ice, ice formations, my imagination, nature's art, view from my window, window art, winter art
Leave a comment
Arrival of the Junco
A friend of mine stated that when the Dark-eyed Juncos show up at the bird feeder, Winter is surely on the way. They have arrived in all their rotund fluffiness, an announcement that Autumn is trucking right along. Although it … Continue reading
Posted in Aging, Autumn, Gardening, Holidays, nature, Perspective, Photography, Seasons, senior musings, The Urban Porch, The Urban Porch ™, treasures, Uncategorized, Views From he Urban Porch ™
Tagged Arrival of the Junco, Autumn, Dark-eyed Junco, fading foliage, Fall, Fence Dinosaur, geese migration, Halloween, last colors of autumn, papillon, winter is not far off
Leave a comment
Drifting
This morning I decided to tackle some of the worst of the weeds in front of The Urban Porch. Although I’m not all that worried about neighborhood appearances (when you live across the street from a hoarder, everything looks better … Continue reading
Posted in Aging, Daeja's Garden, Gardening, Memories, nature, Perspective, Photography, Seasons, senior musings, summer, The Urban Porch, The Urban Porch ™, treasures, Uncategorized, Views From he Urban Porch ™, Weather, Wildlife
Tagged aquarium, beach, Childhood, cicada killer, cloud formations, clouds, communing with the octopus, drifting through life, Family, Flowers, how to dry overalls, July flowers, lake, late summer blooms, mesmerizing jellyfish, noisy overall buckles, ocean, octopus, overalls in the dryer, spacey
Leave a comment
Purple
Right on schedule, it’s Purple Time on and around the Urban Porch again. It’s been raining, raining, raining, adorning the petals in watery gems. Stopping by a friend’s house over the long holiday weekend past, I was met with the … Continue reading
Posted in Daeja's Garden, Gardening, nature, Perspective, Photography, Seasons, senior musings, Spring, The Urban Porch, The Urban Porch ™, treasures, Uncategorized, Views From he Urban Porch ™, Weather, Wow!
Tagged Bearded Iris, clematis, colorways, End of May, Flowers, garden, Gardening, Ground Ivy, Lavender, Lobelia, May, may flowers, may garden, meaning of purple, nature, northeast in May, purple moods, purples of May, Salvia, Siberian Iris, so many purples, Spring, spring flowers, Wisteria
Leave a comment
Another Year of Two Springs
I’ve been away from this page, having had the good fortune once again to dwell amidst spring blooms in the west first, which will be followed a few weeks later with newly emerging blossoms of the east. This post will … Continue reading
Posted in Daeja's Garden, Gardening, nature, Perspective, Photography, Seasons, senior musings, Spring, Travel, treasures, Uncategorized, Wow!
Tagged April, California blooms, Color, falling into spring, flower crazy, Flowers, garden, Gardening, Gardens, Napa, nature, NorCal, patterns, photography, scent of flowers, Sonoma, springtime, west coast, wine country
Leave a comment
Radiant
There is a bit of magic in waking up to trees glazed in icy wonder. As the sun dodged in and out from wolf-gray clouds, I kept stepping outdoors into the frigid air for brief moments to admire the prisms … Continue reading
Posted in nature, Perspective, Photography, Seasons, senior musings, The Urban Porch, The Urban Porch ™, treasures, Uncategorized, Views From he Urban Porch ™, Weather, Winter
Tagged diamonds, frozen, frozen world, glazed trees, ice, photography, pine needles, prisms, radiant sparkles, rime, shadows, silhouettes, sparkles, stalactites, unicorn icicles, winter gifts
Leave a comment
The Dawn Abstracts Return
Once again, the bathroom window has provided. The first ice pictures of this winter have arrived. It is a seasonal event, an arrangement of ice particles that develop on the (okay, not too clean) east-facing bathroom window on the coldest … Continue reading
Posted in nature, Perspective, Photography, Seasons, senior musings, treasures, Uncategorized, Views From he Urban Porch ™, Winter
Tagged abstract ice, bathroom window, cold mornings, cold weather art, dawn abstracts, ice art, ice crystals, ice formations, ice pictures, my imagination, winter art, winter dawn
2 Comments
Silver Linings
There has been a dark cloud around my heart lately. It happens sometimes. I think pretty much everyone knows the feeling. Late afternoon, heading out the door with the dog, leash in hand, pausing for a moment on the porch … Continue reading
Posted in Aging, Coping, Earworm of the day, Perspective, Photography, Seasons, senior musings, summer, The Urban Porch, The Urban Porch ™, treasures, Uncategorized, Views From he Urban Porch ™, Weather
Tagged cloud rays, clouds, dark cloud, dark feelings, emotional pain, God-light, grace, Grateful Dead, hope, hopefulness, light beams, onward, silver linings, sun rays, Touch of Gray
2 Comments
Something Blue
Every once in a while I will glance down from my upstairs bedroom window in order to catch the flashes of crimson fish in my neighbor’s backyard koi pond. Seeing them lends a tiny slice of serenity. I’m always glad … Continue reading
Posted in Are you kidding me?, Daeja's Garden, Gardening, nature, Perspective, Photography, Seasons, summer, The Urban Porch, The Urban Porch ™, treasures, Uncategorized, Views From he Urban Porch ™, Wow!
Tagged banner year for hydraneas, beautiful day in the neighborhood, blue, Blue flowers, blue in nature, colors of summer, crow tree, Hydrangea explosion, Hydrangeas, neighborhood
Leave a comment
Tipping Over Into Summer
As I headed back toward the house after the last evening dog walk tonight, I wondered to myself when the fireflies would appear. They always show up in June. As if a manifestation of my wishes, there they were as … Continue reading
Posted in Aging, Birds, Daeja's Garden, Food, Gardening, nature, Perspective, Photography, Seasons, senior musings, Spring, summer, The Urban Porch, The Urban Porch ™, treasures, Uncategorized, Views From he Urban Porch ™, Weather, Wildlife
Tagged blooms of late spring, early summer, early summer blooms, firefly season, gifts of spring, June, late gifts of spring, late June, late spring, late spring blooms
Leave a comment
The Purples of May
I can’t keep up with it, how is it possible these days of spring are blowing by? A glorious May it has been, filled with heady fragrance, breezy blue skies, gentle rains. On this last day of the month, here … Continue reading
Posted in Daeja's Garden, Earworm of the day, Gardening, nature, Perspective, Photography, Seasons, Spring, The Urban Porch, The Urban Porch ™, treasures, Uncategorized, Views From he Urban Porch ™, Wow!
Tagged a garden of bracelets, blooms, End of May, garden gems, garden gemstones, Gardening, jewel tones, jewels, last day of May, May, purple, purple haze, shades of purple, siberian irises, the garden, the purples of May
Leave a comment
Windshield Galactica
I don’t know why it is exactly, but going through the car wash has repeatedly provided brief moments of simple delight. Perhaps if getting the car cleaned was something that occurred more frequently, I might have eventually become a bit … Continue reading
Posted in Aging, nature, Perspective, Photography, senior musings, Spring, Travel, treasures, Uncategorized, Wow!
Tagged bubbles and brushes, car wash, carwash as art, childlike wonder, clouds and stars, galaxies, galaxy art, imagination, inner child, interplanetary, kid in a carwash, space, trippy car wash, windshield art
3 Comments
Toutes Les Fleurs Blanches
The Dogwood tree at the side of The Urban Porch exploded with radiant blooms, sun filtering through translucent petals against vibrating blue skies. Each year I almost forget how stunning the Dogwoods can be until it happens again. Day after … Continue reading
Posted in Aging, Daeja's Garden, Gardening, nature, Perspective, Photography, Seasons, senior musings, Spring, The Urban Porch, The Urban Porch ™, treasures, Uncategorized, Views From he Urban Porch ™
Tagged All the white flowers, Dogwood flowers, Dogwoods, Gardens, gardens in my neighborhood, May blooms, scenes from the urban porch, spring flowers, The bluest sky ever, the neighborhood, white blooms, White flowers
2 Comments
Pink
As always, the big old cherry tree across the street from The Urban Porch made a spectacular annual showing. Walking beneath this fairy-like bower over the last few weeks has provided moments of daily enchantment. The burst of warm temps … Continue reading
Posted in Daeja's Garden, Gardening, nature, Perspective, Photography, Seasons, senior musings, Spring, The Urban Porch, The Urban Porch ™, treasures, treasures, Uncategorized, Views From he Urban Porch ™, Weather, Wow!
Tagged cherry tree, cherry tree flowers, fairyland tree, flowering cherry, flowering tree, old cherry tree, Papillon in petals, petals, Pink blanket, pink petals, pink snow
Leave a comment
Respect
I’ve been bouncing between doing a little bit of yard work and planting myself in a chair on The Urban Porch during this spate of gorgeous days. The poppy patch, located in a corner of the front yard by the … Continue reading
Posted in Are you kidding me?, Daeja's Garden, Dogs, Gardening, nature, Perspective, Photography, Rant, Seasons, Spring, The Urban Porch, The Urban Porch ™, Uncategorized, Vent, Views From he Urban Porch ™
Tagged disrespectful people, flower thief, garden police, neighborhood garden, picking flowers, picking up after dog, poppies, poppy patch, poppy police, signs, stealing flowers, yard signs
Leave a comment
Two Springs
Today I think I am mostly going to fill the page with visuals. Spring has truly sprung. My family are East Coast-West Coast people. At times all of us have been living in the East. Other times all have been … Continue reading
Posted in Daeja's Garden, Gardening, nature, Perspective, Photography, Seasons, senior musings, Spring, The Urban Porch, The Urban Porch ™, Travel, treasures, Uncategorized, Views From he Urban Porch ™, Weather, Wildlife, Wow!
Tagged bi-coastal family, blooms, east coast, exploding spring, Family, family visit, Flowers, northern california, spring flowers, spring photos, spring twice, super blooms, upstate new york, west coast
1 Comment
The Waiting
If you pay attention you can already detect the scent of green – I love how the color is synonymous with the fragrance. The trees here are still in their remission, but the promise of verdancy is in the air. … Continue reading
Posted in Cooking, Coping, Food, Gardening, Mushrooms, nature, Perspective, Photography, Seasons, senior musings, Spring, The Urban Porch, The Urban Porch ™, treasures, Uncategorized, Views From he Urban Porch ™, Weather, Winter
Tagged almost equinox, another year, anticipation, green, interesting fruits, lychee, moods, persimmon, seasonal changes, seasonal moods, seasonal shifts, small joys, spring is almost here, vernal, waiting for spring
5 Comments
Pattern, Color, Detail, Distraction (Look Away)
I’ve got a partial saga written and sitting in my draft folder. It is a convoluted and frustrating story that still has not reached a resolution, which plays into the procrastination. At certain moments, salient points and corresponding sentences will … Continue reading
Posted in Cooking, Coping, Food, nature, Perspective, Photography, Seasons, The Urban Porch, The Urban Porch ™, treasures, Uncategorized
Tagged amethyst, avoiding the unfinished, beauty, Color, distractions, labradorite, moon jellies, patterns, purple potatoes, skies, stripes, sunsets, Texture, visual distracttions
Leave a comment
Funny What the Weather Will Do
January is bouncing all over the place in both weather and emotions these days. Views From the Urban Porch have been varied and unpredictable. One day I’m staring at an atmosphere so vibrantly blue that it conjures up tropical skies … Continue reading
Posted in Aging, Cooking, Coping, Dogs, Earworm of the day, Flashback, Food, Friends, grief, nature, Perspective, Photography, Seasons, senior musings, The Urban Porch, The Urban Porch ™, Uncategorized, Views From he Urban Porch ™, Weather, Weird, Winter
Tagged Changes, changing weather, diversions, earworm, grief, ice, January, january deaths, mood, most deaths in january, passages, personal history, retail therapy, sky, sky changes, snow, snowmelt, weather changes, youth
Leave a comment
Gifts From a Bathroom Window
Every winter my bathroom window provides some wonderful ice art. Although other windows in this house face the same direction, this is the only one that puts on a show. Some mornings – even very cold ones – there is … Continue reading
Posted in Earworm of the day, nature, Perspective, Photography, Seasons, treasures, treasures, Uncategorized, Views From he Urban Porch ™, Weather, Winter, Wow!
Tagged abstract ice, bathroom window art, earworm art, earworms of the day, from my window, ice pictures, views from my window, window ice
1 Comment
First Snow
January has brought our first real snowstorm. It is so fresh and lovely. The Japanese maple leaves on My Red Tree had never quite let go this past autumn. Now they are heavily laden with fluffy clumps, soon to drop … Continue reading
Posted in Dogs, nature, Perspective, Photography, Seasons, senior musings, The Urban Porch, The Urban Porch ™, Uncategorized, Weather, Winter
Tagged cozy, first snow, first week of january, haiku, January, Japanese Maple, little dog problems, little dogs, maple syrup snow, Matsuo Basho, my red tree, Piette's House at Montfoucault, Pissarro, snowfall, snowstorm, the white of winter, winter, winter haiku, Winter Solitude
2 Comments
Stepping Out of Limbo
Mid-September. I’m awaiting a burst of productivity to occur, but it’s not happening. Earworm of the day, recorded by Jimmy Cliff in 1971: Sitting here in limboBut I know it won’t be longSitting here in limboLike a bird without a … Continue reading
Posted in Autumn, Cooking, Daeja's Garden, Earworm of the day, Gardening, nature, Perspective, Photography, Seasons, senior musings, summer, The Urban Porch, The Urban Porch ™, Uncategorized, Views From he Urban Porch ™, Weather
Tagged almost fall, colors of early autumn, easy recipe for the unmotivated, feeling in limbo, late summer colors, no motivation, stagnation, waiting for Autumn, zucchini for dinner
Leave a comment
Close to Over
In a few more weeks the school busses will be back on the roads again. Meanwhile, the kids are buzzing with anticipation as they await the news of who their teachers will be this year. It feels almost surreal how … Continue reading
Posted in Daeja's Garden, Gardening, Mushrooms, nature, Perspective, Photography, Seasons, senior musings, summer, The Urban Porch, The Urban Porch ™, treasures, treasures, Uncategorized, Views From he Urban Porch ™
Tagged almost time for school, August, down another rabbit hole, Earworm of the day, late august, late summer palette, the colors of late summer, unpredictable mushrooms
Leave a comment
Here Comes the Sun (doo-doo-doo-doo)
Here comes the sun, doo-doo-doo-doo Here comes the sun, and I say It’s alright Sun, sun, sun, here it comes Sun, sun, sun, here it comes Sun, sun, sun, here it comes Sun, sun, sun, here it comes….! Here comes … Continue reading
Posted in nature, Perspective, Photography, Seasons, summer, treasures, Uncategorized, Wow!
Tagged almost autumn, annual sunflowers, Beatles earworm, earworm, Fibonacci sequence, fractals, late summer, my photos, sunflower fields, sunflowers, sunny flower faces, this makes me happy, yellow
2 Comments
Looking for Bessie
“Her name was Bessie”. That’s the only thing my father told me about his paternal grandmother, and that was only after I asked him about my great-grandparents. He mentioned there were a couple of uncles, both of which disappeared “I … Continue reading
Posted in Aging, Bucket List, Daeja's Garden, Mushrooms, nature, Perspective, Photography, senior musings, summer, Travel, treasures, Uncategorized, Wow!
Tagged aging, all points led here, ancestry, connections, familia, Family, finding your roots, genealogy, Memories, mushroom capital, orchid room, recording family history, relatives
3 Comments
Mélange
What a month it’s been! Beautiful days, some lazy indulgences, some quirky sights to be seen. Due to the outrageously fine weather, I’ve spent some significant (and perhaps a bit wasteful) lengths of time just hanging out on The Urban … Continue reading
Posted in Aging, Birds, Cooking, Daeja's Garden, Food, Friends, Gardening, nature, Photography, Seasons, senior musings, Spring, The Urban Porch ™, Uncategorized, Views From he Urban Porch ™
Tagged blue, doing nothing, grandparents, May, purple, retirement, spring flowers, the most beautiful May, wild food
Leave a comment
Moving Right Along
Time seems to be whipping by at a pretty good clip. It feels as though we are all in some sped up animation. During a conversation with a friend years ago, we expounded on the theory that time goes faster … Continue reading
Boom!
Boom! It’s only mid-April and already the grass on this little patch of front yard suddenly got so dense that I realized I better mow it now, before it gets too difficult to push through. Has Spring come on with … Continue reading
Posted in Daeja's Garden, Gardening, Photography, Spring, The Urban Porch, treasures, Uncategorized, Weather, Wow!
Tagged high on spring, spring flowers, the season of Hope, The Urban Porch, warm April
2 Comments
Mountain Power
If you asked my children or siblings, they might tell you that I have a song for just about everything. Words on a street sign, an incident, a phrase, a photo, and suddenly a song pops into my head. Sometimes … Continue reading
Posted in Birds, nature, Perspective, Photography, Travel, Uncategorized, Wildlife
Tagged ghost riders, mountains, Organ Mountains, songs in my head, southern New Mexico, the southwest
1 Comment
Clouds
At the beginning of this past weekend, the temperatures plummeted into the “I’m not going anywhere unless I really have to” zone, with wind chills of minus forty degrees fahrenheit (-40F). While this time could have been spent baking or … Continue reading
Socks of the Day
“Socks of the Day” was inadvertently born during the early days of the pandemic – that time of fear and uncertainty, when the roads and neighborhoods were suddenly empty of traffic and life, people scurrying to opposite sides of the … Continue reading
Little Thrills
A few readers have shared with me that they have been unable to comment on some of my blog posts, that WordPress won’t allow them to register their responses without jumping through a few website hoops. In general I don’t … Continue reading
Posted in Cooking, Coping, Dogs, Food, Holidays, Perspective, Photography, treasures, treasures, Weather, Winter
Tagged crows, gifting, Gumby, hunkering down, laundry lint, little pleasures, no snow, pieces of the past, simple pleasures, winter food
Leave a comment
Miracles and Magic In Your Hands
Have you stopped to notice all the little miracles that pass through our hands daily? While skimming through a number of recent and stored photographs, I could not help but realize how many beautiful things these worn out old hands … Continue reading
Posted in Perspective, Photography, Spring, Uncategorized, Wow!
Tagged beautiful earth, beautiful nature, gifts of spring, miracles, nature, small wonders, these old hands, wonder, wonderous things
1 Comment
Buzzed
Our local nursery was having their annual Spring flower display, an early teaser, and it was raining, so I stopped there to get high. On flowers. I get pretty buzzed on flowers – it’s true. Obviously I am not the … Continue reading
Posted in Gardening, Photography, Spring, Uncategorized, Wow!
Tagged Color, garden center, high on flowers, spring flowers, spring preview, things to come
5 Comments
Looking Up
I just happened to have another one of those oddly moving parking lot experiences. It is a hot, bright August day with a slight tinge of humidity in the air. Despite the delicious temptation of slabbing out in front of … Continue reading
Posted in Perspective, Photography, summer, Uncategorized, Weather, Wow!
Tagged city view, clouds, looking up, sky, unexpected beauty, urban nature
4 Comments
Elusive, Delicate Rainbows
A small thing for the Bucket List, but one never-the-less. I have always wanted to visit a butterfly sanctuary, and it finally happened. Walking into that sheltered world of warm breezes, tropical flowers and rainbow-hued butterflies elicited pure joy. They … Continue reading
Posted in Bucket List, Photography, Uncategorized, Wildlife, Wow!
Tagged butterflies, butterfly sanctuary, lightness and being
Leave a comment
Tradition
The tradition continued into the next generation when I took my three-year-old grandson blueberry picking for the first time. With his little pail and my big one, we ventured off into the field and down the row of bushes together. … Continue reading
Posted in kids, Photography, Uncategorized
Tagged berry picking, blueberries, generations, grandchildren, grandparenting, Summer, Traditions
5 Comments
daeja's view 