Finding the hidden beauty

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The mental haze is lifting slowly. My brain has been on vacation for a week now and I haven't been interested in anything that required neurons firing in any capacity. On the downside, this also included my creativity. But I have had a couple afternoons off and I am starting to feel human again. So I took my camera out with me when I was walking the dog.

Now let me tell you, juggling a dog on a leash, keys, and a camera isn't easy. I'm one of those crazy people that has to have my camera with me at all times. You just never know when you will have the opportunity to capture that perfect shot. For me, it was yesterday on my afternoon off, after spending an hour by the pool and  then halfway through a NCIS episode, when my dog decided he had to go out, NOW. I tried to talk him out of it. He didn't really want to go right then, did he? I was so comfy curled up in my chair. He could be that comfy too if he curled up on his pillow and took a nap. But he would not be swayed. So I huffed and got out of my chair, found my sunglasses, grabbed my camera, stomped down the stairs, hooked the dog to the leash, and went out.

There is a magnolia tree by my house that has about 40 blossoms on it so I figured I would take few shots and see how they turned out. Then we went to the back of the house, the extra-sunny side, and were just wandering when I saw this pot of flowers by my neighbors back door. To be honest, they looked a bit pitiful. Some blooms were wilted, some leaves dried and brown. It was sitting in direct sunlight which usually doesn't bode well when I try to take a photo, but I gave it a shot anyway. So I stood on the dog's leash, squatted down, contorted myself trying to frame the shot like I wanted, and ignored the dog who was convinced that what he needed to sniff was about 3 inches farther out than he could reach.

When I got back to the house I loaded the photos on my computer so to see if I had anything worth keeping. The magnolias? blah.... The tree green against the sky? ehh.... But then I got to the half-dead flowers baking in the sun. I loved it. The colors make me happy and I just feel summer in it. Just goes to show you can find beauty anywhere.

Happy Friday and have a great weekend!