HUMMINGBIRD STAR

A star is born.
This little crown of "Candy Corn" growing out of a star, is in Vilija`s garden.
On Planet Earth, a few shots of the cactus` red bloom, including a shot of two of them together. This is probably the end of these blooms this year, although I have a few more of these cactus, & I remember one of them had a blossom in September.
I can always hope.
The header, which links to more shots, is a study in the flight of a hummingbird, in silhouette.
Enjoy your day ahead please, & smile at a stranger. It may encourage them to do great things.

PURPLE REIGN

This beautiful purple anemone is in my friend Alex`s reef tank.
It`s easy to see that this Anemone & it`s commensurate clownfish are the center of attention.
This clownfish or anemonefish is a true Percola Amphiprion percula (Lacepede, 1802).
It is in perfect form & health, a testament to Alex`s stubborn attention to the reef`s health.
On Planet Earth, a few of his corals & the expressive Engineer Gobi.
Enjoy your dive on the reef.
Have a great weekend, please.

LIL RASCALS

These two imps are the blooms I`m posting tonight. My grand daughters are the funniest of all the kids I`ve ever met, except for my daughter. They are a team together but very different little girls separately.
Luckily for me, they live right around the corner. (a few blocks)
One is scared of animals, while the other is all over the dog, cat & any bird we have, but especially Coconut, who loves everybody,
as long as he`s involved in the action.
Jackie & Chloe are on this planet to laugh & make people laugh.
Today , please try & laugh a little or better yet, make someone else laugh.
You`ll get a laugh out of it.
These are "The Girls", enjoy.

METEORITE SHOWER

Finally, my mystery bloom opened tonight. And a spectacle it was. It took about four hours to fluff it`s crinolines.
It is from the same cactus as last week`s pink bloom. I`m expecting a different color morph yet, but maybe next year.
Strangely, my other cactus also bloomed today.
This time though, it did so on steroids.
Never before has it produced the number of blooms as tonight. There are 24 booms on it, & the whole area is scented with their delicious aroma. These are on Planet Earth tonight.
The header is the Solistice Sunset.
Since it was the longest day of the year, I made it out of 11 shots I took at sunset.
Enjoy your summertime blues, or whatever music floats your boat.

GLASS FISH

This is a little exercise in justifying the means.
I noticed this on a shelf in the light & decided to shoot it`s transparency.
I wanted a sky blue background, but couldn`t really suspend it so I took two shots holding it against the sky & joined then as one. I also took the opportunity to repair the damaged fin. You can see the two originals by clicking this one.
On Planet Earth, the end of this bloom is shown with it`s tears. I also included a few Hibiscus images.
In the header, a few views of the front of my house & one from the back, overlooking my canyon towards my neighbor.
Have a great week end, please

TUNING UP

This is an opera of night blooms in Pink Major opus 5.
These were almost exclusively taken by flashlight in the dark of night. The cactus bloom is below the level of the deck where I have to be on my knees to even look at it.
Although it is related in some way to my other blooming cactus, this pink blossomed one is very low to the ground.
I believe I`ve seen some of these as big as 8 feet tall cactus trees, but thre one here is completely opposite in stature to my 12 foot tall ones out front.
Strangely enough, the tall white blossomed Cerus also had another bloom tonight. It was quite a sight with the full moon.
On Planet Earth, I posted anoth flower from my yard with a Sycamore tree as background. This one is the Tiara for the Queen of Europe who should be soon back from abroad.
Have a nice day & boil the water.

ONE EYED BUTTERFLY

A Copperband Butterfly Fish, a beauty with fussy habits.
It is next to a hugh Green Bubble Coral.
Tonight, all three images are active.
The header is a slice of a larger image, While on Planet Earth, a Pygmy Flame Angel is previewing the color theme for tonight.
Beyond the main post, more of the reef`s mysteries.
Enjoy the colors like it was the sixties.
Have a great week-end.
Also, Olivia has a magnificent Old World Sky image on Parvum Opus which is linked on the right.

SUNSHINE MANDALA

This "spirographic" rendition is a wild Sunflower in the yard.
The duck in the header is a ceramic duck that sits in one of the many birdbaths here.
There is an image in the header set, I think, of two buds with water drops.
These should soon be open, & I do expect some other-worldly blossoms.
Stay tuned for those. I`m not really sure what they will be, but I had a dream of them.
A weird dream.
On Planet Earth, a bunch of other yard colors.
Enjoy your 'middle of the week' day for those who follow that sort of thing.

BEAMING BLOOMER

Yesterday some people were visiting in the immediate area. I was out talking about the new blooms with a neighbor, but didn`t realize some one had overheard our conversation.
An hour later, knowing that my new blooms would be open, I went back out & noticed the person who was around earlier. I asked him if he wanted to smell the blooms, when he expressed his amazement at how they were fully open, when an hour previously they didn`t exist. That`s my clue to go through the whole history of this cactus from when I found it as a skinny little thrown away plant, to it`s present glory. Here`s me & my cactus. We`ve been through a lot together & I`m proud of it. There`s another image connected to this one that might give you an idea of it`s towering height.
Have a great week ahead.

CERIUSLY

When moving this very tall cactus last fall, I had serious doubts as to whether it would survive.
These are the first blooms this year, & it has more buds than ever.
It looks like there will be dozens of these beauties this season. The perfume from the flower is entrancing.
It is pollinated by a certain moth, so it does have to send out a unique scent to attract them.
These will die tomorrow. They only bloom overnight & their bloom wilts with the rising sun.
Enjoy them with me please.

UPHILL REEF

Another shot of a full reef. This is was taken with a little 3MP Olympus, someone was throwing away.
I really learned about digital photography with this camera.
Have a great day.

ACT ONE

This image depicts a dense growth of corals.
I`m presently rehabilitating my reefs to this condition, a rather complex task, that inherently changes dynamically, as one small change triggers a butterfly effect. This image is from five or six years ago in my 80 gallon cube reefs.
I will post more images as I usually do, but today I hope this solo presentation makes your day a little better.