Patience Grasshopper, erm Heron

Great Blue Heron head-shot portrait – babsjeheron

“Lie still in a stream and breathe water. Climb to the top
of the highest tree until you come to the branch
where the blue heron sleeps. Eat poems for breakfast…”

Advice to Beginners (excerpt)
Ellen Kort

From:
If I Had My Life to Live Over: I Would Pick More Daisies, Sandra Martz, ed.

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Great Blue Fledgling Sticks The Landing – babsjeheron

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It was only after I had maneuvered in close enough to grab onto the strut of his pontoon boat that he came into focus, all gelled and spiky hair and tats, the silver bolts through his eyebrow and lower cheek glinting. He was sinewy and compact and – surprisingly – handsome for someone you wouldn’t want to encounter alone on the street after dark. Read more of The Beautiful Great Blue Heron… and the Man with the Spider Tattoo.
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Great Blue Heron Catching Large Fish – babsjeheron

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It is very easy to become absorbed – too absorbed – by the scene unfolding through the lens. One day, I came face to face with a different danger facing photographers: I was so engrossed with following the Great Blue Heron through my lens that I nearly stepped over the edge into clear air. One more step, and I would have been in the water below the falls. Read more of The Great Blue Herons Dam Love Letter.
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Great Blue Heron Launching into Flight – babsjeheron

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The man sat cross-legged on the sidewalk that skirted the perimeter along the water’s edge. In his lap, a pen and notebook. Pressed against his glasses, the eyepiece of an antique spyglass. Someone else might have used a modern telescope. Herons are ancient, their ancestors appearing 40 million years ago, and so it seemed fitting for him to have an old spyglass trained on the nesting island, instead of a newfangled telescope. Read more of The Beautiful Great Blue Herons Peaceful Muse .
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Monday Portrait: Great Blue Heron on a Pedestal Nbr 2 – babsjeheron

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It was then that I heard it, “Arh…. arh…. arh…. arh….” with a little tremolo. It sounded low and deep and like a frog. I swiveled my head to see where the frog was. There had been few frogs that summer; I no longer head the bullfrogs as I drifted off to sleep, so I was excited to hear a frog. And then I realized that this was no frog singing. It was the Heron vocalizing. I edged in just a little closer and softly echoed back my own version of her 4-syllable call. She repeated her refrain in reply. Goosebumps! Read more of Put the Great Blue Heron Back on her Pedestal? Who, me?.
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Great Blue Heron soaring upwards – babsjeheron

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Today I am enthralled when the green shoots come to the surface of the field like an ocean of spring. There wading through grasses, the birds lean skyward and, gathering momentum, rise up to soar. Both of them. The herons. Read more of Great Blue Heron Earth Day Love Redux .
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Great blue heron in territorial display by boat garden – babsjeheron

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A favorite location for photographing Herons is this sunken boat garden. One year the boat contained tubs of cherry tomatoes that looked delectable, the bright red of the fruit promising sweetness. In other years, the focus is flowers, like these gladiolus. While my favorite elements of nature are always the wild and untrammeled ones, this section of the shoreline is a place I’d love to inhabit for an evening, lazing in a hammock, fireflies twinkling around the flowers and the scent of dinner wafting from the grill. And a Great Blue Heron, there would be a Heron there. Sometimes no matter how well a photographer plans, the model has others ideas. This was one of those times. Read more of The Great Blue Herons Guest…Pink Flamingo?….

Top Five Most Popular Posts 2013-2023

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About today’s post: I have been nearly blind for many months and so have been largely absent from WordPress blogs. Yesterday I learned today that retina surgery is being scheduled within the next few weeks, which is an exciting development. Until then, Patience is the word of the day.

Because of my blindness, I’m not able to link in my posts to the various host sites for WP challenges/tags in the way I have always done in the past, but please know that I value the sense of community here, especially among the Lens Artists. Today’s post has Gladiolus flowers for Cee (FOTD), and has peace and follows the path most often taken (both for Lens Artists), and is a walk down memory lane on a Thursday (Throwback Thursday), and highlights the 5 all-time most popular posts for Paula’s Thursdays Special. This is the best I can do – sorry that I cannot link directly.
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I do love a happy ending, and hope my eye surgeon delivers one for the Herons & me! Patience Grasshopper.

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Once again, the Great Blue Heron diving beneath the water’s surface graced gallery walls.

TCAN One-Woman Show January through February 2022 Lobby Wall With TCAN Sign Reflected; TCAN Stained glass art by Carol Krentzman, framed by Jay Ball

TCAN One-Woman Show January through February 2022 Front Lobby Trio

My Great Blue Heron photographs were once again on display on the walls of the lobby and theater in a free one-woman show at the Summer Street Gallery, of The Center for Arts in Natick. It was great to see so many of you there.

Since 2001, the Center for Arts Natick has been housed in the circa 1875 historic Central Fire House, where the Summer Street Gallery provides an opportunity for accomplished visual artists in the region to have their work prominently displayed for TCAN’s diverse and loyal audience.

The Center for Arts Natick believes the arts are essential to a complete human experience and to the creation of a vibrant, healthy community. TCAN serves the Boston MetroWest region by increasing opportunities to experience, participate in, and learn about the arts. To this end, TCAN strives to present arts programs of the highest standard that are available to everyone. TCAN dedicates its resources to providing community access to diverse arts programs, reducing barriers to attendance, and building appreciation through arts education.

If you’re in the Boston or Metro West area, please stop by TCAN to see the wonderful gallery displays of artworks by many talented visual artists, as well as excellent live music performances and stage plays. The gallery is open whenever the box office is open, so please check hours here.

As always, many of my own photos were taken on the waterways of the Charles River watershed.

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Cee Neuner, Debhie Smyth, Becky B, and the community of Lens Artists encourage the entire international network of photographers and writers. Please click the links below to see the beautiful offerings from these wonderful photographers.

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Natick Center Cultural District logo

Folks, now that some areas have opened back up in a new normal, please consider supporting your local Arts communities – whether music, theater, crafts, visual arts venues, and others. All have been impacted over the past THREE years and they still need your love more than ever.

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The Natick Center Cultural District is situated in a friendly, classic New England town hosting a vibrant, contemporary fusion of art, culture and business. Click here and here to learn more!

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My brick & mortar presence in Massachusetts dates back to 2009 in several local venues/galleries.

TCAN – The Center for Arts Natick – One-woman photography show through February 2022
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Natick Town Hall – Current group exhibit thru January 3 2023
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Five Crows Gallery in Natick – Represented since 2013
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Audubon Sanctuary
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Be a fly on the wall! Please CLICK HERE to see the Great Blue Herons gracing the gallery walls.
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Remember: Walk softly and carry a long lens.™

May the Muse be with you.™

The Tao of Feathers™

A Patience of Herons™

© 2003-2023 Babsje. (https://babsjeheron.wordpress.com)

Great Blue Heron, Kayaking, TCAN, Five Crows, Natick Center Cultural District