The Aliens Have Landed

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We had a lovely day today, and hope that all of you did also.

The weather has broken (at least for a day or two) so we ended up down at West Cliff Drive, one of our favorite walks.


While the weather was beautiful, the clouds were noticeably absent, so this wasn't the best day for scenic shots. I'm not complaining, mind you, I'll take warm sunny days over gray and gloomy any old day.

Since the seas and skies weren't really cooperating photography-wise, this left the plant life. West Cliff has always had an abundance of beautiful flowers, it's one of the things that makes it such a pleasant place to stroll. While I've always appreciated the plant life, I must admit, I've never looked at them as closely as I did today.

Taking lots of pictures will do that to you, it really does make you see things differently.

I spent a few hours snapping away. It was only when I got home and looked at the photos in the computer that I began to realize how alien these plants appear.

There's a place called
the Garden of the Shrine.
I love the gate.

Look at these,
are these colors ethereal of what?

I'm playing with HDR again here.

The sky is a bit too blue,
but the fan of the fronds
pleases my eye.

I'm not sure of the name of this plant,
I think it may be a Chinese Lantern,
but the shape is so beautiful.

You need to click this one to enlarge it,
I know it's just a succulent,
but the mathematical
precision of the leaves
always strikes me speechless.
I've seen thousands of these,
but their beauty so appeals to me.

As the day drew to a close,
I couldn't resist
just one shot,
straight into the sun.

I would surely rather be on the road,
but I'm thankful for the beauty
around me.