“Waiting …..

for the light to turn Green”

It’s raining in my coffee cup
Comin’ down since I got up today – cold and gray
And lookin’ in my rearview mirror
I could be anywhere but here I am – traffic jam

All these people without names
Every day we face the same routine
Waiting for the light to turn green

The lady in the blue sedan
Combs her hair and steals a glance at me – who is she?
Does anybody hold her tight
Or does she spend her days and nights at home all alone

And over in the passing zone
All wrapped up inside their own daydreams
They’re waiting for the light to turn green
Do they wonder who I am
Do they know I’m not some damn machine
Waiting for the light to turn green

What about the love I long for
What about the child I want someday – where are they?
What about my heart’s desire
What about these four bald tires I’m on – how long?

I’ve been goin’ nowhere fast
Runnin’ out of time and gasoline
Waiting for the light to turn green
I’ll be damned if I’ll grow old
Waitin’ for these wheels to roll, not me
Waitin’ for the light to turn green

from The Secret of Life, released June 4, 1996
written by Gretchen Peters and Suzy Bogguss

White Magic!

Victoria plum blossom
Our Victoria plum tree is the one tree that gives us fruit in autumn!

This is the month that is make or break for our annual plum harvest! Each of the beautiful white flowers will transform into a Victoria plum by September. But only if the frosts are not so harsh as to destroy the flowers now. We are having frosts most nights at the moment, but not cold enough to damage the blossom … yet!

plum jam
The golden fruit of the Victoria plum tree in our garden

The plums, when they are fully formed are delicious and golden – and we have to share them with the insects and the birds – we all enjoy them ;o)

Morning mist across the howe

mist morning turbine
The sun lights up the wind turbine as the mist lifts

Yesterday morning brought the most glorious sunrise. We’ve had several misty starts recently, but not one where the sun broke through so early. I grabbed a camera at 6.30 a.m. and went out to catch the ever-changing scene as the sun and the mist danced together and wove such magical patterns before my eyes and lens!
Here the huge turbines across the howe (valley) were slowly revealed as the mist rose – catching the metal with the light! Two minutes later the turbines had vanished again!

tree silhouette
The mist hides everything except the lonely bird in the tree

A few minutes before, and the sun was just changing the colour of the mist from grey to gold. And here it caught the ‘early bird’ waiting to catch the proverbial worm! Nothing of the view down the howe towards the Kirk was visible – just the tree and its lone occupant!

Talking Digital Photography has all my articles on and about photography
Flickr holds Elisa’s online Photo Gallery
© 2020 Elisa Liddell

The invisible boundaries!

The gate
The invisible boundary is our gate, though there are occasions when I step across the road!

Lock Down! We’ve been this way for most of March and the whole of April. Our driveway never had a gate, just the gateposts and a low boundary wall. This morning the misty start to the day had me out with my camera before anyone else was stirring!
As the sun came up and the mist dispersed it caught the last flowers on the ornamental plum tree by the gate. Just the kind of morning when we would usually pack the car with cameras and head up the coast to shoot the headlands and the bays of Aberdeenshire. Or maybe drive inland to wander round the walled gardens of Leith Hall, before a fish and chip lunch!
Dream on! It will be a long time before what we took for granted, and counted as ‘normal’ will return. But we do have a quiet village, a good garden, and such lovely views, especially when the sun shines ;o)

As far as I get!

Japanese plum
a sprig of the ornamental plum tree by the gate

Self-isolating now for most of March, with only about 4 trips out to exercise or shop! So photographing the plum blossom in the garden is as far as I go most days!
Today it was blowing a gale – it often is this year. So I brought a spring indoors to capture its delicate beauty!

February 2020 comes alive!

February on Flickr
February still seemed quite normal…. though we were becoming concerned!

I haven’t been able to keep up with my Blog posts as I hoped back in January. So I am using my “2020 Vision” journal pages in the Notebook section of Inedita to catch up and keep a record of what I’ve been doing – mainly photographic though not exclusively!

2020 Vision

ribbons glass 2020
Welcome to 2020 Vision

I’ve been writing a whole lot on Talking Digital Photography but I’ve been letting the blog posts slide. So I’m starting the new year with an effort to keep the Blog posts active as well. My latest additions are on:
Zen Camera – exploring the ideas that the book has inspired.
Notebooks section – A section for photography-related but more general personal ‘stuff’ that interests me and my camera.
2020 Vision – moving my journal online with photos I don’t use on Flickr or elsewhere.

At the car wash

at the car wash
washing the car can be a wonderful visual experience

Last week we took my old car to the car wash. I admit it is probably more than 5 years since I’d been through the strange experience of sitting in a car while the automated ‘wash and brush up’ whirred, rattled and rolled all about me. As I had my iPhone with me I decided to shoot the experience from the inside. After all it might be another 6 years before I get the chance again ;o)
The whole process only lasted about 10 minutes, but I think I took over 60 shots. It was an ever changing kaleidoscope of almost abstract visuals – and enormous fun! Too many shots to share here, so I’ve posted the best ones on this page: Car Wash
I think I’ll go back before another 5 years slip by!

Flickr holds Elisa’s online Photo Gallery
© 2019 Elisa Liddell