Into A World Of Color

Into a World of Color...

Nothing prepared me for the world of color that Autumn brought for me the very first year we ever lived in Arkansas. The first time I saw a tree in full autumn change, I felt like I'd been living in a colorless world and just stepped into a world full of beautiful color. 

My two granddaughters, Kaelyn and Abby, and I were on our way up Petit Jean Mountain that particular Saturday. I had wanted to show them the wildflower field, full of beautiful pink and white cosmos. I'd never seen those before either and especially not a field full of them.  

Wild flowers everywhere - even tiny white ones...

Beautiful field FULL of Cosmos...

Butterflies enjoying the nectar of flowers...

Bees collecting pollen...

Later, we were meeting up with my daughter and son-in-law to hike one of the trails, but for now, we were on an adventure of our own...

On the road to the field of flowers, we came upon this tree and we were all in awe. We had to pull over and actually get out and collect a few of their leaves. I wonder if my granddaughters still have those leaves?

The first Autumn tree I ever saw...on Petit Jean Mountain.

...and there was more to come! After we hiked, we traveled on to the Antique Car Museum and here were more beautiful trees!

RED!

How beautiful is that! 

I guess if you live up north, this isn't such a big deal to you. But it was very impressive to me and still is every year I have the privilege to see the colors change...

Now...let it snow!!!

WOO HOO!!!!

Dark Waterfall - My Happy Place

Dark Waterfall

If I asked you to picture a happy place in your mind - somewhere you could go to be happy...to feel safe. What would you picture?

For some reason, I've always pictured a small cave just behind a huge waterfall, where I could sit and just listen to the roar of the water and no one could find me or know I was there.

     ~   ~  ~   ~   ~   ~   ~

One day, my daughter and I decided to hike down to Cedar Falls on Petit Jean Mountain (Petit Jean State Park, AR). It was a really nice day and I had brought my camera with me so I could shoot the falls.

It was a bright day for photography so I was a little worried about the lighting. But I was going to see what I could get. We even brought sandwiches for a small picnic lunch once we arrived at the bottom of the falls. I LOVE waterfalls and just couldn't wait! The hike down was magical! There was a beautiful trail through the trees...green everywhere you looked, a little mist here and there, sounds of rushing water, an occasional wildflower to stop and shoot...beautiful nature sounds...beautiful nature views!

The trail.

Once we arrived, I began snapping away with my big camera (Canon Rebel). I was still learning, and still am, how to adjust the settings. I don't know what happened but all of my pictures came out with regular lighting except for that one. This one photo had that dark, mysterious look about it. 


I LOVED IT! This was exactly what I'd pictured in my mind but from a different point of view. It didn't matter - I knew what was behind the falls! There was my happy place!

Now, when I want to go to that place in my mind, it's just that much easier since I have an actual picture of it! :)