I am intrigued by the flower of the thistle plant.
Intrigued by the texture, by the colors and by the way light plays on the the delicate strands.
Despite the dangers of the dagger like thorns, I must get closer.
So close the colors become brush strokes on the canvas that is my camera lens.
My first SLR was this Pentax ME Super, I bought it about 1979. Not a top of the line camera but it was the best I could afford at the time. We shared many adventures over the years.
Macy's had all their windows decked out this week in preparation for the infamous Black Friday sales.
As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them. 
Click on photos to enlarge.
My long time followers know of my quest for the perfect bee photo, well I'm not quite there yet but these are not bad IMHO. They were taken this summer and what I like about these two photos is the eyes. Click on any photo to enlarge.
Reflections are an alternative view of our world. For more photos visit Weekend Reflections. Thank you James for bringing us the great meme.
Autumn has been around for a while and the wind and rain have taken away most if not all the leaves from the trees. While it is sad to lose all that beautiful color there are still reasons to be excited about this part of the fall season.
When the leaves are gone it is easier to see what's in those trees. Mr. Hawk blends in but he can't hide in the greenery now. Click on any photo to enlarge.
And look, what is that on those branches? A nest! We couldn't see the nest when the trees was covered with foliage.
Just think, this well made nest was home to a family of birds at one time. A happy home to raise the babies. Notice how the nest is woven from twigs and small branches.
And there is something in this tree, but it looks different. It looks like a pile of leaves doesn't it.
Let's take a closer look. It does seem to be some sort of nest but made with leaves. What could possibly build and live in such a nest?
A fox squirrel will build one or more nest. To escape the summer heat it will wedge leaves between the branches of a tree. Preparing a nest for young ones requires a little more work, those nest may be supported by twigs.
So get your camera, grab a jacket and see what you can find now that the leaves are gone. But keep your eyes open because you never know who will be watching you.
I did a post last Friday called Think of the Trees featuring this sycamore tree with one of the branches supported. Betsy from Joyful Reflections said she would like to see what this tree looked like in the Spring time.
Using the magic of digital photography (and a rather large collection of photo files) I will transport us back to this past Spring to see this tree dressed in green.
If you click on this photo and enlarge it you can see the tree with the supported limb in the background to the right.
So Betsy, what do you think?
Click on any photo to enlarge
I was out for a drive last week when something on the hillside caught my eye. I stopped the car and look what I saw.
Do you see them now? Look at those ears! Click on any photo to enlarge.
They were quite a distance away so the telephoto was pushed to the max.
There they go over the hill. I got back in the car and drove a little further down so I was on the other side of this hill.
This is what I saw running along the hillside.
In all there were five deer but they had scatter out. I was far away and not a threat but I'm not sure what they thought.
I cropped this photo a little so you could get a closer look. 
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