A couple more photos from Friday… I think these blossoms look like a crown, when they open up completely. Each little flower unfurling with enthusiasm and pride in its own dazzling beauty. They say, “Ha ha! Look at me! I’m an early bloomer!”
I’m glad I went out on Friday, when these tree was still in the stage of budding blossoms. I love the way the balled up flower buds look like lights in the background in these photos, and show the potential of what is to come. Today the whole tree has bloomed, a sea of white. It’s beautiful for sure, but it’s less about the individual blossoms and more about the whole tree. The personality of each little bud has been lost in the whole.
Fleeting, Fragile Spring
Spring has finally arrived in Italy! The flowers and trees and bushes are suddenly bursting with buds. Friday morning was chilly and windy and a bit rainy, but I realized that this beauty is fleeting and I needed to get out there if I wanted to capture it. My particular view this morning was to use a shallow depth of field to really pick out a bud or two amidst a soft background. That proved challenging – hard to focus while the branches are blowing around! 
An elderly gentleman walking his dog in the park saw me taking photos of the buds and asked, in Italian of course, if I saw these purple flowers on the ground. He picked this one for me and had me smell it. Very sweet. Very tiny.
Inhale. Exhale. Spring!
Colors of Nice
Apartment windows in the old city of Nice, France.
As I sort through my photos from Nice, I’m seeing a trend. My photos of our short time in Nice are all about color… the blue of the sea, the warm pinks and yellows of the buildings, the green of the palm trees and the plants, the bright colors of the flower market, the shades of the special soaps, the deep blues and bright yellows of Chagall paintings. So many brilliant colors, all in one place! Not gaudy overwhelming color, but natural, like the plumage of a parrot. All tropical and sunny. Maybe it was the sun and the spring feel of the weather that drew me to the colors, but I think maybe it’s just the personality of Nice.
Illumination
If I didn’t tell you, you wouldn’t know this is a photo of Nice. But it is.
It’s a photo of the flower market. The “famous” Cours Saleya Flower Market, so the guidebooks say.
It’s a photo of the light in Nice. Light so wonderful that Marc Chagall and Henri Matisse spent much time here painting and creating.
It’s a photo of the flowers, so beautiful and just waiting for someone to take them home. I wish we had gone on Sunday, so we could have brought some back home with us.
It’s a photo of me. What caught my eye in that moment, on a short visit to the French Riviera. Me, enjoying the light on the flowers and capturing a certain look and feel in my photo.
A Nod to Spring
When I left Oregon a week ago, the plum trees were in full bloom. I love the pink blossoms that give a sudden burst of color in the sky against the green and the brown of Oregon winter. So today’s photo and banner change is a nod to spring in Oregon, and a hope that it begins here in Italy soon. (For those of you who read my blog in a reader, come visit to see the spring-y banner!)
I’m trying to get back into the groove of daily blog posts, hopefully this week will be back to normal!
Spring!
There are signs of spring here in Oregon, like this gorgeous barrel of daffodils at the Rogue brewery in Newport. Unlike our home in Italy where it’s still been cold and frosty, it was beautifully clear and sunny in Oregon last week. I love seeing these signs of spring, Oregon has such a long and colorful spring. It will be interesting to see what it’s like for us in Vedano… when it starts!