The Larakeet is a colorful bird.

They drink pollen.

And make children smile.

They can be found in Australia.
But I found these at the Wild Animal Park in San Diego.

One of my prized possessions is a Clinton Smith photograph
of some trees on a misty morning.
I purchased that photograph at the
Weston Gallery back in 1984-85.
That shot has always made me feel like
taking pictures through a morning fog.
I just have trouble getting out of bed.

One morning, seeing a low fog in the valley,
I grabbed a couple of cameras and
headed over to Lake Hodges.

There are these trees that grow out of the water.

There was an idea of taking pictures of these trees in the mist.
But I didn't really know what I was after.

It just wasn't working for me.

I kept taking pictures with the futile hope that my
camera would see something that I missed.

Frustrated by a seemingly useless exercise, I turned to leave.
And then something caught my eye.

There's a life lesson in this.

If you're not sure of what you're looking for,
discard preconceived notions, open your eyes and look around.
Whatever you're missing is probably right behind you.

A good friend,
a photographer whom I greatly admire,
once told me that I didn't know the difference
between a "landscape" and a "scene."

"Ha!" I said.
(Yes, I literally said, "Ha!").
The difference is obvious.

Isn't it?

Who cares anyway.

No sense in getting hypertechnical.

Does it really matter if call something a seascape or landfallscene?

A newyorkcitylowermanhattanacutally
-withabitoftheharbor-
pre-nineelevenscape?

A pre-exxonvaldezprincewilliamsoundscene?

It's only important that
when these images are seen,
they provide a little bit of an escape.

A pear.

A pair of pears.

Formerly a pair.

A pair of pairs, a foursome.

The kiwi is a flightless bird, the size of a chicken,
it is also an endangered species.
It's a weird-looking bird.

The kiwifruit is a fuzzy treat, commonly called a kiwi,
it is also called a chinese gooseberry.
It' a weird-looking fruit.

Did you ever wonder whether you're supposed to eat the seeds?
The seeds are edible.
I looked it up.