Sun. Shade. Blossoms. Bees. Serendipity.

Once I came back down the steps from the thrift shop on Saturday, I turned west to walk back to my building. That's when I noticed the busy bees and their yellow blossoms. The bees flighted so quickly that I'm very surprised I managed to get a couple of photos with them in focus. I've cropped so that you'll have a better view.



The yellow blossoms grow as a ground cover on a slope that at it's highest point, it's a bit above my eye level. If I hadn't been standing in the shade, I'd never have been able to stand there long enough to keep trying to photograph a bee. It was 90 degrees on my iPhone's weather app.



Bee on the move, upper left corner, silhouette. Cropped so that it's easier for you to see.



Same image, uncropped, to give you an idea of just how difficult it was to find those bees in time to take a photo. Blossoms all over the place, dark shadowy spaces in between, quick moving bees. What a trip!



While I stood there taking photos, I noticed several blossoms sort of standing alone, not in the turmoil where the bees flitted. I wonder if the bees knew their pollen had already been gathered? Otherwise, why ignore such pretty blossoms?

This view makes me so happy.

Monday, May 23, looking northwest from the rooftop garden at work, with these blossoms in the foreground and the Portland Oregon neon sign, topped with the stag, in focus in the background, plus the words Union Station visible on the tower at the station, to the left of the Portland sign--see it there, between the out-of-focus blossoms? Ah, bliss in this small portion of the panorama that is Portland's skyline. The Fremont Bridge in the background is the icing on the cake!

It's special to me, so special that I am able to go to the rooftop garden at my breaks or at my lunch or at all three and take in the beauty, no matter the weather. And this camera, my Olympus OM E-M5II with the zoom lens, these make me so happy that I am finally feeling like learning about the two of them and how to take decent photos. Thanks to each of you for all of the prayers, love, and concern that you showered on me over the period of treatment for the cancer that is now in my past. I am better through your help, my caregivers, and the grace of God.



Here's another shot of the same view, taken on May 17. Fewer buds had opened on that day, six days prior to the top photo.



Here's a closer view, alas, a bit crooked, of the two signs--Portland, Oregon, and Union Station. I don't find it as interesting without those blossoms in the front, but I wanted you to be able to see the signs better so that if you've had any difficult in finding them in the other two photos, this view should help you.

UPDATE, with a video - Some soothing photos that I decided to share with you.

UPDATE: Here you have it, my latest hat to cover my easily chilled, stubble-covered head. Plus my newest cup to use when I enjoy Twinings English Breakfast Tea. I lucked into it on Saturday at the Albertina Kerr thrift shop, known as Albertina's Closet.



Click on the video and you'll go to my Flickr account, then click on it again to watch. Enjoy!

Slept plenty last night, woke up right before 4 a.m. and stayed up because I didn't feel sleepy any longer. Tomorrow by this time I will have had blood drawn for the pre-chemo Round Two tests. Then on Wednesday morning, I have an 8 a.m. appointment with my chemo doctor which is scheduled prior to Round Two Chemotherapy.



Ginkgo tree leaves and April sunshine, taken at Lownsdale Park, downtown Portland.



Blossoms in the spring sunshine. I don't remember for sure where I took this photo because I see so many beautiful blooming trees in Portland. It's a lovely place in the spring.



My favorite shadows, these undulating along the sidewalk. I lucked into this photo in August, 2007, as I walked to the bus stop. We used to live in the Alphabet District in Northwest Portland, so my early morning work commute took me eastward.

Seen in the neighborhood on a recovery walk.

I took my DSLR, a Nikon D5100, with me on a recent walk. Thank goodness! I got this photo of the front yard of a house on a nearby block. Look at all of this color from these large rose bushes!



Here's a wider view that shows the flowering trees in the parking strip. I believe that they are Kousa dogwoods.



Dogwood blossom--reminds me of an origami crane.



One more beautiful Kousa dogwood blossom.



The roses, splendid in their colors and shapes.



There are buds hiding in these blossoms. This bush is just beyond the sidewalk that goes up to the porch, easily seen in the top photo of this post. I took this photo from this perspective, intrigued by the spent blossom mixed with the still lush ones, as well as the buds peeking out here and there.



I can't get enough of these two colors side-by-side.

Rooftop Garden Friday, No. 3

Through the camera lens, I witnessed the wind's whimsy. Thankfully, I captured a split second of it to share with you, the blurred blossoms and the still blossoms alongside the sunlit buds on their impossibly slender and tall stems.

This rooftop garden is on the fifth floor of the six-story building where I work, the Multnomah County building. I found online that the garden covers 11,893 square feet as planted area, with a total square footage for the green roof that includes a patio and some raised beds of 15,420.

One more thing--this photo is straight out of the camera. Serendipity, brought to you by a Nikon D5100. Yea for me that it's mine to enjoy!

Where the flower study flowers bloom.

Blossom-loaded trees stand all in a row in the parking strip along NE 16th. You can tell how tall the trees they are when you compare them with the vehicle parked there. I am a short five foot four inches, so I imagine that last Saturday will be the last time that I'll be able to look at even a few of them head on, and even then, I had to stand on the mounded, grass-covered earth. How will I take photos then? I may have to start carrying around a light-weight step stool.

Flower Study, No. 3

Do you think these white blossoms started at like those pink buds? I wish I could tell from looking at the flowers when I took the photos and/or when I look at the photos. But, I just don't know. If you do, please share your knowledge. Thanks!

Flower Study, No. 2

It amazes me how these clusters of blossoms just come out of the trunk, not on stems or tiny branches, just right through the bark. I cannot remember noticing such a sight back in my home state of Mississippi. Of course, I hardly ever got out and walked because there were not sidewalks in our neighborhood, the heat and humidity were stifling, and some months the mosquitos smothered anyone who went outside.

Nature's beauty, No. 2

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Wide shot, to give you some perspective. This is a side street near my apartment building. The fact that my neighborhood streets are level really makes me a happy walker.

Nature's beauty, No. 1

Fog and dew and blossoms and spiderwebs