Photos Today! I went outside first thing yesterday morning (before I fell down the stairs) and grabbed some pictures while the day was young and full of promise. The light was lovely and soft. The air was humid, morning damp clinging to everything. I headed straight for the patch of our garden where my absolute favorite flower grows – lily of the valley.
After I took a couple of pictures, I buried my nose in the blossoms. There is no scent in the world that is more wonderful than the heady aroma of this tiny little flower. There used to be a perfume that smelled like lilies of the valley, “muguet des bois.” I wonder if they still make it.
I turned to the tulips. Sadly, they are fading and falling apart. I wanted to get a couple of final pictures before they are gone.
I love the raindrops clinging to the petals, even as the petals cling to the flower. Most of the petals had already fallen. These are fading, curling up at the edges, but still hanging on. I really wanted to get a close-up of the center.
This photo allows me to see the intricately detailed beauty at the center of the tulip. I could not see this with only my eyes. Looking a this photo, I feel a sense of intimacy with this flower.
Last of all, I turned to a wild patch of Forget Me Nots. They started in our neighbor’s garden, but have traveled to an unclaimed spot next to ours. To me, they are like a little patch of the country in our urban yard. You can even catch a glimpse of a dandelion in their midst.
I wanted to show the untamed nature of this patch by shooting through some flowers into more distant flowers. When I tried to execute my plan, I couldn’t get my eyes to focus on the LED screen. I held the camera in a way that I thought would work and just shot. I was delighted to see the outcome when I uploaded the pictures.
As I am practicing at “blind” photography, I am beginning to be more aware of different aspects of the visual world. Yesterday morning, my sense of smell and the heaviness of the air told me that there would still be dew present. I couldn’t see it with my eyes. I haven’t seen dew drops in the “real” visual world in a long time. When I enlarged the photos, there they were. I felt a small thrill to see the drops, like tiny jewels on the leaves and petals. Seeing them, I felt so grateful for this gift, and for all the gifts that photography offers to me as a visually impaired person. I give thanks to the Creator of these beautiful flowers, thanks to photography for allowing me to be able to really see them, and thanks to the Blind Photographers group online for opening to me this new way of seeing the world.
Losing Vision Gaining Insight 
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What lovely photos! If there is anything more beautiful than dew on a morning flower, I don’t know what it is. I must say, I’m jealous of your forget-me-nots, tho. I plant them year after year and they just won’t come back to my yard. And I DO live in the country, as you know. Mrs. Butterfield, who owns a local nursery, once told me it’s because I love them too much. Hmmm…
That may be the reason. Ours really come from our neighbor’s yard. He hates them so much he tears them up angrily. They seek refuge in our yard, but they also come up every year in his, as if to spite him. The opposite problem of the problem you have. If mine are still around when you come up for the Lilac Festival, I will dig some up and give them to you. Maybe if they are a gift, they will come back.